Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 248 of 293

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September 2, 2026

Lake Norman’s crappie fishery has improved over the past half-dozen years, with fishermen like Chris Nichols reporting greater numbers of fish, as well as the quality fish they’ve caught in the past.

No answers just yet

Biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission don’t have any solid reason for the uptick in crappie fishing in Lake Norman. […]

Getting a bait back under a pier or boathouse is important to reach crappie that position themselves back in the shade under the cover of a platform or boat parked in a slip.

Put a bull’s eye on docks

Dan Kibler

With crappie holding on brush or around the pier’s pilings, Neeley and Nichols go to light-action spincasting outfits spooled with 4-pound test mono. […]

Cover: March 2012 (NC) – Freshwater

North Carolina Sportsman

Spring has sprung, and that means great action for red drum and crappie. […]

Lake of the Month: Lake Marion

Jeff Samsel

No matter what species of freshwater fish you’re fond of chasing, you’ll find it biting at Santee Cooper’s upper lake this month. […]

Now is the right time for Lake Murray shellcrackers

Phillip Gentry

Lake Murray’s shellcrackers are bunching up in groups and getting ready for the spring spawn, and anglers like Brad Taylor are having a field day catching them. […]

Shellcrackers spawn around different kinds of cover, but they can usually be found close to beds of freshwater mussels or clams.

Next, please

Phillip Gentry

Long, rocky points — especially those that provide some underwater cover in the form of stumps, brush or rockpiles — tend to be very busy places on Lake Murray during the spring. […]

Bluegills have characteristics similar to shellcrackers, but they lack teeth in the throat that shellcrackers use to crush shells.

Although they share many common characteristics and are commonly lumped together in many circumstances under the handle “bream,” bluegill and shellcrackers have distinctly different characteristics, especially when targeting one specific species while fishing. […]

Corkin’ ’crackers

Phillip Gentry

Tackle and rigging for shellcrackers can be as simple as a No. 2 hook with a couple of split-shot up the line. Brad Taylor uses this type rig on many of his rods with a couple of simple modifications. […]

Most of the crappie in Kerr Reservoir in March will be found on deep structure.

Lake of the Month: Kerr Reservoir

Craig Holt

John H. Kerr Reservoir once had the reputation as a top-drawer lake to catch largemouth bass, striped bass and catfish. […]

Kenny Allen trolled up these two slab crappie at Jordan Lake.

Unlimited Slab Success

Dan Kibler

A lot of anglers might think that Kenny Allen of Brown Summit missed out on the heyday of crappie fishing at B. Everett Jordan Lake in the 1990s, a decade after the reservoir opened and was quickly labeled one of the Southeast’s best fisheries for both crappie and largemouth bass. […]