Fishing with Captain Gus, Lake Norman, 9-12

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John Love, ten year old fifth grader from Charlotte, NC is holding a trophy spotted bass he caught on a recent Lake Norman fishing trip with his Dad, Barry and brother, Ryan.

Photo courtesy of Capt. Gus Gustafson



Fishin’ with Capt. Gus!
Spotted Bass
September 12, 2010



Lake Norman holds the state record for a 6.5 lb, .spotted bass caught in December 2003.

Spotted Bass were introduced to Lake Norman during the mid to late nineties. Since then they have thrived in North Carolina’s largest freshwater impoundment. Thanks to the spotted bass, Lake Norman, once called the Dead Sea by bass anglers, is now among the most popular stops on the FLW and BASS professional tournament trails.

The midget of the black bass family gets its name from the black spots on its belly scales. It can also be identified by a rough patch on the tongue, which helps to hold, crush and eat crayfish. While smaller than its cousins (largemouth and smallmouth bass), the spotted bass makes up for its size with tenacity and is famous for the hard fight that often allows it to pull the hook when being landed.



Crayfish are an important part of a spotted bass’ diet, but in Lake Norman shad and herring are the preferred food fish. Large schools of spots roam the open water devouring forage fish, either on the surface or in tight balls suspended near underwater structure. Unlike largemouth bass that hang out near lay downs and docks, the spot prefers underwater humps, points and sharp drop-offs where schools of baitfish are likely to be.

Some speculate that spotted bass out number the largemouth by a ratio of ten to one at the lower end of the lake. This makes one wonder why the size and creel limit is the same for both species. Regardless, with a lake teeming with spots, professional anglers often catch and release thirty or more during a day of tournament fishing. To accomplish this, they use a variety of deep water techniques to entice the spots to strike.



Popular baits with tournament anglers are soft plastic lures fished drop shot and shaky-head style, as well as artificial worms and lizards fished on Carolina rigs. Jigging spoons, buck tails and crank-baits are also quite effective, particularly when fish are feeding aggressively in schools. When conditions are right, spotted bass will crash the surface in an attempt to silence the sound of a noisy top water cast near a submerged brush pile.



For those new to spotted bass fishing, fall is a great time to catch a limit. Spots spend much of the day in water less than fifteen feet deep. This makes them easy targets for anglers casting or trolling crank-baits on light spinning tackle. Popular crank-bait colors are chartreuse, crayfish, silver and blue. Once a fish is caught, fish the area thoroughly for additional members of the school.



On Lake Norman, the size limit for black bass (including largemouth and spotted) is 14”. Two can be less than fourteen inches. The creel limit is five fish in the combination.



Tips from Capt. Gus: Spotted bass are inquisitive and are attracted to small baits that move erratically. That is why small soft plastic worms fished on a drop-shot rig are popular.



Upcoming Events:
Free Fishing Seminar - “Introduction to Largemouth and Spotted Bass Fishing” will be held at Gander Mountain, Exit 36, at 6:30 p.m. - Thursday, September 30, 2010. The ninety minute session, will be conducted by Capt. Gus, who will cover simple techniques used to catch bass on live and artificial baits, In addition, there will a discussion about the ten best bass spots on Lake Norman. For additional information, call 704 658 0822.



Hot Spot of the week: Cooling water temperatures have activated spotted bass. Many are being taken on points and humps, as well as in boat basins. Arkansas Blue Catfish are still being caught in large numbers on cut bait at Cowans Ford Dam. White perch continue to hit small minnows and shiny lures in water to forty feet deep.



The lake level is about 3.2’ below full pond and the water surface temperature is in the mid to high eighties.



Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an outdoor columnist and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his website, Fishin' With Capt. Gus! at www.lakenormanstriperfishing.com or call 704-617-6812. For additional information, e-mail him at Gus@LakeNorman.com