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Fishing, Boating, & Watersports on Lake James
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The history of Lake James |
Lake James is named for James B. Duke, one of the founders of Duke Energy.
Built over a seven-year period beginning in 1916, Lake James required the construction of three dams: Linville, Paddy Creek and Catawba. Linville Dam is 160 feet high and 1,325 feet long. Paddy Creek Dam is 165 feet high and 1,610 feet long. Catawba Dam is 150 feet high and 3,155 feet long. Care should be exercised in the vicinity of these dams.
The lake straddles the McDowell-Burke county line. Lake James has a surface area of approximately 6,812 acres, with 150 miles of shoreline. Full pond elevation is 1,200 feet.
Duke Energy provides four public boat access areas on the lake and one fishing and canoe access point below the hydroelectric station. Lake James State Park also provides public recreation opportunities. Two boat access points are leased to the State Park and the other two, as well as the tailrace fishing and canoe access point, are provided in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
click here for more to do in
Burke County |
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Fishing |
 The westernmost lake on the Catawba chain is
Lake James, about 15 miles west of Morganton. It
covers 6,500 surface acres on two distinct arms --
the Catawba and Linville rivers. Lake James is deep
and clear, characteristic of higher mountain lakes
in terms of habitat and fish species, but with the
advantage of being the warmest and easternmost
reservoir in North Carolina to have small mouth bass
and walleyes.
Prime fishing months for those two, however, will be
over before school's out. The best bet is to fish
red-clay banks around the mouth of the Linville for
some late-spawning walleyes that are just finished
recovering from their reproductive stress and
feeding heavily. Sliding a night crawler (threaded
onto a lead head jig) down a red-clay bank can be
productive, especially when there's a lay down tree
around. And there will be a few late-spawning small mouth
on their way back out of creeks and the
Linville that can be caught on live shiner minnows
in 5 to 15 feet of water on secondary points,
normally with rocks or some other kind of cover.
According to North Carolina Game & Fish Magazine,
this "5,600-acre lake that impounds the Catawba and
Linville rivers in the foothills of Burke and
McDowell counties is probably the No. 1 spot in
North Carolina to catch trophy-sized small mouth
bass."
Fishing license available online from
www.ncwildlife.org
Pontoon Boat
Rental...............................$1000/week.
(if renting townhouse or $1400/week if not renting
townhouse. Pontoon Boat can also be rented by
the day for $250.)
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Boating,
Water Skiing, and Wakeboarding on
the Lake |
Pontoon Boat
Rental...............................$1000/week.
If renting townhouse or $1400/week if not renting
townhouse. Pontoon Boat can also be rented by
the day for $250.
 
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Sitting on the Dock of the Lake |
You can find thousands of locations around
the lake to just relax. Listen to the birds,
the crickets or just chase the fireflies every June.
Have friends over to "your place at the lake" to
celebrate any occasion. You can even flip open
the laptop and get a tan on the deck with our
wireless internet service. |
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Lake James Vacation Retreats
Townhouse Vacation Rentals
Bear Cliff Village at Lake James
Nebo, NC 28761
(Nebo and Lake James are near Black Mountain and Marion, NC)
828-775-5253
Chuck@LakeJamesVacationRetreats.com |
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