[carpenter334]

We fished our normal creek channels in south Norman and it appears that the large White Perch thing has eluded us. WE only caught a very few tiny ones. We did catch one big crappie and a few nice cats for the fillet knife. The McGuire discharge action was slow too. We did notice bass crashing shad up against rip rap in south Norman this weekend. Shad raps, Lil Fishies, Ice Flys, and small Rooster Tails will get em. I will soon begin trolling my deep running Shad Raps in water 15-20'. The Raps run about 8' deep in the zone. This summer I am going to prospect for big blue gills with Beetle Spins in South Norman. I gladly share and accept advice on the lower Lake Norman action. I'll see ya out there early in my orange Monarch.

 

[Hookeye]

Hello Carpenter334;

My wife and I are going to night fish Norman, launching at the 150
Pinnacle ramps.
Wer'e fishing for bass using artificial bait.
Gonna start at 8:00 pm. And I have a few tricks up the old sleeve,
but I'm wondering if you could share some of your own with us?
I've some glow in the dark roostertails that have worked really well
on other lakes for sure ! Also I'm throwing some jitterbugs, but wondering if you could shed a little light on the fishing down there
for us? My strategy is to go straight accross from the launch to a island
and west from there into a cove, and then cross under the bridge south side towards the marina. Then if no luck there, go down towards what looked like a nice cove and try our luck there.
We're not even three miles from the launch as far as I can tell.
Just wondering if that sounds like a good plan to you?
I'd appreciate any input on this little excursion.
Your fellow angler
Hookeye

 

[carpenter334]

Hookeye,

It sounds like you've done this before. You may give this some thought: Small Bream and minnows are up under docks this time of year. Especially ones with light shining into the water and brush. Baitfish looking lures fished erraticly with very little weight might get em. I'm thinking Creme Lil Fishie or Power grubs/tubes on 1/8 or 1/16 oz jigheads. Also black or dark colored jig and pig around docks catches bass at night. For some reason dark is sometimes better for slow nightime presentation. If the bite is slow, downsize everything to a more ultrlight finnese presentation. Another low visibility nighttime thing is spinnerbaits. Colorado blades vibrate more than willow leaf and fish feel that in their lateral line. I've heard you can get em this way too. I would try a dark color first.
Now let's talk depth. The fact is this. Deep water is the home of the fish! Bass like many wild creatures follow well established migration routes between seasonal deep water haunts 30-40 ft deep and shallow water. These routes lead to spawning areas and feeding areas. Often they will stage up just outside the shallow (10 or less) feeding area on a point or hump or adjacent to some structure like a drop off. Then when the pressure or light or temp suits them, they will move on up shallow to do thier thing and then return to deeper water. Sometimes this movement can occur several times daily. So if your not catching under docks, find the drop off just outside where the water is a bit deeper. Keep working this way until you locate them and fish that depth. Remember rule # 1...Never fish where there are no fish. Good luck. I hope she catches Ol bucket mouth!

 

[Hookeye]

Carpenter334;
With many thanks from my wife and I!
I noticed everything in your post to be very accurate, and thanks again
for shedding some light on the subject!
My little game plan did'nt work so well, we thought we'd never get
some fish in the boat!
Sure as you said , I started to fish anywhere there was light.
Around midnight is when we finally got one in the livewell.
My wife done it again! I threw a variety of spinners, roostertails,.....
Only to find that my wife stuck to an old splitshot rig, 4" worm to land it. Drifting from one dock to the other and fishin dropoffs , we landed
5 fish within 2 and a half hours! It was a challenge for both of us, but
a very good one, as we gained knowledge from the early hours on
such a pretty lake! Thanks again for sharing your tips with us!
Lookin forward to exploring some more on Lake Norman!
One more thing. The biggun got away, right at the boat as I horsed
it in too green, and all were released for another day
Thanks again
Hookeye

 

[carpenter334]

Hookeye,

I'm not a great bass fisherman and rarely target largemouth although I do fish for spotted bass sometimes. I usually go for striper, white perch, big cats, and spotted bass. We fished for big bluegills this weekend but caught only 2 bass. I want to find bigger blugills in Norman with beetle spins on ultralight tackle. Once I've figured this one out, I intend to determine if a viable crappie fishery still exists in LKN. Shad are crashing the rip rap and schooling early in the mouth of Ramsey creek although no surface feeding stripers were observed. I think Norman has plenty of fish but consistent catching from season to season is the challenge for me. This spring was awesome but my luck has been off a bit lately. Now that it is getting hot, I'm thinking earlier and deeper.
Look for a 1950s book called Spoonplugging by Buck Perry of Hickory NC. It has taught me a few things about catching bass. I'm glad to hear that your wife likes to fish. MY wife and I had a great time together this weekend too.
Andy

 

[Tyleracer]

I live pretty close to the McGuire discharge and fish there regularly.. I also go for the islands and shoals nearby. I usually don't have too bad of luck- but today, i only caught two largemouths and a few bluegill and bream.
Tyler