Hi Walleye. Glad you found the site. We're only a few months old but growing daily with over 730 members so far. I hope to see more posts in the Lake and Ponds" forums. I haven't fished in the western part of the state much myself but I hope one of the other guys on the site can assist with an answer for you. Tight lines!

 

walleye, finally get to talk to someone who isn't fishing saltwater. fontana is not an easy lake to fish there are times when the fish will jump into the boat and there are times when you can't pay for a fish. i like to fish for walleyes at night under lights or for smallies when they are running shad up around the rock ledges, any other time its just a guessing game because it's so deep. i cheat and fish the banks of the river arms. seems to work for me.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I also am convinced that Fontana lake is a difficult lake to fish. But its so nice up there that its almost worth the trip from Asheville just for the peace and quiet.

A couple of weekends ago I went up and fished the top most points of Eagle and Hazel creek outflow. Only thing we saw up Eagle was a large cottonmouth . Hazel had a tad more activity. Saw a large (possibly 4lb) smallie cruising a fallen tree. Also saw a decent sized Largemouth cruising the same structure. They were picking up on white texas rigged worms, but not aggressively. Had 2 smallies pick and spit, just couldnt get them hooked.

Im guessing that in the coming month they will drain the lake as usual to a level that should help get to the deep fish. Also perhaps with it getting cooler, the fish will start moving closer to shore and to the rock structures. At least, that is what I would expect. I attempted to vertical jig 100fow for anything and just couldnt get any activity. Has anyone had success with live bait by chance?

Thanks again for the replies.

 

sounds like were in the same boat walleye. we fished fontana and had no luck, but it is really nice out there, and im itchin to get back and try and get anything that will bite. holler if you need a fishin buddy. anybody else got any tips?

 

No cottonmouths at Fontana. Sorry

Right now walleye are being caught on Rapala ice jigs

 

I was about to say the same thing. Could very well have been a rattlesnake though, or just a harmless water snake...

 

hi walleye my reply might be a little late but the spawn should start pretty soon,i fish fontana all the time,whether for pleasure or the local bass tournaments.It's size and depth can be intimadating.As for the annual spawn i fish exclusively on the tuckaseegee which is the tributary that runs through bryson city.late winter alot of ppl use ice jigs ore nils master jigs,i personally like to use a mepps lil cleo in blu chrome it has a slower fall that i can stay in touch with.the biggest advantage is to find the shad schools,which fontana has huge schools of baitfish kinda hard to believe with it being a high mountain resovoir.as for the spawn i like to use small bright soft plastics and cranks and jerkbaits,later in the season i go a bit bigger3 to 4 in flukes tube grubs,alson with the hardbaits too.i prefer more natural colors at this time,chrm/blu,blk/slv,shad,perch,wht,along with chartruse,firetiger.hope this is some help,i'm by far no pro but these guidelines have produced for me.best of luck and hope tha best!