Thread: Lake James Trolling

Hey Dan, most of the experts say trolling is not very effective on clear water lakes & lord knows we got clear water at lake James. It takes a hurricane to stain our water. I troll some at Rhodhiss, as do more & more people, but have not tried at Lake James.

Originally Posted by skeeterguy

Hey Dan, most of the experts say trolling is not very effective on clear water lakes & lord knows we got clear water at lake James. It takes a hurricane to stain our water. I troll some at Rhodhiss, as do more & more people, but have not tried at Lake James.

skeeterguy,
I'm curious. Why wouldn't it be effective?

My guess would be the boat spooking the fish unless they were REAL deap. I "test drove" my boat on Lake James and couldn't believe how deep into the water you could see. It is unbelievably clear.
Mike

Take a kid outdoors!

I have only caught crappie at the upper end where the Catawaba runs into James. Usually the water is not as clear there. But the rest of the lake is really clear.

According to NC Wildlife studies there is not a large population of crappies in lake James compared to other Catawba river lakes. I have caught crappies trolling but I GPS ed some sunken brush and trolled over that. Open water trolling as one would do at Hickory or Rhodhiss does not seem to be effective.
The Catawba side Goodmans campground up to the Old Mcdowell County launch ramp is the most productive area although some coves near the Linville access produce well as does Sherman Hunter Hollar.

Good fishing

Dan, I agree with Mikefish @ the spooking thing & clear water. Went to a few trolling seminars at Bass Pro last year hosted by thier pro, Stokes McClellan,
& he said trolling clear lakes is a waste of time. This man makes his living long line trolling for crappie. He lives close to Lake Norman & said he rarely fishes Norman due to the clarity there. If Norman is to clear, imagine what he thinks about James. The best areas on James where I've had any success are above Blackbear landing, fishing deep brushpiles with minnows.