Fishing Report For Mountain Island Lake, NC

By Rick Seaman

January 31, 2025

Popular Fish Species Reports
Mountain Island Lake Fishing Video
Available Fish Species
Today's Weather & Forecast
Boat Launch Ramps
Fishing License
Map
Contact Info

Fishing Report Mountain Island Lake, NC

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species Mountain Island Lake, NC

Largemouth Bass

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Very Good

Anglers fishing Mountain Island Lake report good topwater action from mid Spring through Summer, especially early in the morning, and on cloudy days. The lake is loaded with forage fish and baitfish, so the bass are growing rapidly and are aggressively chasing lures. Many tournament anglers detail nice catches of largemouth on stick worms, when the bite is slow. And many reports indicate that rigging stick worms wacky-style out-produces a Texas-style setup.

Blue Catfish

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

Every year reports of bigger and bigger blue catfish coming out of Mountain Island Lake. Blues, over 40 pounds are not uncommon and there are bigger ones swimming these waters. Their preferred diet is fish, so cut bait is an excellent choice for catching blue catfish. Stout rods with 20 lb to 65 lb line is ideal. Fishing for blue catfish is often productive around any kind of structure, especially when water is flowing. Road beds, creek channels and rocky points are all good places to begin. Use a slip sinker or Carolina rig setup.

Bluegill

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

Everyone loves catching bluegill. At Mountain Island Lake, bluegill are particularly fun because they grow to larger than normal size. Small bluegills are a primary food source for predator fish in the fishery, as well as nice table fare for anglers. Local anglers report good size bluegill being caught on small pieces of nightcrawlers, on a small hook tied to light line. Bring the kids and let them get hooked on fishing!

Mountain Island Lake Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, spotted bass, channel catfish, blue catfish, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill, white perch and striped bass at Mountain Island Lake in North Carolina.

Mountain Island Lake is a 3,200-acre reservoir, with over 60 miles of shoreline, offering respectable bass, catfish, bluegill, crappie and perch fishing. Lots of finger channels and bays around the lake are lined with boat docks - many of which have brush piles as crappie attractors. Bass tend to hang around these food sources.

Primary fish species to catch

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Today's Weather & Forecast

Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

Click here for boat ramps available at this lake.

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".