Article By Rob Neumann December 2007 In-Fisherman--

Located on the Catawba River, Lake Norman is the largest reservoir in North Carolina. Covering 32,500 acres with an average depth of 33 feet,the lake was impounded for hydroelectric power and as a source of cooling water for power plants. Popular recreational fisheries include blue,channel and flathead catfish,as well as striped bass,largemouth and spotted bass,white bass and crappies.
To study the biology of blue catfish in Lake Norman,Virginia Tech graduate student Joseph Grist outfitted 29 blue catfish between 5 and 41 pounds with external radio transmitters in February and March 2001*.He located them at two week intervals from April 2001 to March 2002.
Distances moved and home range size of individual blue catfish varied widely,yet seasonal patterns were apparent.
Movement (calculated as the average minimum distance traveled by each individual per season) was longest in spring (3.25 miles) and shortest in winter (0.47 miles). Seasonal home ranges of individual fish varied from 16 to 10,850 acres. Average home-range size was smallest in winter (381 acres) and largest in fall(4,127 acres). Some bluecats established large home ranges that persisted throughout the year,while others had small home ranges year round.

On average,Blue catfish were closer to shore during the spring (83 yards) than in summer (135 yards), fall (197 yards) and winter (187 yards). Average depths used were 17 feet in spring and 44 ft in winter.
In May, half the tagged blue cats were located within a 3.5 mile stretch of the Catawba River in upper Lake Norman,suggesting this stretch is an important spawning area.Between April19 and May 10,4 fish traveled a minimum of 21.4 miles from the lower lake to reach this area.Another catfish traveled up-lake in May, stayed until October,and moved back to its original capture site in the lower lake to overwinter. Some catfish didnt move to the upper lake at spawning time but remained in their home areas throughout the reservoir,suggesting that the lower reaches also provide suitable spawning habitat. :grin:
Grist also suggests that differences in home range size and movement among individuals might be explained by food and habitat availability.Areas characterized by smaller catfish home ranges and shorter movements often contained beds of Asiatic clams and Chara (aquatic vegitation),items commonly eaten by Lake Norman blues.Larger home ranges and more frequent movements occured in areas where anglers reported larger concentrations of forage fish (shad,alewife,and herring)and where blue cats are often caught by striped bass anglers. Fish comprimsed a larger proportion of the diet in large blue catfish. :thumbsup


*Grist,J.D. 2002. Analysis of a blue catfish population in a southeastern reservoir : Lake Norman, North Carolina.Masters thesis, Virginia Tech,Blacksburg,VA.

I was sitting on the crapper reading that article just the other day. Theres an article in the new issue concerning how cats relate to mussels during their yearly patterns.

Lmao Dave. Never heard that one.

Winter: Shallow Mussel Beds
Freshwater mussels attract winter blue cats like Cajuns to a crayfish boil. Mussels live in colonies called beds, each containing thousands of mollusks. Cold-water cats visit the beds repeatedly, because they can gorge here day after day with little expenditure of energy.

They love inch-long Asiatic clams, now common in many North American lakes and rivers, but also relish native mussels, especially smaller varieties like lilliputs, wartybacks and deer toes.

They eat the shell and all; digestive juices kill the mussel, the shell opens and the flesh inside is digested. I’ve caught winter blues with so many shells in their belly, they rattled like maracas.

To find mussel beds, search near shore in three to six feet of water. Pinpoint these by sight during low-water periods, or find them by moving parallel to shore and probing the bottom with a cane pole. The shells produce a distinctive crunching sound when you find one.

Rig an egg sinker on the main line above a barrel swivel, with an 8- to 12-inch leader connecting the swivel to a 3/0 to 5/0 wide-gap circle hook. Bait up with inch-square chunks of shad, herring or hot dogs. These are about the same size as the small mussels catfish usually feed on, and most days, they work well. Do not use the mussels themselves unless you are an expert at distinguishing various species, because many are federally protected endangered species.

Cast to various spots on the bed and let the bait sit for 15 minutes. If you don’t get bit, hit another portion of the shell bed until you pinpoint fish.

Actually, that’s the name of the game. If you use the patterns I’ve described here, while letting the cats tell you where they are and what they want, you’ll catch more and bigger blues no matter what the calendar says.

Yep sometimes the small ones 6 -8 lbs can be alot of fun in cold water down here they dont get it alot and seem to have alot of pull during that time of year.

Good luck Hope it helps,if not anchor down and throw BIG BAIT and wait.

guys they has been a alot of study put into lake norman over the years and they continues to do studies now. We just had a nccats tourney there and the wildlife folks came out an did a study on the fish caught in the tournament. most of the fish was donated to the wildlife for study. so there is some good lake fishing information getting released from these studies. it may not apply to all waters  though. lake norman doesnt have a strong current flow like alot of river and lakes. it has a nuclear power plant that generates alot of hot water getting discharged into the lake which keeps the water temp higher than surround lakes in this area. doesnt seem to be alot of bait in that catawba river system either. its a big lake and covers alot of territory. lake norman once held the state record blue cat at 85lbs but its not known to have a lot of big blue cats compared to yadkin chain of lakes in this state. yadkin has the bait population and thus in my opinion carries a better population of big cats. alot of the blue fisherman focus on the creeks and coves for blue cats at norman when tournament fishing. i wouldnt count this method out on the james river either. i hired capatin hughs this month and we focus on shallow water fishing some and done pretty good for the weather conditions in some of those areas. okay just a little more information i could share with you on this subject.