Charlotte
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Top Fishing Charters in Charlotte
Mooresville, NC
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Denver, NC
LAKE NORMAN—2022 24' Avalon LSZ 2485 Pure Fun EVERYTHING INCLUDED
Huntersville, NC
2023 Ranger Pontoon on Lake Norman 150HP - opening early April 2024!
Explore the Waters on a Charlotte, NC Fishing Charter
Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina, a cultural, economic, and transportation hub, and most importantly, it’s also a great place to go fishing. It’s surrounded by waterways chock full of fish, with Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake to the north, the Catawba River to the west, and Lake Wylie to the south. Head east, and within an hour or so drive, you’ll soon run into High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Reservoir, Badin Lake, the Pee Dee River, and Lake Tillery. So, the Charlotte, NC, fishing options are vast. Better yet, many of these waterways are very close and easily accessible to Charlotte; some are within a 20-mile radius of the city.
Several of these lakes and reservoirs are quite large — the biggest manmade lake in North Carolina, Lake Norman, has over 500 miles of shoreline and a surface area of around 35,000 acres — but since they’re all relatively protected from the wind, there’s a wide range of fishing boats and pleasure craft, including those ever-popular pontoon boats, in use on them. That means there’s also a huge number of boats for rent of all different shapes, sizes, and types. Plus, since fishing is quite popular around here, there are plenty of dedicated fishing boats and specialized platforms like bass boats for rent as well. More surprising, however, is the variety of fish you can catch around here. There are five different species of bass living in Lake Norman alone!
Fishing in Charlotte
Lake Norman steals the guided fishing spotlight in this area, but you do have a number of additional options.
Guided Fishing on Lake Norman
Lake Norman is well known for its largemouth bass, spotted bass, and striped bass fishing, and is home to a former North Carolina state record blue catfish, an 85-pound beast. Since the lake is, so large many anglers who aren’t intimately familiar with it will hire a guide at least a time or two before trying it on their own, especially if they want to target a specific species that may require using particular methods or baits.
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Guided Fishing on High Rock Lake
Northeast of Charlotte, High Rock Lake is also quite large (second in the state only to Lake Norman) and supports notable largemouth bass, crappie, and striped bass fisheries. Many of the fishing charters that work these waters keep their boats on trailers and may visit both lakes as well as others nearby through the course of the season. High Rock is also known as being unusual due to a significant downstream current created by power generation at the dam.
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Guided Fishing in the Rivers
These reservoirs and most others in the area are connected by rivers, with water flowing out from one lake and into the next. There are plenty of different species in the rivers, but most anglers fishing in them will be targeting the catfish. Anglers who enjoy drift boat fishing or fly fishing can trek west a bit and will discover that North Carolina has a great brown trout fishery, too.
Browse Charlotte fishing chartersBest Places to Fish in Charlotte
There’s so much water all around Charlotte we hate to limit ourselves to just three top picks, but choose we must.
Lake Norman
As we mentioned earlier, Lake Norman gets most of the limelight in this part of the state. Bass anglers often play a “run-and-gun” strategy here because there’s so much water and so much structure to cover, with docks and brush piles often serving as focal points. Some anglers also prefer to spend their time up-lake where there are bridges with pilings and steadier currents. On the other hand, those in search of striped bass generally work open waters looking for concentrations of bait.
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High Rock Lake
High Rock has a great bass fishery and stripers as well, but crappie and catfish are also stand-outs here, and they make the lake a destination for many anglers. Docks and brushpiles are key here, too, but the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has also made a point of developing the structure on this lake by planting artificial fish-attracting “trees” in numerous locations. Check out the NCWRC Fish Attractor map, to nail down some hotspots.
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The Pee Dee River
The Pee Dee, in particular, is known for producing trophy-quality blue catfish specimens over the 50-pound mark. Flathead cats in that size range pop up from time to time, as well. The best part? They can be found just about anywhere throughout the river. Look for holes, channel edges, and snags in the current, and you’ll almost certainly find some catfish — maybe a true monster.
Browse Charlotte fishing chartersTips for Fishing in Charlotte
Ready to set up that Charlotte, NC, fishing trip? These tips will help.
Get Licensed
Anyone over the age of 16 needs a freshwater fishing license to go fishing in any and all of the places we’ve discussed. Short-term, annual, and lifetime licenses are available, and discounts are sometimes given based on age or disability status. Visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission License webpage for the details and to purchase a license.
Bait and Tackle
Charlotte is a major city, so you won’t have too much difficulty finding bait and tackle shops. There are also some big-box fishing and boating retailers in town, like Bass Pro Shops, West Marine, and Orvis. Clustered around each of the major lakes, you’ll find that there are a number of mom-and-pop style tackle shops.
Fish Processing and Shipping
If you’re fishing for largemouth or spotted bass, expect that most of the guides will be running catch-and-release operations. Striped bass, crappie, and catfish are often harvested. As a rule of thumb, however, it’s up to you to clean the fish and package the fillets if you want to send them home. UPS and Fedex will do the shipping, but check their websites for specifics on how to package perishables.
Popular Fish Species in Charlotte
These three popular species top the charts for Charlotte anglers.
Largemouth Bass
As is true nationwide, largemouth bass holds the top spot for freshwater gamefish. In this area, however, the closely related spotted bass also holds a place of honor. In both cases, the fish are pursued for sport, not food, and are generally released after snapping off a picture or two.
Striped Bass
Striped bass (and hybrid stripers crossed with white bass) are stocked in these waterways specifically so anglers can target them. They grow larger than largemouth, are considered excellent eating, and provide a knock-down, drag-out fight. Stripers are also active in cool temperatures, giving anglers a solid opportunity when many other freshwater species won’t provide much action.
Catfish
There are two simple reasons why anglers so often target catfish: they’re prolific, and they’re almost always willing to bite. As an added bonus, they’re great on the dinner plate. Oh, and did we mention that you can hook into utterly massive specimens in these waters and have the angling battle of a lifetime?
Top Types of Fishing in Charlotte
Depending on the species you target, the tactics can vary quite a bit, but these three methods of fishing will be likely to produce.
Casting Soft Plastic Lures
When it comes to targeting bass and crappie in these lakes, few modes of operation will out-catch casting soft plastic lures. For bass, plastic worms will top the list. For crappie, smaller tube jigs and twister tails get the job done. Sure, there will be times and places when tossing spinnerbaits or crankbaits will work better. But as a general rule, casting soft plastic lures is almost always a solid choice.
Trolling “Gang” Lures
If you want to land those stripers, trolling with gang lures (those made up of multiple smaller lures) must be on the agenda. Alabama rigs and umbrella lures, with their multiple wire arms and fish-attracting teasers, top the list. But don’t forget about tandem rigs, which allow you to pull two lures of different types from one rod. It’ll take the experience to learn how to troll gang lures, but once you do so, you’ll find it’s a top-producing tactic.
Fishing Bait on Bottom
Considering that casting soft plastics and trolling gang lures won’t get a catfish on the line, you probably knew that fishing baits on the bottom would come next. And when it comes to catching those cats, no other method even comes close. They’ll eat about anything from cut fish to chicken breast strips, but sharpies in search of trophy-sized fish often swear by putting live sunfish on the hook.
Charlotte Fishing Seasons
Spring and fall are the best fishing seasons in Charlotte, but you can get a bite any month of the year if you put in the time and effort.
January
This is one of the toughest months to fish, both because of the slow bite and also because of the chilly conditions. That said, crappie anglers can score if they use electronics to locate tight schools of fish holding in deeper waters.
February
It’s still cold, and the fishing is still pretty slow, but this isn’t a bad time to cast baits into deep holes for catfish. Though they may not be as active as at other times of the year, they’ll still eat if you can find a good spot and put some bait in front of their whiskers.
March
As the waters begin to warm with spring, anglers hoping to catch stripers will be hitting the water. Early spring is one of the best times to troll big fish with Alabama rigs and umbrellas.
April
This is another prime month for trolling for striped bass and hybrids. Look to find the fish in open waters, often shadowing schools of bait.
May
May means spawning season for largemouth bass in the Carolinas, so there can be a rather epic pre-spawn bite early in the month. Expect the action to slack off a bit as the spawn takes place (usually when the water hits the low to mid-60s), then pick back up again afterward.
June
This post-spawn season is still a great time for bass anglers. The fish will move off their beds and up to shoreline structures like brush piles and piers, making it reasonably easy to find them.
July
Once the heat of summer kicks in, fishing slows down a bit. Bass and stripers will be moving to deeper, cooler waters. Crappie and catfish will still be feeding and present good targets for anglers.
August
The dog days of summer are some of the toughest for fishermen. Many species are searching for cool water, the fish can be difficult to locate, and if you do find them, it’s difficult to tempt them into biting. Expect early mornings and late evenings to provide the best windows of opportunity.
September
Whew — with the heat finally turned off, the fish should get a bit more active, at least by late in the month. Morning and evening opportunities will expand, and the bass and crappie will start shifting a bit shallower again. Catfish action should be steady throughout the month.
October
As cold fronts move through and the water temperatures drop more significantly, we can expect it to trigger a fall bite. Just about everything will be put on the feed bag to fatten up for winter, and predators will be focused on shoreline structures where they’re easier to locate.
November
Open water stripers will shift into high gear as the water temps have fallen back into their preferred range, providing a tempting distraction to anglers still focused on bass and crappie. Which, by the way, should continue feeding strongly for most or all of the month.
December
By the time winter rolls in, the fish will be settling back into rather lethargic patterns. Bass and crappie will move to deeper waters, and catfish will look for those holes to hunker down in. The striper bite may or may not hold up for some or all of the month, depending on how far and how fast the temperature drops.
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