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Lake Hickory Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Duke Energy's 1927 Catawba River reservoir at Hickory: a heavily fished largemouth lake where invasive Alabama bass have spread since 2008.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
68 / 68 F
Wind
ENE 7 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Hickory offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 64 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

North Carolina requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $32.00 for residents. What a North Carolina licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with NCWRC before you keep anything. The season dates for North Carolina, read off the agency, are on the North Carolina seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp68 F
High / Low68 / 41 F
WindENE 7-8 mph
Pressure1023.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:39 / 18:39
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Lake Hickory this week

The best day on Lake Hickory this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 AM
Minor period
4:22 AM-5:22 AM
Sun
07:39 to 18:39
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Hickory: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

When to come: the Lake Hickory calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Hickory today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

North Carolina requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

North Carolina fishing license required. NCWRC removed size and creel limits for Alabama bass in August 2020: keep any number of any size. For largemouth, striped bass and crappie, see the current NCWRC inland fishing regulations.

Access

Duke Energy's Wittenburg Access Area (leased by Alexander County) reopened in May 2024 with a swim beach, restrooms, picnic shelters and a concession stand; the beach is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Wednesdays. Check Duke Energy's Catawba-Wateree recreation listings for boat ramps.

About this water

A Duke Energy hydroelectric reservoir formed by Oxford Dam on the Catawba River in 1927, about 4,100 acres at full pool, near Hickory, North Carolina.

Fishing Lake Hickory: the full guide

Oxford Dam and the lake

Lake Hickory formed in 1927 when Duke Energy built Oxford Dam on the Catawba River near Hickory, North Carolina. NCWRC's 2022 black bass report gives it 1,659 hectares (about 4,100 acres) at full pool and a mean depth of about 33 feet; it is run mainly for power generation. NCWRC lists fisheries for largemouth bass, striped bass, crappie, sunfish, and flathead, channel and bullhead catfish.

Largemouth bass

NCWRC electrofishing from 2008 to 2018 found largemouth abundant (73 to 96 fish an hour), in good condition and mostly over about 12 inches, reaching harvestable size (14 inches) at just over three years old with low annual mortality. Lake Hickory is heavily fished: a Duke Energy creel survey in 1997 and 1998 estimated nearly 292,000 angler-hours, with largemouth drawing 45% of the effort.

The 'spotted bass' are Alabama bass

Anglers began reporting 'spotted bass' in 2006, and NCWRC confirmed them in 2008. Genetic tests in 2022 showed they are Alabama bass, an invasive species illegally introduced by anglers. Their electrofishing catch rate rose from 3 fish an hour in 2012 to 13 in 2018, though most were under about 12 inches. NCWRC asks anglers to keep every Alabama bass they catch and to report them from waters where they have not been documented.

Common questions

Are the spotted bass in Lake Hickory really spotted bass?

No. NCWRC genetic testing in 2022 identified them as Alabama bass, an invasive species illegally introduced by anglers.

Can I keep Alabama bass?

Yes, as many as you catch at any size: NCWRC removed limits in August 2020 and encourages harvest.

How is the largemouth population?

NCWRC surveys from 2008 to 2018 found largemouth abundant, well conditioned and fast growing, with no detectable impact from Alabama bass yet.

Is fishing good at Lake Hickory right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Lake Norman31 miLake Wylie51 miWatauga Lake54 miWatauga River60 miSouth Holston Lake64 miBoone Lake68 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 35.7800, -81.4000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.