Thread: Walleye lakes in nc?

Originally Posted by Crewmax42

We used to fish Lake Hiwassee a lot. Walleye could be taken using dipsy divers to get our lures down. We met a couple of wise old-timers that caught a cooler full using some sort of wire braid line. Not sure what lures, but, usually some flavor of Rapala is in order. Beautiful, deep, TVA lake (like Fontana). Nantahala lake has a species calles Kokanee salmon that might be taken while trolling. However rare, the NC striper record was caught out of Hiawassee.

Thank you for the information, looking to travel a bit further onlong weekends. Will do some research on that also. Planto start running 3 sets of planer boards for 6 lines (stillneed to lookup laws if thats legal) with some live bait rigs and some with various baits to start. May be a couple months before iget to some of these. Thank you

Originally Posted by micorps

Thank you for the information, looking to travel a bit further onlong weekends. Will do some research on that also. Planto start running 3 sets of planer boards for 6 lines (stillneed to lookup laws if thats legal) with some live bait rigs and some with various baits to start. May be a couple months before iget to some of these. Thank you

Hiwassee is a very deep and clear lake. There are camping spots around, but beware. If they pull water your boat can wind up on shore by morning. Below the dam lies Lake Appalachia. I have never caught them, as I have only fished it a couple of times. But I would bet it has a lot of walleye. It is a riverine lake with a lot of sunken timber (from years ago logging).

Hey Micorps,
If you go right across the line into tenn, lake Wateree was supposed to have some very nice ones. Also agree with previous post. Hear about quite a few caught in James.

I have been to Fontana 4 times trying for Walleye. Have only got one in all that time. Best time to go is in the colder months but my only opportunity is in the early summer. Many Spots while trying though, occasional rainbow when out of the main lake.. The lake is very deep. I was using inline planers, using tadpoles or snap on weights to get "deep". Running crawler harnesses, spoons, and cranks. Lead core and/or down riggers would be very handy here, especially during the summer. Also depending on where you normally had fished for Walleye, they are not large compared to Mille Lacs, LOTW, Winni, GB, Lake Erie, etc . . .

Also would suggest Prince or Almond for a marina. Prince's seemed to have more knowledge about Walleye spots and tactics. Both have cabins and rental boats.

Originally Posted by NickPapagiorgio

I have been to Fontana 4 times trying for Walleye. Have only got one in all that time. Best time to go is in the colder months but my only opportunity is in the early summer. Many Spots while trying though, occasional rainbow when out of the main lake.. The lake is very deep. I was using inline planers, using tadpoles or snap on weights to get "deep". Running crawler harnesses, spoons, and cranks. Lead core and/or down riggers would be very handy here, especially during the summer. Also depending on where you normally had fished for Walleye, they are not large compared to Mille Lacs, LOTW, Winni, GB, Lake Erie, etc . . .

Also would suggest Prince or Almond for a marina. Prince's seemed to have more knowledge about Walleye spots and tactics. Both have cabins and rental boats.

Thank you for the reply, yeah planned to run two downriggers and 3 sets of planers with egg sinkers above crawler harnesses. Never fished the larger lakes you mentioned as mn has so many small lakes with great walleye fishing. I appreciate the info. Just need to buy the down riggers, which i will do before i make the trip. I imagine they get shallower in the colder months.

I can vouch for Fontanna, although the size is not like up north. Jigs with night crawlers or ice jigs under the bridges at night.