Lake Gaston Fishing Report
|Lake Gaston, NC
69% confidence 78°F Storm
Fish it **slack tide before the storms roll in** — that's your best shot to break the skunk tonight.
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Channel catfishLargemouth bassWhite crappieBlack crappieBluegillFlathead catfishWhite bassStriped bass
OTHER ANGLERS ARE CATCHING CHANNEL CATFISH AND FLATHEADS RIGHT NOW
The guys putting fish in the boat this week are running cut shad on Carolina rigs in the narrow upper western arm — the winding channel bends near the old railroad trestle and the outside turns above the Rt. 903 bridge. That's 15-20 minutes west of where you are at Amarocamps.
Why you're not hearing about it around camp:
- The Steel Bridge crowd and the main I-85 channel are hammered with pressure and boat traffic. Catfish there have seen every bait and hook this week. The smart anglers are running upriver into the skinny water where the channel pinches down and the current pushes baitfish into the bends.
- 78°F water is prime catfish zone — channel cats are in their peak activity range (65-85°F). Largemouth bass are stressed at this temp. The guys who know Gaston are on the cats hard right now.
What they're throwing that you aren't:
- Cut shad — not worms, not chicken liver. Shad is the #1 summer forage on Gaston and catfish key on it. They're fishing it on a 1-oz slip sinker, 2-foot fluorocarbon leader, #4 circle hook.
- They're fishing it tight to wood cover on the outside bends — not on the bottom of an open flat. The heavy wood and channel drop-off is where catfish hold in 78°F water.
The exact spot working this week:
- Launch or drive to the western arm near the Big Sandy Creek confluence — that narrow stretch where the lake bends hard left just before the Rt. 903 bridge. There's a sharp outside bank with standing timber and laydowns right at the waterline. The channel swings to 18-22 feet tight to that bank.
- That's where the shad stack up in the current and where the big cats pin them.
When they're getting bit:
- Evening window 7:31 PM – 9:01 PM — that's today's solunar minor period and it overlaps with dropping light and falling pressure ahead of tonight's thunderstorms. The thunderstorm front is triggering a heavy feed right now.
Your move:
- Stop soaking worms and chicken liver in the same pressured water. Get cut shad, run up to that narrow western arm bend, and fish the outside wood edge with a Carolina rig in 12-20 feet. Fish it slack tide before the storms roll in — that's your best shot to break the skunk tonight.