[derekp]

I need some help.

I am planning a trip down to Mattamuskeet in October so I got a few questions...

1) Is it as good as I hear?
2) Any area of the lake better than the rest, like north, south, etc.?
3) Best places to put in? I will be fishing from a trolling motor powered canoe so I don't have to have a good ramp. Just a place where the car won't get broken into.
4) Any good hotels to stay a night or 2?

Thanks in advance. Maybe someday I can give you guys good places for trout/smallmouth up in the mountains.

Derek

 

[DBank]

Derek, check the regs on the lake. It closes for fishing during duck seasons. There are three public landings that are marked on most maps with any amount of detail. Most of the accommodations are hunting lodges.

 

[derekp]

DBank, thanks for the info.

Looks like nobody fishes it. Sounds good to me!

You are right, it is closed from November to Feb so looks like I will barely make it.

 

[sinker man]

I don't have any experience with the lake but the fishing in Oregon Inlet should be good for trout along about that time if you get the opportunity. The SW side of the bridge has a flat you can wade out on and cast into Green Channel. It should be a good place to catch decent size trout on a fly if you are into it and have the opportunity.

 

[sundrop]

Mattamuskeet is a shallow.. I mean SHALLOW lake. Many folks wade the lillypads for bass. The main highway, the ONLY hiway..LOL Crosses the lake in the middle and has lots of pull offs and places that look easy to launch from. I dont know where folks generally go. I park my car and fish the cross overs that pass beneath the road and do alot of crabbing when I am there. The lake is brackish so you have to deal with crabs. Not much rain around here in a long time so I dont know what kind of shape that shallow lake is in. Pretty place anyway...very desolite so make sure you are prepared for emergencies..

 

[DBank]

Yeah, I went down there about a month ago with a friend of mine that had been bugging me to go with him for a long time. The lake is (as Sundrop mentioned) very shallow; 6 - 7 feet at it's deepest points - when the water is at normal level. I have a Ranger Ghost that only draws 8 " and the water was so low when I was there that we were bottoming out and I could not run the engine for fear of taking in mud and clogging the water pump. We had to do what we could on the trolling motor. We caught several cats and a grinnel. The bass fishing is supposed to be really good there, I did not fish for them that day. The lake is 18 miles long and 6 miles wide, the largest natural lake in NC. The two theories are that it is a meteorite depression, or the result of a peat burn that lasted several decades. Either way, it is actually a couple of feet below sea level, hence the Pamlico Sound actually seeps into the lake making it a brackish body of water. It does have some very large blue crabs in it. It's not uncommon to get crabs that are 10 to 12 inches from point to point. So when all else fails, go crabbing. It is out in the boonies and there is very little around for accommodations other than hunting "lodges". I would look around Englehard for a place to stay. Good luck, hope you fill your cooler. Be sure to tell us about it when you get back.

 

[derekp]

BBank, Sundrop, and Sinker Man,

Thanks for the info. I have scoured the web and found squat about fishing this lake. Looks like these fish get little pressure so maybe a mediocre large mouth fisherman like myself has a good chance of doing some "catching" instead of my usual "fishing".

Right now the trip is on the drawing board but if/after I get back, I will give you guys an update.

Thanks,

Derek