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New Size Limit on Lake Norman Stripers in Summer
Stories By Gus North Carolina Wildlife Resources Shop the Clearance Department at Basspro.com
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Edit Lake Norman Fishing Report Updated June 23, 2009
Due to the recent rains, Lake Norman and the Catawba River Basin Lakes have been at near flood stage levels. As with low water, high water conditions also present a unique challenge for boaters.
Picture Courtesy of Capt.
Gus Gustafson
1/8th tsp. cayenne pepper
1 ½ pounds catfish filets, cut in 1 inch pieces 3 to 5 slices chopped bacon 1 cup chopped onion ½ cup chopped green bell pepper 1 28-ounce can tomatoes. 1 cup water 1/4 cup ketchup 2 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce 1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. black pepper ½ tsp. thyme Wash catfish filets and cut in 1 inch pieces. Set aside. Fry bacon in a large heavy pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook until tender. (Do not add the Cayenne Pepper until you add the fish. If it cooks the entire time, it may be too spicy and hot.) Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the fish and cayenne pepper and cook for another 20 minutes. Add water if needed. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve hot with crackers or cornbread. A Florida gulf coast charter boat captain offers this fried striper recipe. Try it; you'll like it! Capt. Rick's Spanish Style Striper
1/8 cup olive oil
1 diced (or sliced) white onion fresh garlic to taste 1 chopped red bell pepper 1 tsp. cayenne pepper or paprika salt to taste 1 cup white wine Heat olive oil to medium high. Add onion, fresh minced garlic and red bell pepper. Sauté until tender. Place fish filets directly on top of the simmering mixture. Allow fish to cook approximately 7 minutes. Turn filet over. Add 1 cup of white wine and allow to evaporate. Add salt and cayenne to taste, and add more bell pepper if desired. Cover for 10 minutes with heat on very low. If fish portions are large, cook a little longer. The Hot Spot of the week is the mouth of Mountain Creek. Stripers are hitting deep diving lures on down riggers or while trolling with lead core line. White perch fishing is excellent for anglers fishing near bottom with minnows and pieces of cut bait. Cat fishing and bass fishing is very good. The lake's water temperature is in the mid eighties and the lake level is 97.3 or down 3.7 feet' from full pond. Tips from Gus! Bait tanks warm quickly in the summer
sun, and baits will die. Shade tank and add bottles of
frozen water to lower tank water temperature. Blue back
herring, shiners, black salty's and goldfish are hardy
warm weather live baits.
Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' With Gus! call 704 617 6812. For additional information, e-mail him at Gus@lakenorman.com
Questions and Answers about Lake Norman Fishin' with Gus! /Frequently Asked Questions
April 22, 2006 (Updated) Fishin' With Capt. Gus! - Frequently
Asked Questions
April 23, 2006 Everyone seems to have questions related to fishing on
Norman and other area Lakes. Some of the most frequently
asked questions are addressed below.
Up north, we had a closed season on bass fishing. What are the regulations on Lake Norman? Lake Norman does not have a closed fishing season. Anglers can fish year round for any species, except grass carp. Where is Blue Heron Island? There are two islands just south of Markers D4 and D6 in Reed Creek. Blue Heron Island is the smaller of the two and the closest one to Marker D6. It is a major rookery for Great Blue Heron that live in the lower part of Lake Norman. Since the island is off limits to visitors during nesting season, bring binoculars to view the birds. I see signs and buoys that say "No Wake." How fast can a boat go in a "No Wake" zone? "No wake" means, "No Wake!" If you can see a wake behind the boat, you are going too fast. Boat wakes are like fingerprints. Each one is different. Wakes might vary with the way the boat is loaded. Some boats might produce a wake at one mile per hour and others at three. I read that grass carp are stocked in Lake Norman. Are they edible? Yes, they are edible, hard fighting fish. But, it is illegal to have one in your possession. Grass carp are stocked to control the spread of Hydrilla and other exotic weeds. What types of fish are stocked in Lake Norman? Striped bass and grass carp are the only species stocked regularly in Lake Norman. Bass, catfish, perch and crappie reproduce naturally each year, so regular stockings are not required. When is the best time to fish? Fish bite year round on Lake Norman. Spring and early winter are preferred fishing periods for many anglers. Regardless of the time of year, get an early start. Fish seem to bite best when the sun begins to rise. Daylight is also the time that little, if any, pleasure boat traffic is on the lake. Are rumors true that divers have seen giant catfish swimming in the deep water near the dam? It depends on how big a giant catfish is! Reports of big catfish sightings abound each year. The biggest catfish ever caught on a rod and reel in Lake Norman weighed eighty-five pounds. Some anglers surmise that a five foot, hundred pound Arkansas blue cat will be caught this year. How do I get help in an emergency if my boat is in a dead cell phone area? The old stand-by is to wave your arms, a flag, shirt, etc. when a vessel passes. Another option is to install a marine band VHF radio. Channel 16 is monitored by the Lake Patrol, Coast Guard Auxiliary, NC Wildlife Officers and other boaters equipped with VHF radios. The Lake Norman Striper Swipers annual Spring Classic Striper Tournament is scheduled for April 29th and 30th. The captain's meeting will be at the New Stutts Marina in Mooresville, NC. This two day event has been well attended in recent years and will culminate the 2005/2006 striper tournament season. Details are available at http://www.lnssfishn.com/ or by calling Tommy Messick at 704 634 6410. The Hot Spots of the week are the Reed/Davidson Creek areas at the lake's lower end. Stripers, largemouth, spots, white perch and catfish have been very active. Stripers and bass are feeding on shallow points, while perch and cats are cruising the edges of creek channels. The lake is down 4.5 feet from full pond and the water surface temperature is in the high 60's and low 70's. Tips from Capt. Gus: If your boat battery is more than two years old, it should be replaced. Regardless of the age, Spring is the time to check the fluid level and fill as needed.
I do not have a boat. Where can I fish from the
shore on Lake Norman?
Public fishing is allowed at the McGuire Nuclear Plant off Highway 73, at Plant Marshall off Highway 150 and at the Lake Norman State Park near Troutman, NC. What am I likely to catch on Lake Norman?
Largemouth bass, spotted bass, stripers, catfish, white perch, carp, crappie and bream. How big are the fish in Lake Norman?
Some are really big. A state record blue catfish was taken last year. It weighed eighty-five pounds. There are those that think (?) a hundred pound plus, blue is lurking near the dam. Several twenty pound striped bass were caught during tournaments this year. The state record spotted bass came from Norman. It tipped the scales at six pounds-five ounces. Can I catch trout, walleye and white bass?
High summer water temperatures combined with low levels of dissolved oxygen make it all but impossible for trout and walleye to survive in Lake Norman. White bass use to be plentiful, but have practically disappeared in recent years. Is fishing better above the Highway 150 Bridge?
Not, necessarily! There are times when Ramsey, Reed, Mountain and Hagers Creeks produce a lot of fish. Also, both hot water discharges are located below the 150 Bridge. Many people fish the north end of the lake because it has less open water and is easier to fish on windy days. When is the best time to fish?
As a rule fish bite best early in the morning and again just before dark. But, there are many occasions when fish feed aggressively through out the day. Spring is a preferred time by many, because fish are hungry and in shallow water. Night fishing is popular in the summer. Stripers like cold water, winter is a good time to fish for them I thought Striped Bass were a saltwater fish?
They are, but they swim up freshwater rivers to spawn. Stripers are able to adapt and can live in freshwater lakes when conditions are right. Most land-locked striped bass are stocked by wildlife agencies. As is the case on Lake Norman. Where can I get a North Carolina State Fishing
License?
Walmart, Dicks, The Denver Sportsman and Piedmont Bait & Tackle as well as most bait shops that surround the lake sell fishing/hunting licences. Licenses can also be acquired on line at www.ncwildlife.org . Future columns will attempt to answer other questions. If
you have one of your own, email Fishing With Gus at
Gus@lakenorman.com .
Tips from Gus!
Freshwater spinning outfits work best when spooled with
monofilament line that is less than twelve pound test.
Baitcasting reels can handle heavier line, fifteen to thirty
pound is often used depending on fishing conditions.
Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is a
member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and a
full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC.
Visit his web site, Fishin' with Gus! at http: //www.lakenormanstriperfishing.com/
or call 704 489 0763. For additional information, e-mail him
at
Gus@lakenorman.com
October 2005
Catawba Cat, holds more catfish world records than
any other angler on earth. He has so many in fact,
that he was running out of world record class
catfish to catch. That is why he teamed up with a
state biologist and together they discovered twelve
new species of cats. Worldwide there had always been
100 different types of True Catfish. Thanks to their
new findings, anglers now have one hundred and
twelve breeds of cats to fish catch.
As famous a cat fisherman as Catawba is, his brother
"Deere John" is a equally famous hunter. Deere John
is famous for tracking and killing thousand pound
hogs, trapping blue tailed fox, golden wolves and
even albino coyotes. Some might recall a story in
one of those duck hunting magazines about him
shooting waterfowl on or near Jane Fonda's
plantation in Coastal South Carolina.
Seldom do the brothers ever get together to fish or
hunt. But, last May they had fishing on their minds.
They met at a fish camp on Santee Cooper. Catawba
wanted to impress his brother Deere, so he took him
to the diversion cannel to catch a few bait mullet.
They were fishing snatch hooks tied to ten pound
test spinning outfits. The first mullet Deere John
snagged took off like a scalded wildcat. It broke
the light line before it had time to travel fifteen
feet. Catawba went back to the truck and got a
twenty pound rig. A big mullet broke the line again.
The only tackle left was the eighty pound gear that
Catawba used to catch his world record catfish. It
was to heavy to cast, so he just slung the big gang
hook into the cannel and started reeling like crazy.
Within, minutes a half dozen mullet were collected.
They varied in size up to thirty-six pounds. That is
when Catawba said. "Lets go sturgeon
fishing!!!!!!!!!!" "Sturgeon in South Carolina?
Give me a break", said Deere John.
"Yes", Catawba said. "There are sturgeon, and they
are biggest of all freshwater fish in Santee
Cooper". He explained that rumors had surfaced from
time to time, that the Department of Natural
Resources had stocked "Olympian Russian Sturgeon"
in the lower lake in the late 1940's. Catawba
reckoned, that they ought to be really big by now,
maybe a thousand pounds or more. So they took their
tub full of mullet to the deep water near the power
plant. Catawba tail hooked a mullet and lobbed it as
far away from the bank as he could. The twenty-pound
mullet looked like a striper splashing on the waters
surface. Immediately, the big bait headed toward
Charleston Harbor.
It didn't get far before a gigantic explosion sent a
plume of water thirty feet into the South Carolina
sky. Catawba's, Deere brother set the hook and held
on tightly to the rod. It took all of Deere John's
strength just to keep from getting pulled into the
water. The battle lasted for hours. The unknown prey
splashed every now and than but never cleared the
water. Catawba couldn't figure out what was hooked.
He hoped it was a sturgeon, but wasn't sure. All he
knew, was that Deere John had never seen an animal
that was any bigger than this one.
Day turned into night and the epic battle continued.
At no time has a freshwater fish fought so hard for
so long. As the sun rose, the fish appeared to be
tiring, it was closer to the bank than it had ever
been. Soon it was close enough to see the enormous
scales on its back. Scales the size of giant Moon
Pies. Catawba's Deere Brother continued to apply
pressure on the fish. Finally, they saw the fury in
its eyes. About that time the fish saw John and went
ballistic. That's when Catawba stuck the fish with
his gaff. The fish rolled over and over until it
yanked the gaff out of Catawba's hands. Than a loud
explosion sounded. It was the nosie made when Deere
Johns eighty pound test line broke. The fish swirled
before disappearing below the waters surface. The
brothers were tired and shaken, but relieved that
they weren't killed during what turn out to be a
horrific experience.
After the waters settled and everyone's nerves
settled down, Catawba examined the remaining end of
the parted line. What he found was slim, catfish
slime. The last thirty feet of line was coated with
globs of dripping slime. Later, the state biologist
confirmed what Catawba had surmised all along. His
Deere brother had fought and lost what would have
been a new world record blue catfish. The monster
that got away probably exceeded a thousand pounds.
Most anglers shrugged off the tale of the battle as
just another of Catawba's yarns. Siting the fact
that catfish didn't have scales, particularly scales
the size of moon pies. Catawba counters the
disbelievers by agreeing with them. He tells them,
"eating size catfish don't have scales, but thousand
pounders do".
...........Be reminded that small fish have large
Tales!
Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and a full time professional striper fishing guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Striper Fishin' With Gus!, at http://www.lakenormanstriperfishing.com/ or call 704 617 6812. For additional information e-mail him at Gus@lakenorman.com
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 1) — Striped bass anglers fishing
Lake Norman will be able to keep four stripers of any
size per day from July 1 to Sept. 30.
The new regulation, approved by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in March, allows anglers fishing Lake Norman to harvest striped bass that otherwise might not survive if caught and released during the summer. From Oct. 1 through June 30, the old regulation remains
in effect: Striped bass smaller than 20 inches must be
released, and anglers must adhere to a daily creel limit
of four stripers.
In previous years, striped bass anglers on Lake Norman typically would catch and release many stripers until they caught four that exceeded the 20-inch minimum length limit. The catch-and-release practice had an unintended effect of killing some of the released striped bass during the summer because stripers are less tolerant of summer conditions than other game fishes. "Stripers caught in the summer on Lake Norman often are
reeled in from deep, cool water," said Christian Waters,
Piedmont fisheries research coordinator for the Wildlife
Commission. "When they're reeled to the surface, it's
like they're getting heat stroke because the water
temperature at the surface is so warm. They're also
getting stressed from being hauled out of the water and
handled."
The regulation to provide summertime relief to Lake
Norman's striped bass comes at the request of two area
fishing clubs, the Lake Norman Striper Swipers and the
Norman Fisheries Alliance, whose members believe striped
bass mortality during summer is significant.
"Until now, anglers had to release undersized and
stressed stripers, per the old regulation," said Gus
Gustafson, president of Lake Norman Striper Swipers.
"The released stripers swim away, only to die a short
time later, then float to the surface. The dead fish
could have been excellent table fare, but had to be left
floating to become dessert for turkey buzzards and
ospreys."
Gustafson said that area fishing clubs planned to help
notify all anglers fishing Lake Norman of the new
regulation by distributing handouts at local bait and
tackle shops, sporting goods outlets and marinas. Clubs
also will encourage compliance with the new regulation
through seminars, newsletters and Web sites, he said.
"The Striper Swipers are elated over the new regulation.
It is talked about at every meeting," Gustafson said.
"The majority of our members don't fish for stripers
during the summer months. Those that do are encouraged
to keep the stripers they catch, up to the creel limit,
then go catfishing or home."
Waters said voluntary compliance with the new regulation
was important because the Wildlife Commission can
regulate only the harvest of striped bass and cannot
stop anglers from catching striped bass during the
summer months without banning all fishing. For this rule
to be effective, anglers will have to be diligent in
targeting striped bass on a limited basis, he said.
"This rule will only have its intended effect if anglers
either stop fishing after they catch their four stripers
or they change tactics and fish for other species,"
Waters said. "But legally, anglers can catch and release
as many fish as they want, so it will be up to the
anglers to police themselves."
Beginning in 2006, this regulation will be effective
from June 1 to Sept. 30.
For more information on fishing in North Carolina's
public freshwaters, visit the Wildlife Commission's Web
site,
www.ncwildlife.org or call the Division of Inland
Fisheries, (919) 733-3633. |
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