Hello, I知 trying to figure out the best crappie lake in the upper Catawba chain-of-lakes to fish. I live in Black Mountain, NC and Lakes James, Rhodhiss, Hickory, and Lookout Shoals are all within reasonable driving distance. The largest, most central launch at Lake James is 40 minutes away, the Castle Bridge launch at Rhodhiss is 50 minutes, the Whittenburg Access Area at Hickory is 70 minutes and Lookout Shoals is also about 70 minutes.

In just looking at what information I can find, Lake James is an oligotrophic lake (nutrient poor) and Rhodhiss is mesotrophic (average nutrient level) and sometimes eutrophic (nutrient rich) lake. So, of the closest two lakes, Rhodhiss looks like the better fishing lake to me. I would be willing to drive the extra 20 minutes to Hickory or Lookout Shoals if the fishing is better.

I知 new to North Carolina and have lived in Florida and lower Alabama where I exclusively salt water fished for the last 30 years. Although I freshwater fished in Alabama as a kid, my freshwater fishing skills are rusty - to say the least. I plan to rectify that and that痴 the reason I joined this forum - to get good advice.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.