Fishing Lake Townsend

AKA: Townsend Lake

Popular Fish Species
Lake Townsend Fishing Video
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Lake Townsend, NC

Popular Fish Species Lake Townsend, NC

Crappie Fishing

Lake Townsend is home to both black and white crappie. When fishing for crappie, light line and small hooks are key when fishing live or prepared baits. Crappie jigs are also productive her in a wide variety of colors. With a history of good crappie fishing, Lake Townsend continues to deliver good quantities of nice, fat slabs. The lake has healthy populations of both white crappie and black crappie. These two species typically tend to school separately. However, once located around cover, you may find that you catch both species, due to the fact they often share the same cover. Crappie fishing can be found in varying size schools, hanging around brush, vegetation, wood or other cover. Using a fish finder any time of year can help locate these crappie schools, which tend to stack vertically around cover. Live bait and small jigs are the most common method for crappie here. In spring and fall focus on the 8 to 12 foot range. As the crappie move deep in summer and winter, follow points out deep, as well as find ledges near channels, especially areas with brush or timber in deeper water. The best time to catch crappie tends to be at dawn and dusk.

Lake Townsend Popular Fish - Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass Fishing

As a popular bass fishing tournament lake, Lake Townsend is well known to locals and anglers in the region as a good bass lake. Both weekend and tournament anglers have been catching bass in good numbers, and fish over 4 pounds are not uncommon. Fishing for largemouth bass can be quite rewarding, with an occasional bass over 6 pounds being caught. In Lake Townsend, bass often move shallow and become fairly aggressive when they are in a feeding mood. Use shallow crankbaits around rip rap. Around grass, use worms, jigs, topwater and spinnerbaits. In deeper water, drop shot rigs, big worms, jigs and spoons are good options. In winter, spend your time fishing deeper structure where the bass spend much of their time. Years of careful fisheries management by the NC Wildlife has helped to maintain a thriving bass fishery here.

Lake Townsend Popular Fish - Hybrid Striped Bass

Hybrid Striped Bass Fishing

Hybrid striped bass, also known as wipers, are a favorite of many locals and fishing guides at Lake Townsend, as they are plentiful and grow to bragging size. As a hybrid of striped bass and white bass, they have great potential for spawning massive numbers and growing to large sizes. Fishing for hybrid stripers is a matter of locating schools of bait, and schools of hybrid striped bass are likely to be in the area. Mornings, during Fall, hybrids can be caught on topwater or shallow running lures, as they are feeding on baitfish at the surface. When they move deeper, fish finders improve your odds of locating both bait and schools of wipers. Live bait, spoons and jigs are very very effective here, and these hungry fish can be caught year round.

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, white crappie, bluegill, striped bass and hybrid striped bass at Lake Townsend in North Carolina.

Lake Townsend Fishing Video

Most popular for sailing, Lake Townsend is also a great fishing destination. It is a 1,542-acre lake in the north-central part of the state with easy access from all directions. There are over 34 miles of shoreline to explore in search of bass, catfish, crappie, sunfish, striped bass and wipers. An excellent boat ramp is open to the public for launch of canoes, kayaks, pontoons, pleasure boats and fishing boats of all kinds. There is a marina, the Lake Townsend Yacht Club, which is open to the public and offers boat rental. The nearest campground is about 15 miles south of the lake, which also has RV hookups.

Primary fish species residing in Lake Townsend

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Lake Townsend Amenities

Marina: YES
Boat Rental: YES
Boat Launch Ramp: YES
Campgrounds: NEARBY
RV Hookups: NEARBY
Lodging: NEARBY
Convenience Store: YES
Bait & Tackle: NEARBY
Restaurant: YES

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