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Fishing in North Carolina

Click a region to explore top fishing spots, species, and local tips.

North Carolina offers exceptional fishing from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Outer Banks. The mountains provide outstanding trout fishing in 3,000 miles of coldwater streams, the Piedmont features large impoundments like Jordan Lake and Kerr Lake, and the coast offers some of the best saltwater fishing on the East Coast — from the surf fishing of Cape Hatteras to the offshore Gulf Stream waters.

Topographic map — click to view full size

Mountains & Asheville

Great Smoky Mountains, Davidson River, Nantahala River -- Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Muskie

Piedmont & Central

Jordan Lake, Falls Lake, High Rock Lake, Lake Norman -- Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Striped Bass, Channel Catfish, Bluegill

Sandhills & Southern

Lumber River, Sugarloaf Lake, Lake Tillery -- Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Channel Catfish, Bluegill, Chain Pickerel

Coastal Plain & Inner Banks

Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, Roanoke River -- Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Catfish, Sunfish

Outer Banks & Coast

Cape Hatteras, Oregon Inlet, Cape Lookout -- Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Bluefish, Flounder, Spanish Mackerel

Charlotte Metro

Lake Wylie, Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake -- Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Striped Bass, Channel Catfish, Bluegill