Guide Dieter Melhorn said big catfish are caught when using
tactics that allow him to fish how he needs to fish.
Catfishing Urban Lakes
Story and Photos by Terry Madewell
Excellent catfishing opportunities exist even on highly urbanized waters with high non-fishing recreational activity, but they require creative tactics to succeed.
Fishing lakes or rivers in urban, highly developed areas have advantages, such as abundant access options to these waters. However, being a highly urbanized area means many non-fishing recreational activities, including pleasure boating, jet skis, party pontoons and other watercraft traffic, create crowded lakes. These non-fishing activities can be so plentiful they can impact traditional catfishing opportunities.
A textbook example of this can be found at two lakes near Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte is the largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas and the second-largest financial center in the United States after New York City. The area from Rock Hill, South Carolina to the south and Mooresville, North Carolina to the north is highly urbanized.
Two excellent catfishing lakes exist in this footprint. One is Lake Wylie straddling the North and South Carolina border almost within Charlotte’s figurative shadow. Lake Norman, the largest lake in North Carolina, is just to the north. Both lakes are highly developed, with private docks and abundant man-made features. And they provide easy access to legions of non-fishing boaters.
Two catfishing guides have long fished these lakes and have learned to adapt to cope with the challenges of urbanization.
Rodger Taylor of Rock Hill, SC, and Deiter Melhorn from Cramerton, NC, fished these lakes as catfish populations began to explode years ago. Now, each operates their own successful catfishing guide service. They’ve adapted to meet the challenges of a large and rapidly growing urban fishing environment.
Taylor (803-517-7828; Catfish On! Guide Service) guides on Lake Wylie and the much more rural lake downstream, Lake Wateree, in South Carolina. The influx of non-fishing recreational boat traffic on Lake Wylie, his home lake, has changed how he catfishes.
“When I started catfishing many years ago, we could pretty much go where we wanted when we wanted and fish how we needed to fish,” he said. “Now, it’s a different environment.”
While everyone has an equal right to the water for recreation, Taylor said one issue for catfishermen is that many recreational boaters don’t understand the fishing process.
“It’s not that they’re generally doing anything on purpose, but for much of the year, the numbers of boaters are just overwhelming in certain areas of the lake,” he said. “Even during the winter, non-fishing boat traffic is higher. And when taking clients out, it’s more than simply catching fish; we must have an enjoyable, safe trip.
To ensure that occurs, Taylor changes his guide-trip schedule during the most boating-intense times of the year.
“I normally offer eight-hour trips, but during the warm season, we’ll have a window of very early morning fishing opportunity before non-fishing boaters get on the lake,” he said. “Up until 10 to 11 a.m., mornings are relatively quiet, so I schedule morning trips. I also schedule night-fishing trips that begin well after dark. Starting at dusk is preferable for me personally, but boat traffic is often still active. I’ve adapted by identifying fishing targets in remote areas, away from boat access ramps still bustling with activity, to begin the trip. We’ll fish our way back toward the landing as boating traffic slows. It works out well.”
Dieter Melhorn guides on lakes Wylie and Norman and offers similar short trips. He’s also learned several tactics that work well for him for eight-hour trips.
“Both lakes Norman and Wylie have multiple no-wake areas of significant size, especially around large bridge areas spanning the main lake,” Melhorn said. “These are designated as No-Wake Zones and afford ample area to fish. However, I prefer anchored fishing or drifting. The bridges offer deep-water, main-channel fishing, with ledges, deep holes and around the bridge and associated pilings. I have a lot of structure and depth changes to target.”
Melhorn (704-813-3891; Dieter Melhorn Fishing-You Tube) said another tactic, once boaters begin to flood the lakes mid-morning, is to leave the mainstream area and fish remote areas in the creeks not conducive to non-fishing boating traffic.
“I’ve learned I’d overlooked excellent fishing areas by not getting back in the shallower water during winter or summer,” he said. “Far up the creeks in Lake Norman, I’ve found deeper holes and ditches cutting through flats that intersect the creek channel. These targets can be productive year-round, especially in low-light situations. And in these areas, the small, narrow waters don’t provide the opportunity for skiing and large boats to maneuver.”
Taylor adds that another situation occurs any time of the year, but it’s most prominent during warm weather.
“We’ll have evening thundershowers creating localized heavy rainfall,” he said. “This huge influx of water creates a temporary current in the back of creeks, washing food sources into the water. I target these the following morning and usually find a great catfish bite. One target is where a bridge spans the creek. I’ll anchor near where the bridge funnels water through the constricted opening. In areas with no bridge, I look for a water-color change to target.”
Taylor said the catfish move in to feed in these areas, and he’ll generally enjoy sensational but short-lived catfishing success. (Note: I had the opportunity to work this pattern with Taylor at dawn one morning, and the fishing was ridiculously good.)
Melhorn said unless the weather is dangerous, he is open to rainy-day trips when non-fishing boating traffic is noticeably less, including during the winter.
“Cloudy days with light rain are my preferred fishing days anyway,” he said. “If it’s safe regarding lightning and wind, I want to go fishing.”
Taylor added he’s learned to embrace the man-made structures, such as riprap or rock walls along shorelines in front of lake homes.
“These areas, especially near deep water, tend to attract forage fish,” he said. “Thus, the big blue and flathead catfish come to feed.”
Taylor and Melhorn have evolved their fishing patterns to cope with the challenges of fishing on highly urbanized lakes. Each attests they’ve learned to adapt, and this adaptability has made them even more effective.
(Terry Madewell of Ridgeway, SC has been an outdoor communicator for nearly 50 years. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and has a long career as a professional wildlife biologist/natural resources manager. He’s passionate about sharing outdoor adventures with others.)
