Fishing Report For High Rock Lake, NC

By Rick Seaman

January 27, 2025

Popular Fish Species Reports
High Rock Lake Fishing Video
Available Fish Species
Today's Weather & Forecast
Fishing Boat Rentals
Marinas
Boat Launch Ramps
Fishing License
Map
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Fishing Report High Rock Lake, NC

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species High Rock Lake, NC

Largemouth Bass

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Very Good To Excellent

High Rock Lake is renowned for great fishing, and in particular, bass fishing. It hosted the 1995 Bass Master Classic, High Rock Lake and has maintained the high fishery standards necessary for attracting tournaments ever since. The lake is further known as a crankbait lake, as the lake is generally shallow with tons of cover and structure to crank. Locals report the best time to attack these bass is in Spring when squarebill crankbaits are popular, and again in late Fall when deep-diving crankbaits are catching lots of bass..

Black Crappie - White Crappie

Uncle Buck's Panfish Creatures Curly Tail Minnow Rigged

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

High Rock Lake continues to deliver nice slabs throughout the year. Local guides report that following their migration is the key to success. Spring is the premiere time to be on the water as crappie move into shallow coves to spawn. Brush piles around docks are a good place to cast small crappie jigs or live minnows. Cane Creek, Second Creek bay and the bay behind the Highway 8 Bridge are all good places to find crappie. Summer heat moves the crappie out of the pockets and into deeper water where they hang around deep brush piles and rocky structure. Come Fall, follow the crappie back into shallower water until the water temperatures start cooling and the fish move back to deeper holding areas. Light tackle with 4 lb to 8 lb line is ideal. Locals report good success using fish finders to locate schools of crappie, which often stack vertically around cover.

Channel Catfish

Current Report: Good
Outlook: Good

The Yadkin River feeds fertile water into High Rock Lake, which enhances the growth of all fish species in the lake. Channel cats are found all around the lake, from Yadkin to High Rock Dam, especially around the mouths of major creeks. Fishing for channel catfish is often productive around any kind of structure. Submerged road beds, flats, creek channels and rocky points are all good places to begin. Use a slip sinker or Carolina rig setup with a chunk of cut bait.

High Rock Lake Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, blue catfish, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill, white bass and striped bass at High Rock Lake in North Carolina.

High Rock Lake is 15,180-acre lake with 365 miles of shoreline. It is a very fertile fishery, with healthy population of bass, crappie, catfish and stripers. The lake is lined with boat docks, creek channels, ledges, humps and drop-offs that all hold fish at various times.

Primary fish species to catch

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Today's Weather & Forecast

Fishing Boat Rentals

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Marinas

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

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Fishing License

Click here for a North Carolina Fishing License.

Map - Fishing & Access

Rick Seaman is a fishing enthusiast with over five decades of fishing experience, a retired tournament fisherman, author of numerous published articles on fishing, and co-author of the book "Bass Fishing - It's not WHAT you throw, It's WHERE you throw it".