Catawba River 2024
Jeff Hollis reply :
I fish the Catawba river in South Carolina, what would be the best lures for clear moving water? The bottom is rocky and full of sunken logs
Jd_Phillips_Fishin reply :
throw finesse worms around cover and current breaks
buzzed bait reply :
never fished the SC stretch too much, but from Mountain Island all the way north, the finesse worm tends to be the #1 bait. Have also had pretty good luck in cooler weather with a floating jerkbait.
the reel ess reply :
I'm from nearby. When I floated down the Wateree, I've had good success on the Rebel Wee Craw crankbait. I just cast it behind logs or rocks that were breaking current on inside bends where the water was a little deeper. River bass are fun and strong. Do you fish the river just behind the Wylie dam? I've been wanting to go wade and fish around Landsford Canal. Maybe put the kayak in and float down to Landsford.
Jeff Hollis reply :
I put in at the dam and float down to riverwalk park at hwy 21,or go a few miles more to river park. It's a long trip down to Landsford Canal state park. I have had a lot of luck with weightless junebug trickworms ,and white flukes.
Jd_Phillips_Fishin reply :
Oh and, 
to the forums
lo n slo reply :
Hey guy's, how's the river flow down that way? They just said Wylie and Norman were both over 6' down due to the drought. Buster Boyd and Allison ramps are shut down. Dont know of any up here on Norman besides Blythe.
Jeff Hollis reply :
I went by Ebenezer boat landing Thursday and all 4 landings were closed , put the kayak in below the dam and fished down to river park and had to get out and walk a couple of times.
the reel ess reply :
On 9/19/2015 at 8:04 AM, lo n slo said:Hey guy's, how's the river flow down that way? They just said Wylie and Norman were both over 6' down due to the drought. Buster Boyd and Allison ramps are shut down. Dont know of any up here on Norman besides Blythe.
I went to Wateree last Monday. It is much better, but I expect it'll drop soon too. They usually draw down in the winter to kill weeds.
lo n slo reply :
I thought I'd dig this old thread up in light of the recent heavy rains across this region. All of the Catawba chain lakes in NC have been restored to near full pool/above full pool levels in the last two weeks. Norman has risen from nearly -6.5' to -2.7' as of this morning. I did see where all ramps on Wylie are now open. How about the rest of you Catawba boys?
Uncle Leo reply :
Walked along the Catawba yesterday in Rock Hill, was amazed the flow was good and river is clear. Lower end of Wylie is clear upper end is muddy, will be out on Wylie in the AM was out yesterday morning and Wylie was clear.
lo n slo reply :
We'll hit Norman in the morning. Last time out there was before all the rain and the lake was still way down, 73-74 degree surface temps. Got my hopes up for an improved bite.
Jd_Phillips_Fishin reply :
Had a tournament on Tillery so I haven't been on any Catawba lakes
lo n slo reply :
The shallow bite was good this morning on Norman. Lake not quite full yet but it was full enough. Temps down to 69-70 degrees. Caught some good ones early on secondary points and later off docks. Cooler temps kept many boaters away from the lake. That was awesome.
Carolina Bassin -
I would like to know what you found at Tillery. We're thinking about heading down there, or Badin next week.
Jd_Phillips_Fishin reply :
On 10/12/2015 at 4:56 AM, lo n slo said:The shallow bite was good this morning on Norman. Lake not quite full yet but it was full enough. Temps down to 69-70 degrees. Caught some good ones early on secondary points and later off docks. Cooler temps kept many boaters away from the lake. That was awesome.
Carolina Bassin -
I would like to know what you found at Tillery. We're thinking about heading down there, or Badin next week.
The fish were all over the bait... they weren't really in creeks, but were close to the openings or a close distance to the opening of creeks.(I hope that made since) Once you find the bait you'll find fish
lo n slo reply :
Hit Norman again this morning around 7:30. Fished up the lake near the state park. Caught a good spot (2.37) on a fluke early then switched to t rigs as the sun got up good We got 8 today, some shallow, others off docks. Water temps 69-70. Cruised into the bank to get un-hung and saw a school of about 8-10 spots cruising the bank. Saw some bass busting shad too. Good times.
lo n slo reply :
Went out on Norman for a few hours this afternoon. Caught 6 spots, 5 of them were decent with the best one right at 2.5 lbs. Water temps still hanging around 69 degrees with a light wind, bluebird sky. Nothing shallow, caught everything off the deep ends of docks in 15-20' of water. We fished up above 150 bridge today, gonna head down towards Davidson creek tomorrow.
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
lo n slo, ever target LM on Norman??
lo n slo reply :
Not really, we just go fishing, mostly soft plastics. Sometime we do run into some lm every now and then but the spot to lm ratio on Norman is high. I did catch a 3 pound lm the other day. I will say the lm that we do catch are usually decent fish. Getting ready to head back out in a few, maybe we'll hook into some today!
EricTheAngler reply :
On 9/12/2015 at 9:05 PM, Jeff Hollis said:I fish the Catawba river in South Carolina, what would be the best lures for clear moving water? The bottom is rocky and full of sunken logs
I live near Lancaster no boat. 
But I have yet to try that some time. Any good places for bass in the Lancaster area shore wise?
the reel ess reply :
On 10/23/2015 at 12:25 AM, EricTheAngler said:I live near Lancaster no boat.
But I have yet to try that some time. Any good places for bass in the Lancaster area shore wise?
Landsford Canal St Park is a wader's dream. When the water level is normal to low, you can wade and walk from rocks to rocks. When it's above normal, I wouldn't try it.
Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNieJlVSw4M
EricTheAngler reply :
I dont really have the funds for waders at the moment, but can you fish when the water is low for rock hopping? Any other places or ponds in Lancaster? Thanks for the help.
the reel ess reply :
On 10/23/2015 at 9:11 PM, EricTheAngler said:I dont really have the funds for waders at the moment, but can you fish when the water is low for rock hopping? Any other places or ponds in Lancaster? Thanks for the help.
Yeah, I meant just wade in. LOL. Yeah, when it's low you can walk. Might get wet, but you can.
You can fish the Lancaster Reservoir Thurs and Sat. You can find it on a map. I've fished it twice and haven't caught a thing. Once walking and once from the kayak. My buddy says he's caught a good many crappie in it. I see cars parked near the 521 bridge that crosses the feeder creek. When you see this, crappie are biting under that bridge. If you get there or upstream, you can fish any day. There's a boat ramp on the other end. Don't get caught fishing up there any day but Thurs or Sat.
Sunrise Lake in Heath Springs is another public lake, managed by DNR. I think the same days apply. I've never fished there, but the map looks like there's clear shoreline for maybe half the pond.
You can go under the Hwy 9 bridge on the Catawba R, but there's not much shoreline you can access.
Andrew Jackson St Park is another option that you can walk a good bit of or even rent a boat. You can paddle or bring a trolling motor and battery. I've fished there too with no luck. I think it's pretty pressured. But it was the dead of winter and frontal conditions. I just had cabin fever. Your odds would get better in a boat.
I'm not afraid to ask permission when I hear of a pond. All they can say is no. Make connections with other fishermen. They'll want to take you along.
EricTheAngler reply :
On 10/24/2015 at 2:09 AM, the reel ess said:Yeah, I meant just wade in. LOL. Yeah, when it's low you can walk. Might get wet, but you can.
You can fish the Lancaster Reservoir Thurs and Sat. You can find it on a map. I've fished it twice and haven't caught a thing. Once walking and once from the kayak. My buddy says he's caught a good many crappie in it. I see cars parked near the 521 bridge that crosses the feeder creek. When you see this, crappie are biting under that bridge. If you get there or upstream, you can fish any day. There's a boat ramp on the other end. Don't get caught fishing up there any day but Thurs or Sat.
Sunrise Lake in Heath Springs is another public lake, managed by DNR. I think the same days apply. I've never fished there, but the map looks like there's clear shoreline for maybe half the pond.
You can go under the Hwy 9 bridge on the Catawba R, but there's not much shoreline you can access.
Andrew Jackson St Park is another option that you can walk a good bit of or even rent a boat. You can paddle or bring a trolling motor and battery. I've fished there too with no luck. I think it's pretty pressured. But it was the dead of winter and frontal conditions. I just had cabin fever. Your odds would get better in a boat.
I'm not afraid to ask permission when I hear of a pond. All they can say is no. Make connections with other fishermen. They'll want to take you along.
Theres bass in the river? I have access to a neighbors pond that has bass in it, so I have that going for me. Thanks for your help.
the reel ess reply :
Yeah, there's bass, bream, crappie, gar, catfish and stripers in that river. probably white bass too. Not sure about that because white perch have displaced the white bass in L Wateree. In that Youtube video I pasted, those guys are catching bass at Landsford Canal St Park. That's On the Catawba R just upstream from the Hwy 9 bridge.
strvmmer reply :
I love a split shot rig with a finesse worm for river bass. I use a light split shot about 12" above the hook and let the current take it.
lo n slo reply :
Been fishing Lake Norman the last two days, predominantly up river. Today we were up around Terrapin Creek when we saw it, a bald eagle. The bird flew in front of us and landed in a tall pine, white head and tail with a dark main body. It was not an Osprey, those pretty common on Norman. We tried, in vain, to get close enough to snap a pic but the bird flew off as we neared the tree. I've heard about bald eagles being spotted up that way but this is the first time for me. It was beautiful and we were in awe. As for the fishing, we've found stained water and 54-55 degree temps. Fishing has been pretty good too, 9 yesterday, 11 today, mostly spots in the 1-2 lb range. Thats all I got right now.
Jd_Phillips_Fishin reply :
I don't know what it is about Terrapin Creek, every time we're up there see some of coolest/strangest stuff
lo n slo reply :
We fished up Terrapin and points north three days last week. Bluff banks seemed to be working. Going back tomorrow, hopefully this little front passing through wont hurt them too much. Blue bird sky and light SW winds. Friday I took some pics of the eagle with my phone. Not real clear zoomed in.
lo n slo reply :
Best I could do
lo n slo reply :
The fish are still biting. We caught 10, mostly on docks today, mostly up around Hicks Creek. Water temps up slightly into the 57-59 degree range. Big fish was a 2 lb spot. Loving this weather!
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