Let’s not mince words. North Carolina is a great state for catfish. With meandering rivers and deep reservoirs, this state offers no shortage of excellent habitat for whiskered monsters.
Where and when to fish depends on which catfish species you’d like to catch. Monster blue catfish in the 100-pound class have become the most headline-grabbing species in recent years, but they’re far from the only option.
Carolina waterways also kick out some truly enormous flathead catfish. Even channel catfish reach impressive sizes here, sometimes topping 15 pounds.
Channel cats are native to areas all over North Carolina, whereas blue and flathead catfish have spread well beyond their native ranges, which once barely grazed North Carolina’s western edge.
Honestly, you won’t hear many anglers complaining about the big cats’ continued expansion.
North Carolina’s Best Catfish Lakes
Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake)
Alternately known as Kerr Reservoir or Buggs Island Lake (but simply called Kerr Lake by most locals), this 49,420-acre reservoir lies along the border between Virginia and North Carolina.
This impoundment on the Roanoke River and provides some of the best catfishing in either state.
Kerr Lake has especially become a mecca for trophy hunters. It’s currently home to the world record blue catfish, a 143-pound behemoth caught on the Virginia side in 2011.
Summer and winter are the best seasons to target blue cats on Kerr Lake, with the latter being the most likely time to tangle with a coveted 100-pounder. The lake also harbors plenty of channel cats and some nice flatheads, which are more active during the warmer months.
Blue cat enthusiasts should set their sites on the lower end of the lake in July and August. Big cats will have just finished spawning and they’ll head to lower-lake mussel beds to recuperate and enjoy an easy meal.
The best way to pinpoint a mussel bed is to look for a hard return on your sonar. Many of the sandy-bottomed points and flats at the lower end of Kerr Reservoir and its deeper creeks have mussel beds, often in 10 to 20 feet of water.
Cut bait made of white perch or shad is the offering of choice. Many local guides rely on slip-bobber setups, which allow a bait to be suspended anywhere in the water column.
Blue catfish seldom stray far from deep water, and by late fall, when the thermocline has dissipated, they’ll often alternate between comfy 30- to 50-foot depths and shallower flats where they can feed. Focus on edges that provide access to both.
This is a pattern that typically stays true through the winter here. The upper end of the lake is often best because it’s slightly warmer, and the same can be said of its major tributaries. Butchers Creek is one of the best sections of the lake for winter blues.
More: Complete Fishing Guide to Kerr Lake (Buggs Island)
Lake Norman
The largest reservoir entirely within North Carolina, 32,510-acre Lake Norman is located just north of Charlotte on the Catawba River. It’s one big catfish factory, though it took a while for this fishery to really catch on.
Anglers started catching the occasional blue cat or flathead here in the 1980s, about 20 years after the lake was first stocked and opened to the public. And it wasn’t until the 21st century that big catfish really started to become the norm.
Today, Lake Norman is one of the best lakes in North Carolina to catch impressive numbers of respectably sized catfish. Genuine trophies are rare—though an 85-pound blue caught here was the state record for a time.
But blues and flatheads weighing 10 to 15 pounds are common, and it’s possible to tangle with a 30-pounder of either species on any given day.
Flatheads seldom stray far from the river channel, and the best way to tempt one is to present live bream close to thick cover.
Anglers mostly catch flatheads in summer and fall, but much like Kerr Lake, winter and summer are the two seasons when blue cats take center stage.
Mussel beds are the key feature to look for in summer. The upper end of Lake Norman has a lot of broad, mussel-covered areas, particularly on points leading into the Catawba River.
Slowly drifting or trolling cut bait across the beds is likely to produce a mixed catch of blue catfish and channel catfish.
Winter calls for a different approach. Lake Norman is a power plant cooling lake, and the warm water discharge near the west end of the NC-150 bridge is ground zero for winter fishing.
The warm water attracts shad, which attracts every species that feeds on them, including blue catfish.
Any of Lake Norman’s major creeks downlake from the discharge are also likely to produce in winter, including Davidson, Reeds, Mountain, Lucky and Ramsey creeks.
More: Complete Guide to Lake Norman Fishing
Lake Gaston
A Roanoke River reservoir on the Virginia state line, Lake Gaston begins where Kerr Lake ends, extending 35 miles from the John H. Kerr Dam down to the Gaston Hydro Power Station.
Anglers commonly catch a mix of flatheads, channel catfish and blue cats here. But as is the case in many of North Carolina’s large reservoirs, blue catfish have become the dominant species in recent years.
And this 20,300-acre reservoir has produced some impressive specimens. That includes a string of 100-pound-plus blues that set new state records in rapid succession a few years back.
A couple of those giants were caught at 50- to 60-foot depths at the lower end of the lake, and at least one was caught in just 5 feet of water at the back of a creek above Eaton’s Ferry Bridge, at the upper end of the lake.
It goes to show that there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to catching massive blue cats.
One general guideline is that the big ones are usually caught in summer or winter and that cut bait made of white perch is the bait of choice.
Blue cats tend to favor larger cut bait in the summer, and smaller chunks in the winter.
Summer anglers will do well to pay attention to the thermocline, which typically forms around 20 feet down, give or take. The best spots are the main lake points, humps, and mussel beds that peek up over the thermocline.
Let’s not forget about channel and flathead catfish, which are also abundant in Lake Gaston. The best fishing for both species is at the upper end of the lake.
The fishing platforms below the John H. Kerr Dam make Lake Gaston’s upper end one of the best spots for bank fishing, and lots of channels and flatheads are caught here.
Whether the fishing is better when the dam is releasing water or not is open to debate.
More: Complete Fishing Guide to Lake Gaston
Lake Wylie
A major impoundment on the Catawba River, Lake Wylie is located well downstream from Lake Norman, at the junction of North and South Carolina southwest of Charlotte.
Wylie is an older lake than Norman, rich in nutrients and abundant forage that supports a huge catfish population.
As is the case with a lot of the big reservoirs in the Carolinas, Lake Wylie was historically known as a great channel cat lake. Flatheads and blues have exploded more recently in this 13,400-acre reservoir.
Lake Wylie is really one of the best flathead catfish lakes in North Carolina.
Look for them in the upper quarter of the lake in both the South Fork and the Catawba arms, especially from summer into fall. September and October may be the best months.
Flatheads favor thick cover and deep water, but they emerge from their lairs to feed as the sun sinks down each night, and the best time to catch them is from dusk until dawn. Night fishing also happens to be a good way to beat the heat.
Deep river bends and scour holes are flatheads’ favored haunts. If there’s rock, timber, downed trees, docks, piers or bridge pilings nearby, so much the better.
Anchor near the edge of a deep-water spot and fish the adjacent flats after dark.
Flatheads like live bait, and white perch are their meal of choice on Lake Wylie. You can catch a pail of them in a hurry using a Sabiki rig.
If it’s blue catfish you’re after, winter tends to be the time to go after them on Lake Wylie. From November onward, blues stack up in typical spots at the upper end of the lake, especially on humps and points along the main channels.
Both of Lake Wylie’s main arms will produce, but the South Fork River has the advantage of warm water discharge from the Allen Steam Plant, which brings in big cats from far and wide.
High Rock Lake
High Rock Lake is the first of a string of reservoirs along the Yadkin River, sometimes referred to as the Uwharrie Lakes or the Yadkin Chain. They all support catfish, but there’s a strong case to be made that High Rock is the best.
Blue cats are becoming more common in High Rock Lake, but the fishery here is still dominated by channel catfish and flatheads, both of which provide outstanding action from April through October.
Channel catfish weighing 3 to 7 pounds are the norm at High Rock Lake, and fish over 10 pounds are not uncommon. And compared to their larger cousins, channel cats are relatively unfussy and easy to catch.
You can tempt channel cats with anything from dough and stink baits to nightcrawlers and chicken livers, but cut bait is typically the best offering. Cut bait also gets bonus points because it will occasionally tempt a big blue or flathead, too, and also can catch stripers.
A good tactic is slow-trolling (or “strolling”) with cut bait on something akin to a Carolina rig. A version with a slinky sinker and a styrofoam float, known as a Santee rig, helps keep the bait just off the bottom where catfish can easily spot it.
As a general rule, look for channel catfish on shallow spots close to deep water. Slow-troll or drift just above the edge of a channel drop-off or along a sloping point or hump.
The mouth of Panther Creek is a great spot for channel cats, with Abbotts and Swearing creeks also being solid choices.
You can catch flatheads in many of the same areas, but a better approach is to anchor and fish in and around deep holes using live perch and bream. Lots of 40-pound flatheads come from High Rock Lake.
High Rock Lake also is among North Carolina’s top crappie lakes.
Badin Lake
If there’s another lake in the Yadkin Chain that gives High Rock a run for its money, it’s Badin Lake. Channels, flatheads and blues are all well-represented here, and it’s common to catch a mixed bag of all three.
Badin is an impressive lake for both size and numbers. An 89-pound blue cat caught here in 2006 was the state record for a time, and you could easily find either a blue or flathead approaching the 50-pound mark at the end of your line.
Built in 1917, Badin Lake is a very old reservoir. The Yadkin is a highly fertile river system to boot, adding to a nutrient-rich lake that supports ample forage for catfish. And at 5,350 acres, it’s not an overwhelmingly large reservoir, either.
One side effect of Badin Lake’s advanced age is that it doesn’t have sharply defined channel edges like many reservoirs.
Blue and channel catfish typically congregate on the lake’s open main basin during summer and will fall for drifted or slow-trolled cut bait.
So gentle are the lake’s contour lines that any significant bottom structure can attract some catfish. Points are great places to start, and the lake has some bluff-like banks that harbor flatheads.
The upper end of the lake is also a key area. Badin Lake begins right below the Tuckertown Dam, and its upper end is quite riverine, being essentially a tailwater.
Current breaks, including islands, bridges and cuts in the bank, reliably attract all three catfish species.
A couple other Yadkin River Lakes are also worthy of mention, including Tuckertown Reservoir above it and Lake Tillery below. Lots of big blues, channels and flatheads inhabit both lakes, with Tuckertown being particularly well-known for big flatheads.
Great Catfishing Rivers in North Carolina
Cape Fear River
No river in North Carolina is more synonymous with catfish than the Cape Fear River.
From its headwaters at the confluence of the Haw and Deer Rivers, the Cape Fear is a 191-mile blackwater river that ultimately empties into the Atlantic.
Historically a great channel catfish river, the Cape Fear has seen increasing numbers of flatheads over the years. Blue catfish are also becoming a dominant species in the lower part of the river, which has produced 100-pounders.
Each of the Cape Fear River’s three locks and dams offer bank fishing access, making the river an especially good spot for shore-bound anglers.
Boat ramps are at Lillington, Fayetteville, Tarheel and Elizabethtown.
The lowest of the three dams is Lock and Dam No. 1, also known as the King’s Bluff Lock and Dam. The tailwater below this dam is arguably the best stretch of the Cape Fear River for blue catfish, which gorge themselves on the shad that school below it.
Cut shad is the best bait. The trick in this area is using enough weight to fish vertically. The bottom is littered with rocks and snaggy debris, and the more your bait drifts and rolls with the current, the more likely it is to snag.
The stretch of the Cape Fear from Dam No. 1 to the mouth is also unique because you’ll see some saltwater catfish species in this stretch. Gafftopsail catfish, named for their long fin spines, are common near the mouth of the river, along with smaller hardhead catfish.
Blue catfish have expanded quite far up the Cape Fear River, but flatheads become increasingly dominant the farther upriver you go.
Anglers find a lot of flatheads in the section from Lock and Dam No. 1 up to Fayetteville. But this area is largely channelized, so there isn’t much natural structure.
Instead, look for flatheads around log jams and laydowns. These fish are usually found alone or in pairs, and the best approach is to fish live bait in the deepest, snaggiest holes you can find.
Roanoke River
The most famous places to fish on the Roanoke River, at least for catfish, are its two major reservoirs—Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston. But the river itself has gained a lot of attention recently.
That’s especially the case since a 127.1-pound blue cat was hauled out of the Roanoke River in 2021, becoming the new state record.
The river has always been a great channel cat fishery with a decent flathead population, but monster blues are relative newcomers.
The Roanoke River meanders its way from the Coastal Plain to the Atlantic Ocean, and it has a lot of wide swings where bends in the river carve out deep holes. These deep spots and the mouths of tributaries are some of the top catfish holes.
Your best bet is to fish at the upper end of a pool starting around dusk. That’s the time when big catfish leave their daytime hidey holes and swim upriver to get a bite to eat.
Boat ramps at Weldon and the U.S. Highway 258 bridge provide handy places for boaters to launch on a section of the river known for catfish. Many bridge crossings also provide bank access.
The best approach depends on your target species. You can easily catch a mess of channel cats using chicken livers, but cut bait will land you more blue catfish. Flatheads, as always, prefer something alive.
The Roanoke River hosts a famed striped bass run in springtime, and the best catfish fishing usually starts in May and June as the striper bite winds down.
A couple of the best places to catch catfish, especially for bank fishing, are tailwaters below the Lake Gaston and Roanoke Rapids dams.
Neuse River
One of North Carolina’s premier flathead catfish destinations, the Neuse River commonly produces flatheads over 50 pounds. Blue cats are also increasingly present, but the Neuse hasn’t quite taken off as a trophy blue cat fishery yet.
The lowest sections of the Neuse River, which flow through Wayne, Lenoir and Craven Counties before emptying into Pamlico Sound, are probably the best for big flathead catfish. But there’s good fishing all the way up to Falls of the Neuse Lake (Falls Lake).
There are several keys to finding and catching big flatheads on the Neuse.
First, know where they live. Deep holes, undercut banks, submerged logjams and large boulders provide cover, and the deepest parts of the river, at the outside of wide bends, are flatheads’ preferred hangouts.
Second, fish with local bait. Arrive at the river before the sun goes down, and catch some bluegill and sunfish, which always catch flatheads’ attention. Smaller bullhead catfish are also a favored bait if you can catch a few.
Either way, fishing at night at the upper ends of pools and just above thick snaggy cover is the most likely way to land some monsters.
The Neuse River also has an abundance of channel catfish, and though they don’t reach the impressive size flatheads do, you can catch dozens of them on a good summer or fall night, and they’re great table fare.
It’s common for local anglers to put out a line or two with big live bait for flatheads while keeping cut bait or chicken livers on another couple lines for channels. Having smaller fish to catch keeps things interesting while you wait for a big one.
Boating access areas in Goldsboro and Kinston are good places to get on the water. There’s also excellent bank fishing and a canoe launch below the Falls of the Neuse Lake Dam.
The Neuse (along with a few other spots in this article) also is among the best bass fishing spots in North Carolina.
Tar River
The Tar River has much in common with the Neuse River, though it’s a considerably smaller waterway. It rolls down from the Piedmont region to the Coastal Plain and makes its way to the ocean by way of the Pamlico Sound.
Like the Neuse, it’s a great flathead river. Unlike the Neuse, it doesn’t get much pressure other than from local anglers. That may be because there isn’t as much access or because this smaller river is better-suited to canoes and jon boats than to larger craft.
As with many of North Carolina’s coastal rivers, flathead catfish are not native to the Tar River. They were most likely introduced here illegally by anglers in the 1990s. By now, they have become an established part of the food chain.
Catfishers have embraced them, and flatheads over 40 pounds are now available.
Native channel catfish seem to hold their own and are still abundant, though smaller bullheads and white catfish have become scarce.
The fishing here is excellent in summer, with relatively low water making the Tar River easy to fish. Fallen trees and snaggy limbs readily gather at the edges of deep holes and undercut banks, providing dens for catfish.
Flatheads emerge to feed at night, as do channel catfish, though the latter can be obliging during daylight hours, too, especially if there’s some cloud cover.
Dip baits consistently attract channel cats above deep holes.
The most accessible section is right around Rocky Mount, where there’s a state boat ramp.
A dam above the city and a series of shoals at the fall line below it limit how far you can go by powerboat, but canoes and kayaks can venture farther. The river is also a designated paddle trail.
Pee Dee River
Part of the same river system that forms the Yadkin/Uwharrie Lakes, the Pee Dee River is an exceptional catfish river. Blues, channels and flatheads are all on the menu here.
The Pee Dee River begins at the base of the dam below Badin Lake, which itself is fed by the confluence of the Yadkin and Uwharrie Rivers.
Downriver from there, the Pee Dee is dammed twice more, forming Lake Tillery and Blewett Falls Lake before crossing over into South Carolina.
Some of the best fishing is in the first few miles below the Blewett Falls Dam, after which the river continues, free-flowing, across the state line.
This area is very rocky, flowing over solid bedrock in most areas, but deeper spots harbor monster catfish.
Look for deep holes where the current funnels between rocks, often carrying disoriented baitfish right into the waiting jaws of blue cats and flatheads.
Flatheads over 30 pounds and blues over 60 are possible here.
There’s bank access and a boat launch just below the dam and another at the Pee Dee River Bridge in Rockingham, a couple miles downriver.
Jon boats are the best option for navigating these often-shallow waters.
Mid-summer and mid-fall tend to be the best times to fish the Pee Dee for catfish, with a bit of an early-fall lull in between.
Locals use cut bait made from whatever they can catch in the river, including suckers and bream.
Catch More Catfish
Read about the best catfish baits, tackle and tactics in our simple catfishing guide.