Spotted Bass and Striped Bass Hitting in NC Lakes

Freshwater fishing has really heated up around the Charlotte area with the rise in local water temperatures prompting largemouth and spotted bass, striped bass, crappie, and the various panfish to become very active.

The largemouth and spotted bass bite at Lake Norman has been strong. Bass are prowling the shallows around any shoreline structure-rocks, logs, docks, etc-that is holding small fish. They are striking aggressively, with a very strong bit in the morning and before sunset.

Spotted bass are busting the top of the water and can be caught on topwater plugs, which is a lot of fun. They will smash brightly colored topwater lures near any kind of cover or shoreline.

The other big bite is the striped bass on Lake Norman. I was able to get into some of that action last night. The stripers are running up into the hotholes and can be taken by fluke lures on jig heads or by bloodworms fished on the bottom.

Crappie in the area also hitting in the shallows of the lakes and ponds, and they can be caught on live minnows or small jigs around shoreline structure now. The bream and yellow perch are going shallow too, so it's a great time to be a shore-bound fisherman as an early spring has come this fishing season.

For more fishing articles see my blog A Dash of Salty and my website Surf and Salt