Kerr Lake catfish don’t mind the thermometer

North Carolina guide has 80 on noodles one day, 18 on rod and reel the next day

The only thing hotter than the water at Kerr Lake on the North Carolina-Virginia border might be the catfish bite.

Chris Bullock of Fountain, N.C., who runs Kerr Crappie and Catfish Guide Service, was hired by two gentlemen this past Saturday who wanted to catch as many eating-sized catfish as they could legally take home.

“They had someone in their community who got sick and was wrapped up in hospital bills. And they wanted to catch as many catfish as they could take home to hold a benefit,” said Bullock (252-902-4039). “I told ‘em the best way was with noodles (floats), so I took another gentleman with us on Saturday, and they took home 80, a mix of channels and blues.

Soaked white perch, venison have been great Kerr Lake catfish baits

Bullock fished both days in the Clarksville, Va., area, and Virginia allows a creel limit of 20 catfish per day in total — so the 80 fish was a four-man limit.

“We were using (cut) white perch and venison soaked in Catfish Nectar,” he said. “That was as good a catfish bite as we’ve had this time of year. Catching 20 to 40 on noodles in a day is normal, but 80 is unheard of.

“The next day, we went back and fished with rod and reel, and we caught 18, all blues, up to 30 pounds. I thought we’d catch eight or 10, but not 18. But we had figured them out noodling.”

Bullock said he was floating his baits under noodles in 12 to 16 feet of water over water than was 18 to 24 feet deep. The next day, he fished four baits without weight behind planer boards suspended in the same areas, over the same depths. He also fished four baits on the bottom.

“Before lunch, just about all of our bites came off the suspended baits,” he said. “After lunch, about all of them came off the baits that were on the bottom. It shows what you can do if you can find a big group of fish like we did.”