Less than an hour from Charlotte there lies a great place to go fishing. On a Wednesday in June a few friends & I loaded up for a fly fishing trip down to Landsford Canal State Park.
We met at Jesse Brown’s Outdoors and began the trek down to the river where we were to meet up with Jay & John from the Carolina Outdoor television program & Jesse Brown’s, Don Yager.
The day started rainy in Charlotte but had cleared by the time we reached the river. It’s really easy to access from Jesse Brown’s. Head I-77 South to Exit 77; then head south down 21/5. Go 17 miles to the entrance of the park.
Jay (the host of the program) & Don immediately hit the water. Gray Langley, a Charlotte C.P.A. & both Kevin Dale & Mark Maraffi of BB&T met them there.
All you need to fish the Catawba at this point is a valid SC fishing license. SC’s licenses run from June 30 to June 30 & can be difficult to find in stores (they run out). The best bet is to get a temporary one until July. If you plan on fishing SC more after July 1st then it makes sense to get an annual permit.
This last part of free flowing water of the Catawba River has shallow bottom (ford) that makes for water that you can wade. We had a couple of canoes but ended up walking down the River trail a short ways then hopped in near the bloom of the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily bloom that takes place each year during the months of May & June.
The fishing was slow but you can catch a ton of small bass and bream along the shoals. If you wade out towards the main current and fish deeper you can get the big boys.
We were all using fly rods except Jay. It made for good interactive casting in this shallow part of the river. Fly rodding for bass would mean a 6 or 7 weight (I was fishing a 9 ft. 5 wt rod). It was a bit too light for casting the larger bass bugs.
The water is “snakey” as the weather warms. Don’t worry…they’re all a bunch of non-poisonous water snakes but it’ll make your heart skip a beat when you first see them. I looked at it as an added bit of adventure. Gray’s hat blew off once & Don grabbed it downstream & placed it on a rock to dry. Later Gray learned the hat was being guarded by Mr. Watersnake
From Charlotte you could make this a 1/2 day trip if you like. We fished until the end & then headed back for Jesse Brown’s
Down from the main lot is the shoals. During lower water you have to choose your channels carefully so as not to hit a ton of rocks. Don’t worry…you can safely get down the river. It’s just about how smooth you travel. There is a 2nd lot downstream where you can take out your boat. You can hike back to your car or get someone to help you shuttle it.