March Stats for Lake Norman via Mac-b

[Mac-b]

This month I fished Norman ten times and caught 72 catfish, which equals 7.2 cats per three hour outing. Of that total, nine catfish weighed over 15 pounds for an average of 19 pounds per catfish for those over 15 pounds.

These numbers lag a little bit in comparison to February when I fished twelve times and caught 91 catfish or 7.6 catfish per every three hour outing or less. During that period I caught 13 catfish over 15 pounds or 21.5 pounds average for this group.

The reason I'm keeping track of the over 15 pounders is because in the recent past, we might catch one or two trophy cats over 15 pounds every other week. The three hour catch average is in line with my production of eater size cats over the years on LKN. I guess I should have broken out the 10 to 14 pounders, which in my opinion have increased maybe even greater than the 15 pounders+ and to me, this indicates an excellent fisheries in the next several years for Norman.

Norman is not the fishery of Wateree, Santee, Monticello, Badin, etc., but we are making the turn and never forget that an eighty five pound blue held the NC State Record for a couple of years right out of LKN.

Ninety eight percent of the catfish in the about analysis were blue catfish.
Also, LKN is a harvest type fisheries and that includes all species except bass.

[dolittle9]

Great report Professor, tomorrow starts a new month so lets see if'n you can improve on that catch ratio and size

[dawgfishing]

i never keep a running monthly count of how many fish i catch nore any temp log depth chart or any thing like it. never have thought about it.i don't take pic of the fish unless there of any size i catch look at them say thank you an putem right back in the water unless im fishing to feed a friend or fishing for bait lol but i mite start keeping a count of weight an numbers thanks for sharing mac.

[Rookie12]

Norman is an excellent blue catfish lake. I've only fished it once this year, but is loaded with blues. The one difference I see in Norman as opposed to my home lake Badin is that you seem to catch more eater size fish in Norman and more trophy fish in Badin, but not near the numbers that you catch in Norman. There ain't nothing wrong with little 'ol LKN!

[WylieCat]

Excellent report Mac.

Records are important to me. It helps me keep track of not only what I am doing, but also what is happening on the lake over the course of several years. I track everything from water temperature to the size and number of fish I catch. From this information I am able to make accurate adjustments in how I fish. While others are trying to remember when and how they caught fish, I have accurate information to depend on.

Lake Norman is a vast lake. While it does not hold the bait fish that other lakes hold, the sheer amount of water is probably home to some monster catfish. Finding those fish in a lake of that size, and in a lake that is relatively "stagnant" compared to fisheries like Badin, makes it a much harder place to harvest trophy fish from. Like most trophy blue catfish fisheries, the focus is on the rivers because they are the easiest to fish and provide the quickest reward for anglers. My guess is that LKN's lower half holds a lot of big fish, and that is an area few anglers fish.

[Rookie12]

I agree with Wyliecat on the fact that there are big fish in there that aren't targeted by many anglers. Thsi especially holds true for flatheads. I haven't flathead fished the lake very much at all, but I've noodled it a few times and LKN by far has bigger flatheads than a lot of lakes around.

[BUDMEISER01]

GOOD JOB PROFESSOR!!!!

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