November Fishing Forecast
By mid-November, hybrids and stripers will have settled into their early winter pattern. They tend to concentrate in a particular area for days at a time. Popular haunts at the upper end of the Lake Norman are Hicks, Rocky and Stumpy Creeks. Below the Highway 150 Bridge, most of the action will take place in Mountain, Little and Reed Creeks. While there are still plenty of live bait fishermen around, those trolling Alabama rigs and other deep running lures are seeing good results. As November comes to an end, the arrival of seabirds will lead anglers to surface feeding fish.

If it’s bass you’re looking for, November is a great month to cast top water plugs early around boat docks and riprap and bottom bumping soft plastics after the sun rises. Plenty of white perch will be taken by those drifting in water to depths of twenty feet or more. Best results will be achieved by those using Sabiki rigs, small spoons and live crappie minnows.

The upcoming holiday season is one of the best times of the year to fish Lake Norman. By Thanksgiving weekend, most pleasure boats have been winterized and are off the water until spring. Those remaining are more than likely fishing boats filled with anglers fishing for bass, hybrids, crappie and white perch.

See ya out there!

Tips from Capt. Gus: Double the use of your fishing line and save money, too! Reverse the line by reeling it onto a similar capacity empty spare spool or a spool on a different reel. The unused line on the bottom of the old spool will now be on top of the new spool.

Photo Credits: Capt. Gus
Photo #1: Chase Tweedy of Mooresville holds a hybrid striped bass.