Fishing Report For Lake Gaston, NC

Current Report: Good To Very Good

If you like going for big fish, the blue catfish in Lake Gaston are right up your alley. These top predators are abundant in the lake, and are eager to to bite. Locals report catching blues in the 40 to 50-pound range frequently, with an occasional fish over 60 pounds showing up. Trolling is the preferred method, using live shad or cut bait. Blues follow shad, so finding schools of shad helps determine the area to fish. Fishing for blue catfish is productive around most any kind of structure, especially when water is flowing - which is does here.

FALL. Fall is one of the better times of year for catching channel catfish. Currently they are migrating away from the shallows, to moderately deeper water, around 15 to 40 feet deep. Hot spots include Poplar Creek, around Salmon Landing, channel bends in the main lake, and the river area from the John Kerr Dam to the Steel Bridge area. They remain in these areas and feed aggressively in preparation for Winter.

WINTER. In Winter, focus on deep holes, in 30 to 60 feet deep, where blue catfish wait through the cold water season. They are less aggressive now, but slow drifting, or dead sticking baits, can still trigger bites. Cut bait, or live bait taken from this lake are the top bait choice. Use slip sinkers, 3-way rigs, or Carolina rigs with enough weight to keep the bait bumping bottom as you drift or slow troll.

SPRING. Spring begins the aggressive feeding in preparation for winter. Blues at this time are being caught 10 to 35 feet deep around inlet areas, in bays, on flats where baitfish school, and medium-depth ledges. Cut bait is the ideal bait this time of year, with locals preferring cut shad.

SUMMER. Early Summer is post-spawn season for big blue catfish. They follow big schools of baitfish, and feed heartily. Live shad is the preferred bait at night, while cut bait is catching nice blues during the day. Stay around channel edges and fish areas that have concentrations of bait. Once Summer weather has warmed lake water above the 70's, blue catfish move closer to the main lake, to deeper feeding areas, still preferring to remain in current when available. Focus on deep channel edges by day, and shallow flats at night. Blues, including some of the bigger ones, are now being caught while slow trolling, or drifting ledges, adjacent to river channels, or within the channel along the edges. The lake record here is over 100 pounds, and big blues, 25 to 70 pounds, are regularly caught. Anglers fishing from the bank are catching a few fish, but boats are the preferred approach. Late Summer, if the water temperature rises above the high 70's, they become less active, and fishing can slow down.

Current Report: Good

Lake Gaston is loaded with stump fields, which bass use as ambush points. Docks are another place where locals report catching bass consistently. Lots of 3 and 4 pound bass are being caught here, using a wide variety of lures. A recent Carolina Anglers Team Trail bass tournament results report the top three teams averaged over 4 pounds per fish, for five fish. The next five teams average 3 pounds or better per bass.

FALL. Now that Fall is coming to a close, bass are moving out of shallow coves and shallow bays, following schools of baitfish back into 10 to 18 feet of water, mornings and evenings a bit shallower. A couple good areas are secondary points and flats around Eaton Ferry and Salmon Landing. Currently jerkbaits, deep-diving crankbaits, jigs, slow-rolled spinnerbaits, artificial worms, spoons and jigs are catching most of the bass. Later in Fall, as deeper water cools, bait and bass move out to ledges, channel edges, points and humps where flutter spoons, jigs and drop shots are often good choices in 12 to 20 feet of water.

WINTER. Winter will isolate largemouth around slightly deeper structure, flats, points and creek channels. They can be found from 12 to 30 feet deep, around main-lake channel edges, rock piles, stump fields and brush piles. Here they hold, feeding less frequently, awaiting warmer water to return in Spring. Slow presentations are key to getting bites. On warmer days, especially during late afternoons, bass may move shallower to feed.

SPRING. Once water temperatures rise into the low 60's, largemouth will move from deep wintering holes, to shallower water nearby spawning areas. Anglers report good topwater action from mid Spring through Summer, especially early in the morning, and on cloudy days. Vibrating jigs, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits typically get bites just away from the shoreline. At this time they are feeding aggressively in about 2 to 10 feet of water, and preparing for the spawn. Once water warms into the mid to high 60's, they will move into 2 to 5 feet of water, and create nests, then lay their eggs. Immediately afterwards, females move to deeper water and males remain to guard the eggs, and then the fry. After a couple weeks, the males also move to slightly deeper water, around 8 to 18 feet deep. Deep-diving crankbaits, vibrating jigs, plastic worms, jigs, worms, and swimbaits catch bass during this period.

SUMMER. Water temperatures will warm considerably in Summer. Bass will feed shallow, early and late in the day, where they will be caught in 8 to 20 feet of water, on square-bill crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Wacky-rigged stick worms always catch finicky bass when the bite is slow. Largemouth bass here feed on shad, herring, small sunfish and crawfish. During the hotter parts of the day, they are being caught on points, channel edges, and ledges 15 to 35 feet deep. Some of the best reports seem to be from anglers fishing around boat docks and heavy vegetation edges.

Current Report: Fair To Good

Thanks to an on-going stocking program over several decades, the striper population in Lake Gaston is healthy, and plentiful. Anglers report good striper fishing here year round. Here, water temperature and baitfish are the main factors for striper comfort, but feeding always take precedence. In Summer, the eastern half of the lake is where the bulk of the schools of stripers, and baitfish, are being located. In Spring striped bass migrate upriver to spawn, so the western half of the lake comes into play - all the way to John H Kerr Dam tailwaters.

FALL. In Fall, stripers return to shallower water. Early in the day stripers chase bait to the surface and feed aggressively, making this an excellent time for topwater action. They follow schools of bait, which are hanging out in 12 to 30 feet of water. Look for shallow water nearby deeper river channels, and fish them thoroughly. Most any lure that resembles shad will catch striped bass at this time of year. Late Fall will find most of the stripers in 30 to 40 feet of water. Tailwaters from the John Kerr Dam hold healthy concentrations of fish.

WINTER. In Winter, stripers again hang out in deeper water and feed close to the bottom, often as deep as 60 feet. Warm, sunny afternoons occasionally draw stripers shallower, to around 20 or 30 feet deep as they feed on roaming schools of threadfin shad and gizzard shad. Channels in the mid-lake basin, and around Eaton Ferry and Hawtree Creek are holding schools of stripers, especially in the section of lake around the dam. Locate schools of bait, then look for stripers close by. Fish finders, and forward facing sonar, are a big help in locating these roaming schools. Nice stripers are caught while drift fishing with live bait or cut bait. Spoons, blade baits, and heavy hair jigs are also effective this time of year. Due to the stripers slower metabolism this time of year, anglers are triggering more strikes by working baits more slowly.

SPRING. Water temperatures are return to the mid 60's, and that's ideal for the stripers to spawn. In Spring, work tailwaters in the upper end of the lake, and the backs of coves, where there is inflowing water. If they spawn, this is where they will lay eggs in the moving water. They also move into transition zones on the main lake, in 8 to 30 feet of water, feeding on baitfish which are moving toward the shallows. Expect to locate them on mid-depth ledges, flats or points.

SUMMER. Summer months are the ideal time to chase striped bass here. These stripers hang out in deeper water during the heat of the day, 10 to 30 feet deep, early in the season. Much of the time they are holding over deeper, open water, especially in the main channel, from Eaton Ferry Road bridge to the area around the dam. Morning often draws the stripers shallower, so look for them around the 10-foot range as they feed on roaming schools of baitfish. Being successful at fishing for stripers in Summer is a matter of locating schools of bait, and the wolf packs of stripers are likely to be nearby. Later in Fall, expect to locate schools 20 to 30 feet deep. Fish finders, and sonar electronics, are a big help in locating these roaming schools. Nice stripers are being caught while trolling or drift fishing. Spoons, blade baits, crankbaits, live bait and cut bait are all effective here.