Walleye in North Carolina?

Hey all,

Been fishing Walleye all my life, well at least since I was 5 or 6 years old, tournament fished for over 10 years and was reasonably successful with a consistent yearly rating in the top 10 to 15 for a number of those years with over 600 registered anglers.
Now I am far from the best and really know nothing about Walleye fishing and actually joined this board for the Crappie fishing.............My story continues!!
Lived in Canada, Northern Alberta all my life and moved to North Carolina seven years ago, met the love of my life that didn't involve a boat and made the hard choice between seven months of winter (perching in the winter is really awesome) or moving to a climate where I can fish in unfrozen water at Christmas time.........Our big lakes here never freeze, how great is that!
Well unless you’re a Northerner you really have no idea what "hard" water is all about. I know just how exciting it sounds to you but really........I don't need to say any more!!!!
Just think ice augers, walking in 20 to 30 below weather pulling a sled, then drilling 200 to 300 hundred holes through 3' to 4' of ice never mind the wind and even better to top it off having a "SLOW" day on the windy lake that should be a hockey arena.

Regardless its fishing and its something we all have a deep love and desire for whoever we learned it from or experienced it with they are the person that planted that first little seed, rest assured we can all pinpoint almost the exact time, place and person that started that fire within us...........I for one know exactly who and where if only I could have known at the time to thank him for opening up a world of relaxation and comfort within me that would last a lifetime!

Now that I have bored you all my real point to this post is I moved south from a world that contained no Bass, no Crappie, no Bluegill, no Catfish and left behind my Walleye. Perch and the awesome Northern Pike. I have spent almost every weekend for the first 3 years learning how to catch a Bass (after years of watching Bass Masters every Saturday for 20 years) which is really fun but not what I was looking for. So then I switched to learning how to catch Crappie............It's become my passion both challenging and delicious - not walleye or perch but does makes for a great fish fry!

I have spent the better part of four years now living, breathing, and fishing Crappie (reason for joining the board) and have become somewhat successful at catching one or two Crappie now and then. It really makes me happy but I still have so much to learn. I will continue to practice and learn all that I can through all that is available to me through Crappie.com and am thankful for all the people I have met and learned from on this site.

Now honestly I find I am really missing fishing for Walleye so much so that only a Walleye fisherman can really relate to my pain!!!!!!!. I would like to go to a lake in North Carolina and fish for Walleye. Not being ignorant or conceded if I know there are Walleye in a lake and it is there natural habitat I will be able to find them and from there probably catch one or two.

I ask for your help in identifying the lakes and for your in assistance in the seasons for Walleye in North Carolina, sound stupid but........Spawning season in Alberta is beginning of June how would that relate To North Carolina. From what I read Lake Chatuge is a good place to fish for Walleye but I ask you the Walleye fisherman that know the State to help out, I would even take you fishing to enjoy the day. Really just looking for knowledgeable feedback and maybe a great fishing partner.

Crappie are great now where are the Walleye?

Thanks all!

I ain't in, or from, N.C. .... and the only time I ever spent there, was driving thru from KY to S.C. (twice) and 8wks OJT at Ft Bragg. :p

But ... in the event you don't get much in the way of replies, on this board ... try looking thru these articles : nc walleye - Bing .... I checked out the first two, and there's some good info on where & how.

They don't seem to have any specific articles on Walleye, here : North Carolina Crappie & Panfish Fishing ... but, you may find some Crappie fishing info that you may benefit from. You may want to check back, about once a month, and see if any Walleye articles are added ... I think they update about once a month (but they're well behind the actual magazine, timewise).

... cp :cool:

The two lakes in NC That I Believe have Walleye in them are Lake Gaston and Lake James... I have not had the time since Imoved down here to look for them though... my fishing time has been devided between crappie in summer, fall, winter, and striper in the early spring...

Redboat Ive lived and fished in NC my whole life and those are the only two lakes I know of that have walleye. You might want to check Fontana not sure about it. Also check on ncangler.com. Sorry I couldnt help more.

Gaston has walleyes,good pop, from what I have heard. Lake James has good pop. but can be hard to catch at times ,most every lake west of James has walleyes. there are some also caught in Hickory and Rhodhiss Lake, Kerr Scott, now and then,I fish James, and have also fished Santeetlah, hope this helps. on james start in middle of March they are coming out of the rivers.

1more, being from ne ohio, walleyes are abundant up here. when we thought we were moving to nc about ten years ago, the first thing i did was contact their division of natural resources about walleye fishing. they did say that there were some lakes up north that had sizable populations. we ended up staying here and to tell the truth, i don't know what life would be like without cold weather, waders and spring walleye.

hope you love nc. i would give my eyeteeth to live in alberta.

1more- I just joined the forum and saw your request. I fish for eye's year round, and would be happy to hook up with another eye fisherman. I need some contact info maybe by e-mail or phone so we could try to get together.Fished for eye's in Mn. for 20 years before moving to NC 30 years ago. Hope I can be of some help. God bless.

Hello . I live in western N.C. and walleye fish a lot. The lakes I fish are Lake James which has a pretty good population, but is down now because they are working on the dam and no access areas open. I fish Fontana Lake which has a good population of walleye and also Lake Glenville. When I say a good population I am talking about this area, I am sure the population up north is much greater, but we do catch some good walleye. I hope this helps and don't hesitate to private message me if I can help further. Good luck

I know in Tn the wildlife resource agency stocks many sauger and walleye in area lakes. They are often overlooked by fishermen here, and provide great fishing opportunities. Might be worth checking with NCWRC to see if they stock lakes near you.

logs i live in lenoir when they get lake james back up to par ive fished lake james all the time and never caught a walleye because im always fishing for the smallmouth lets hookup and put the slam on them

jiggshooter, I would enjoy going. I don't know when they are going to put water back in James. Hope its not too long. Good fishing.

Im ready for them to fill it back up myself been feeling the need to hang a few eyes.

Gaston has enough that some guys fish for them, I believe the posts I've seen were from around the Steel Bridge section, so more towards Kerr dam. It also appears to have a health yellow perch population, since my bass club caught some nice perch there last year. Kerr itself has some walleye, but few enough that you don't hear about them. It also has some yellow perch, but I've only seen them to about 4". You'd think Roanoke Rapids lake would have some of each, but I haven't seen any posts on them.

I too am a transplant from lake erie and make a trip there every may...I live in greensboro area and Philpott in virginia is an excellent "highland reservoir" type...we got over 30 keepers last season (18 ") and lost a few monsters....the fishing is the most predictable in the summer months once the thermacline forms...there are many great lakes in tenn. also...especially Dale Hollow...you need to get really good at bottom bouncing and trolling with boards...hitting the spawn in the rivers is very hit and miss

I've read that Fontana Lake is good.