2018 Western North Carolina Top 10 Fishing Lakes

We have so many great fisheries in Western NC (west of Asheville) and most of them are extremely deep and clear reservoirs! Every lake provides anglers with different opportunities for different species and the opportunity for quantities of fish and quality of fish! Some lakes are more diverse, some lakes have larger fish and some lakes have more fish! This is the where they stack up against one another as of 2018!!!

Lake Chatuge, Hayesville NC
Current Rank #1: 
Previous Rank #1
Size: 7,000 Acres
Without question Lake Chatuge is one of the most diverse fisheries in Western NC! Filled with all kinds of baitfish species it makes for one of the healthiest predatory fish habitats! Filled with gizzard shad, threadfin shad and blueback herring, Lake Chatuge largemouth, spotted bass and hybrid stripers grow to trophy sizes! Though this lake has tapered off in the number of big bags on any given weekend it can show up with a number of mid 20lb bags of largemouth and spotted bass!


Lake Glenville, Cashiers NC
Current Rank #2
Previous Rank #2
Size: 1,500 Acres
Lake Glenville is the highest lake in elevation east of the Mississippi River. It's cold deep water is a nice home for GIANT smallmouth and big largemouth! The blueback herring, yellow perch and native shiners make every fish species in the lake grow to trophy size! This lake has a possible smallmouth state record lurking in the depths! The lake is also home to big walleye, brown trout, rainbow trout and the occasional spotted bass as well!


Fontana Lake, Bryson City NC
Current Rank #3
Previous Rank #7
Size: 10,250 Acres
The mighty Fontana was known nationally as one of the most prolific big smallmouth fisheries in the country in the 90's and early 2000's! With the introduction of invasive spotted bass to Fontana the lake really spiraled out of control with the quantity of fish and lack of quality. Recently, there have been big bass starting to show up in numbers and the lake is definitely starting to respond to the blueback herring population! This lake probably won't wow you with the size of the bass but every once in a while GIANTS come out to play!


Nantahala Lake, Nantahala NC
Current Rank #4
Previous Rank #5
Size: 1,750 Acres
Way up through the back roads of the Nantahala National Forest is a beautiful mountain gem filled with all kinds of amazing fish! Nantahala Lake has a big threadfin shad population and a growing blueback herring population that feeds the smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and walleye! This lake is filled with trophy sized yellow perch, rainbow trout and brown trout as well! 


Lake Hiwassee, Murphy NC
Current Rank #5
Previous Rank #4
Size: 6,100 Acres
Tucked in the very west corner of North Carolina is a lake filled with a ton of beautiful views and GIANT fish! This lake is home of the state record smallmouth bass and is known to produce large fish! Big largemouth are very present as well as big stripers! Lake Hiwassee is thick with baitfish species! Threadfin shad, gizzard shad, blueback herring, trout, bream, perch and crawfish! Though the lake moved down in the rankings it is still a big fish factory! You can also catch good numbers of spotted bass as well!


Lake Apalachia, Hiwassee Dam NC
Current Rank #6
Previous Rank #4
This little hole in the wall lake in Western NC is full of GIANT bass! Smallmouth and largemouth gorge on trout and blueback herring in Apalachia! This fishery has some tanks and they stock trout to help control the herring population. It's well worth the adventure! Though it has moved down in the rankings, the fishing is still awesome!



Lake Junaluska, Waynesville NC
Current Rank #7
Previous Rank #6
Lake J is 200 acres and filled with fish that will make you smile! The lake will surprise you with phenomenal trophy bass! Local communities stocks it with trout during the winter! It's a trolling motor only lake that doesn't see a lot of fishing pressure! It may be small but it is one of the best lakes in the mountains, don't let the size fool you! There are a ton of perch and crappy in the lake which are fun to catch! The perch and crappy also grow the giant bass!



Bear Lake, Tuckasegee NC
Current Rank #8
Previous Rank #9
Bear lake is definitely a local favorite! Loaded with BIG bass and BIG trout Bear lake has a ton of trophy sized fish! This lake may actually possess the state record walleye too! The fish grow big in the deep clear water! This is a must fish if you've never fished it!


Wolf Creek Lake, Tuckasegee NC
Current Rank #9
Previous Rank #10
Wolf Creek sets up a lot like Bear Lake! Big walleye, trout, largemouth and smallmouth! Filled with threadfin shad and deep, clear water Wolf Creek can bring out the STUDS! It's beautiful shoreline, cliffs and beaches are great to fish for the different species! Way up 281 in Tuckasegee, it is well worth the drive!



Lake Santeetlah, Robbinsville NC
Current Rank #10
Previous Rank #8
Located right next to Tail of The Dragon is the beautiful Lake Santeetleh! This lake has a very healthy population of largemouth bass and quite a few smallmouth! The size can be suspect as there are a ton of 1 pound to 1 1/2 pound fish in Santeetlah. Definitely a top 10 fishery of Western NC!