Fishing at Lake Gaston

Blue Catfish: Four Consecutive NC State Records

The blue catfish record history at Lake Gaston is unlike anything at any other lake in Virginia or the Carolinas. Between December 2015 and July 2020, Lake Gaston produced four consecutive North Carolina state record blue catfish — a streak on a single lake that has no precedent in the state's record books.

Zakk Royce of Murfreesboro, NC, running Blues Brothers Catfish Guide Service, broke the NC record with a 91-pound fish on December 20, 2015. He released the fish overnight in a livewell, had it certified the next morning, then returned to the lake and broke his own record the same day with a 105-pound fish — two state records in 18 hours on the same lake. Landon Evans, a 15-year-old fishing from a dock in Macon on the NC side in 25 feet of water with 30-pound test line and a Shimano Catala 300 reel, landed a 117.5-pound fish in June 2016 — the scale briefly read 120 before settling. Joey Baird of Gasburg, Virginia — Brunswick County, the county that holds most of the Virginia Lake Gaston shore — caught a 121-pound-9-ounce fish on July 5, 2020. All four records came out of the same body of water within five years.

The NC record eventually moved to the Roanoke River downstream in July 2021, when Rocky Baker of Four Oaks, NC, caught a 127-pound-1-ounce fish. But that fish came from the same river system — the Roanoke River flowing from Kerr Reservoir through Lake Gaston and into the river below Gaston Dam. The 143-pound Virginia state record and world rod-and-reel record came from Kerr Reservoir directly upstream in 2011. No other river system in the country has produced this concentration of state record blue catfish across two states in one decade.

For a buyer whose primary fishing interest is big blue cats, Lake Gaston is not one of the good options — it is the primary destination in the Eastern United States. Blue cats in the 20-to-60-pound range are caught routinely. Triple-digit fish are a documented reality here, not an anecdote. Guide Zakk Royce also released a 100-pound fish alive in 2021 that he caught from five feet of water in the back of a creek — demonstrating that the fish are distributed across the lake, not limited to deep-water main-channel structure.

Striped Bass

Lake Gaston holds a substantial striped bass population. Unlike Kerr Reservoir upstream — where stripers reproduce naturally and the Army Corps manages water releases to assist their spawning run — Lake Gaston's striper population is maintained partly through stocking programs by Virginia DWR and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. The stable pool and the Roanoke River connection upstream provide good habitat, but the absence of the same Corps-managed spring flow management means natural reproduction is less reliable than at Kerr.

Striper fishing at Lake Gaston peaks in fall when cooling temperatures push fish to the surface and trolling and topwater methods produce consistently. The main channel and the transition zones between deep water and shallow flats in the NW and NE quadrants on the Virginia side hold the most reliable fall striper structure. Winter jigging below the thermocline on the main channel produces quality fish through the cold months. Spring and summer fish suspend deeper and respond best to umbrella rigs and live bait presentations at depth.

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth bass are widely distributed across the coves and creek arms of Lake Gaston. The stable pool supports consistent shoreline structure — docks, boathouses, laydowns, and riprap — that would be periodically exposed and unavailable on a drawdown lake. Dominion's stable pool means the same dock pilings and boathouse structure that holds fish in August also hold fish in January. Tournament fishing on Lake Gaston produces consistent fields in the 12-to-15-pound five-fish limits that characterize a healthy bass fishery, with the occasional limit over 20 pounds in strong spring conditions.

The coves on the Virginia side in Brunswick County — particularly in the NW quadrant where the lake narrows toward Kerr Dam — hold good spring spawning habitat. The main-body docks and boathouse pilings on both sides of the lake produce summer fish when bass seek shade and depth. Fall fishing transitions to main-lake points and channel swings as water temperatures cool in October and November.

Crappie, Walleye, and Other Species

Crappie are present lake-wide and produce good numbers in the pre-spawn and spawn windows from late February through April. Both black and white crappie are present, with the bridge structures and dock pilings throughout the lake providing reliable year-round structure. Unlike the upper cove flooding that drives Kerr Reservoir's crappie fishery, Lake Gaston crappie anglers work consistent structure rather than seasonal flooded timber, because the stable pool means the timber and dock structure are always in the same relationship to the water.

Walleye have been documented in Lake Gaston and are considered a bonus species by most anglers. The fish tend to concentrate near rocky main-channel transition zones in the upper lake. White perch are abundant and provide excellent light-tackle action on small jigs and live bait; their population has expanded significantly in recent years and they are readily available for anglers looking for consistent panfish action.

Fishing Access on the Virginia Side

Poplar Point Marine in Bracey, Virginia (Brunswick County) is the primary full-service marina on the Virginia side, offering fuel, supplies, and launch facilities. The developing Herman Road Day Use site in Bracey will add a public canoe and kayak launch with a dock once Brunswick County completes Phase One construction, using FERC funds administered by Dominion. Virginia and North Carolina fishing licenses are both valid lake-wide under the states' reciprocal agreement. Virginia DWR (804-367-1000) is the contact for Virginia-side fishing regulation questions; NC Wildlife Resources Commission (919-707-0010) handles the NC side.