Most of the reservoirs on the Catawba and Yadkin river systems are stocked with striped bass, and many of them have tailrace or river-run fisheries. Fishermen can take stripers well up the Catawba River out of Lake Rhodhiss, in the Lake Hickory tailrace below Rhodhiss Dam, in the Lookout Shoals tailrace below Oxford Dam (Lake Hickory), in the Lake Norman tailrace below Lookout Shoals Dam, in the Mountain Island Lake tailrace below Cowans Ford Dam (Lake Norman).
On the Yadkin system, the Tuckertown Lake tailrace below High Rock Dam, the Badin Lake tailrace below Tuckertown Dam, the Falls Lake tailrace below Badin Dam and the Lake Tillery tailrace below Falls Dam have striper fisheries.
Kayak launch locations may be as simple as a throw-in from a public road or in many cases, launching from a public access site. For a complete listing of public boat launches, visit the North Carolina Wildlife Web site at www.ncwildlife.org/Boating/WheretoBoat.
Stripers feed more actively when water is being released through a dam upstream, but they will also bite when the opportunity arises. Because these headwaters are typically not accessible by conventional watercraft, kayaks make excellent venues for targeting riverine stripers. Look for stripers to hold in deep-water current breaks and eddies formed by large rocks. Target them by casting bucktail jigs, large swimbaits or soak fresh cut baits in these areas.
Schedules for water releases through dams can be found at www.duke-energy.com/lakes/scheduled-flow-release and www.alcoa.com/yadkin.
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