Jordan Lake Cats

[Kittyhunter]

Hey greg, how about some good cat spots in Jordan. We used to go camping and skiing up there every weekend in the summer. My wife's parents used to have a boat at Crosswinds Marina. They are now at Kerr Lake and have a houseboat. I have a friend who lives up that way and he has a 24 foot pontoon boat. We have talked about fishing up there some time but I don't have a clue where to go. Maybe you could go with us sometime.

[greggofish]

Jordan is the lake I have fished the most since 1991. There are many good places on the lake. I'll give you a couple that are pretty consistent.

Spot one: If you put in at the Ebenezer boat ramp and head out on the lake, bear left and you will see a large island. That is Johnson Island. The main lake end of the island drops down quick (Johnson Bridge was destroyed there when they built the lake). That side of the island seems to hold the bigger Channels. You can catch them all around it though. Cut shad is the best bait but I always have live bream as well. The Channels on that lake love em. They almost always chase them to the top and explode on them. I fish water from 2-6 feet around the island.

Spot two: Look at first picture below. If you put in at Ebenezer and make a right up the lake you will come to the 64 bridge. I like the same baits here. Picture 2 is a picture from last month of my brother and a friend that wanted to tag along that night. We caught others but released them right away. After the pic we turned them loose as well.

On Jordan there are three things to have a good cat trip......Islands, Bream and Points.

Glad to take you out sometime if your up this way.....I live pretty close to the lake.

Hope that helps....

[mack in n.c.]

kittyhunter....greg gave you some great info.....points are great ......i also like to fish jordans roadbeds....not dirtt ones but asphalt 1s ......i fish them aprox 10 ft deep......1 word abot jordan.....i ahve fished jordan since it was flooded...used to canoe the haw where it is flooded....great whitewater gone between robeson creek and the islands upstream.....sherri bryant(nc bioligist..dont know if she still is) told me years ago that at jordn, fish the points and the roadbeds for cats.....but 1 thing i remeber her saying is not to fish deep in summer...there is no oxygen below 15 ft in jordan when it is hot........this was proved true recently when biologist(grad students) with nc state did a study ( its still going on) on the stripers in the lake......the stripers in the sumemmer want to go deep like in most lakes but they cant in the summer because of lack of oxygen....they thought that jordan would not produce a 20 lb striper (would die off before they got that big) but they were wrong....they said that the reason jordans stripers have donre so well is that the shad base is so great....the cats may be able to go a hair deeper than the stripers but it cannot be much deeper.......these bioligist have been coming to the jordan lake striper clubs tournaments to take fish samples.....mack

[Kittyhunter]

Thanks guys. I have heard of Ebenezer but not real sure where it is. We always put in at Crosswinds Marina. Is Ebenezer on the other side of 64 bridge? Is there any good catting up in the river area?

[crlail41]

Put in at farrington Point-go under Farrington Road Bridge-up right side of the Peninsula(New Hope Side)-slow down-be careful- (Stumps and timber)-go toward Hwy 751 bridge-fish the timber. Good Luck!!

[JAYNC]

Are there mostly channel cats in this lake or are there some blues and flats also.

[Splorndle]

I have caught blues but I have never seen someone actually catch a flat. It seems odd since I have caught a flathead in the river up past Bynum damn.

[mack in n.c.]

hello,....i have mentioned this in other post but i ll mention it again.....boys from apex have been putting blues from gaston in jordan.....boys from ala and guilford countiies have been putting flatheads in the upper haw.......the flats in the upper haw(above jordan) have not taken over the river (yet)......they are wking their way downstream......i give it 3-7 years before there are enough to start fishing for them......32 and 37 lber caught in ala co this year...ps ..i dont aprove of moving fish...neither does the ncwrc but a big fish in the haw does sound good...mack

[marineheel]

Took the wife and son on our first night catfishing trip on our new pontoon...the son had a blast but the wife may not go again anytime soon..LOL

We put in at Farrington, hung a left and headed for the bridge -- threw the cast net and hauled in some nice size shad 4-6". Fished around the island just past Farrington bridge and caught an 11 pound channel. That one fish made our trip worth it. :)

While we were anchored a small boat came by with no lights on whatsoever, never saw the dam thing just heard it...sort of spooked the wife out. Tried to tell her that the boater could probably see better than us, nevertheless, it's dangerous to navigate without lights.

[greggofish]

Thats one of the best areas on the lake for decent channels. Right across the channel from that island there is an area that people can walk down to the water when the water is low and cast towards the channel marker (so the bridge is on your left. If there is noone there, anchor in the 2-4 foot water and throw toward the channel marker. Tons of big channels work that break into the channel. The best bait we found for that area and the island is live bream. 11-12 pound channels are about the biggest you'll get at Jordan....so ya done good.....

[marineheel]

Thanks for the info. If fished the island twice this month and caught a 8 and 11 lb channel and a few tiny I mean tiny flatheads or bullheads (first thought was baby flathead, but more than likely a bullhead). I was fishing the bridge side of the island.

I'll try live bream next time.