Lake Waccamaw, a Carolina Bay, is a shallow, sandy bowl with 9,000 acres of water surface and 14 miles of shoreline. The state-owned lake is 6 miles long x 5 miles wide with a maximum depth of 11feet and an average depth of 7 feet. It can get rough with even light winds because the surrounding terrain is too flat to block the wind.
The lake provides good fishing for white and yellow perch, crappie, redear sunfish, pumpkinseed, and largemouth bass. Bluegill and white catfish are there and support fair fishing.
The lake bottom is peat. The north shore is limestone with rocks under the limestone. Fishing structure includes cypress trees and tree stumps, grass and lily pad beds, submerged vegetation beds, deep holes, docks, mile posts and no wake zone markers, sloping drop-offs, springs, and man-make structure – cedar trees, barrels, tires, etc.
Cypress trees and grass beds hold largemouth bass and panfish such as shellcracker, pumpkinseed, and bluegill. Docks offer cover for crappie and largemouth bass. Offshore, the submerged plant beds attract yellow perch. Deep holes attract white perch and big catfish.
“Dissecting” the lake gives one a better perspective on where to fish.
Northwest side, Dale’s to Wildlife Ramp – docks and lily pads (bass and crappie; April and May most productive months). Water is deeper along the docks on this side of the lake.
Wildlife ramp to spillway dam – docks, lily pads, grass beds (excellent wade fishing for bass and bream, April, and May)
Spillway dam to Mile 13– grass beds, cypress trees, tree stumps (bass and bream)
Southeastern side, State Park – shallow, clear, and barren bottom (poor fishing)
Eastern side – Big Creek to Dale’s, grass beds, lily pads, docks (bass, crappie, and bream)
Submerged sandbars and water, 8 feet and deeper, offshore of Big Creek (white perch)
Mileage posts and no wake zone markers around lake (bass, crappie, and bream)
Where are They?
Good spots for largemouth bass in the Spring:
Mouth of Big Creek on the eastern shore, provided there is water flowing into the lake from the creek. If there is not much flow, work into the main lake and look for lily pad beds 50-1000 yards out past the no wake zone poles.
Also fish the grass beds on either side of the mouth. This is a good area to wade and fish, particularly to the south.
Mileage posts and wake markers 100 yards from the shore.
Edges of the lily pads and grasses out front of Dale’s Seafood restaurant.
Docks and lily pads on the NW side where the water is deeper and the bottom is softer and darker. With a lack of shallow stumps or brush, docks fill the void of hard structure in Lake Waccamaw.
Reed grass near the spillway dam. Fish the grass beds and cypress trees with poppers during April and May. The grass beds are a hot spot for wading.
Cypress knees and tree stumps along the shoreline near the spillway dam. Don’t be afraid to go shallow, two feet of water is plenty deep enough to hold a trophy bass.
Gear and Technique
Use 8-wt rod with a 6 to 8-foot leader (8-10 lb test) and a 4 to 6-foot tippet.
Vary retrieve to learn what works, using slow and fast retrieves.
Don’t fish too fast; make 3-4 casts to attractive structure.
When fishing a popper, stop occasionally, giving tracking bass time to look at – and eat – the fly.
Keep rod low and pointed at the fly throughout the retrieve.
To set the hook, strip back hard while simultaneously giving the rod some side pressure.
For tips on wade fishing Lake Waccamaw, see the Carolina Outdoor Journal video Fishing the Edge. The location is Lake Phelps but Lake Phelps has a shoreline similar to Lake Waccamaw.
Also see the Orvis Tutorial Fishing for Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass
Largemouth Bass Flies
Bass Popper – The traditional cork popper is one of the most fun ways to catch a largemouth; particularly in the mornings and evenings when they’re near the surface in shallow water.
Deer Hair Bass Bug – A big flat-fronted hair bug that causes a lot of disturbance on the water when stripped. Spun deer hair offers great buoyancy. A weed guard permits fishing in weeds.
Dancing Frog – A beautiful spun deer hair fly fishing frog pattern with great realism and the ability to create a lot of disturbance on the water. Cast it out into the weeds, let it sit twice as long as you think you should and then give it a strip.
Sunfish Imitation – Sunfish are not only prime largemouth bass food, but they’re also nest predators on largemouth bass, so they’ll grab a sunfish when it gets near. This weedless fly is among the best bass flies ever designed.
Wilson’s Bass Bully – Hop this along the bottom by pointing the rod tip toward the fly with no slack, lift, remove slack and repeat.
Wooly Bugger – Conehead flies are the most successful searching flies when conditions are hard to read. The wooly bugger’s cone head gets the fly down quickly in faster, deeper water.
BREAM: REDEAR/SHELLCRACKER, PUMPKINSEED, BLUEGILL
Where are They?
Look for bream in the same locations as described above for largemouth bass. They can be found close to the banks and in shallow water and many fishermen find wading as productive as and more fun than fishing from a boat.
Each May, a mayfly hatch that wakes up the bream population. The wind blows the mayflies out of the trees into the lake, and the bream aggressively strike them on the surface. Fish for them in waders on the edges of the grass beds and the grass beds and lily pads near the dam. Wade out to the grass beds but not all the way or you may spook the fish.
As you enter the lake from Big Creek, there are lots of grass beds where bream and bass hang out. This is also a good area to wade and fish, particularly to the south.
The third dock north of the sailing club dock has several very large submerged cypress stumps that can be seen from a boat in the clear water. Bream bed-up there.
The lily pads just north of the sailing club dock usually hold bream.
The grass beds near the dam is another hot spot for wading.
Gear and Technique
Use 6-7 weight rod with a 7 1/2 – 9-foot leader (6 lb test) tapered to a 3x (4-6 lb test) tippet.
Let popper sit 15-20 seconds; twitch; make a few quick strips; let it sit; strip again.
Fish a popper in early morning; later, switch to a sinking fly with a strike indicator
Use large poppers to fish for bream and bass at the same time.
Cast a Pencil Popper or a Wooly Bugger for bigger bream.
Bream Flies
Mini Pop Popper – Bluegills and small bass will eat this fly pattern up. Big eyes and plenty of tail and rubber legs make this one buggy looking critter sitting on top of the water.
Slim Pencil Popper – A skinnier take on the Pencil Popper, made for warm water species. Offers a superb imitation of a crippled minnow. Its slimmer diameter allows it to work well in lily pads, especially if a hook guard is added.
Billy Bluegill Spider – Designed to be a subsurface fly, the Bully Bluegill Spider is weighted more heavily toward the bend of the hook and falls vertically through the water column. The rubber legs wiggle underwater, creating a lifelike action bluegill can’t resist. Beneath a popper or an indicator, the Bluegill Spider will catch panfish and bass.
Extended Body Eastern Green Drake – A big and obvious green drake dry fly for the eastern may fly hatch. Extremely visible in the water and if the green drakes are in a blizzard hatch, this pattern will make it much easier to discern your fly from the naturals on the water.
Bead Head Hare’s Ear Nymph – The Hare’s Ear fly pattern is probably the most productive nymph there is. Its beauty is in its simplicity. The buggy nature of the fly pattern represents any number of insect species and entices fish with its lifelike movement. Adding a bead head only enhances the Hare’s Ear fly, getting it down into the feeding zone quickly for longer drifts at the right depth. Excellent for still water fishing and can be used as a dropper pattern in any situation.
Murray’s Wasp Dry – Fish these Wasps along the banks close to the thick shrubs and below overhanging tree limbs on mountain trout streams and spring creeks from May to October. A splashy presentation followed by a slow twitching action often brings solid strikes.
The lake’s hallmark species is the white perch, which reaches large sizes in a population with a good age structure. White perch migrate from saltwater to freshwater to spawn. During spring floods, they swim over the dam. Millions remain in the lake all year, where anglers find them easy pickings. It may be the best place in NC to catch a white perch measuring more than 12 inches long or weighing more than a pound. While white perch bite well all year long, the best months for catching them are the summer months.
Where are They?
White Perch are schooling fish that inhabit open water a few hundred yards off the shoreline.
White perch can be taken year-round, drifting or trolling in water six feet deep or greater.
If launching from Big Creek, look for white perch on your depth finder within a few hundred yards of where the creek enters the lake.
Look for them in the deep hole in the NW part of the lake.
Head for the grass line near the dam. Back off the grass islands to a water depth of 6-8 feet and drift with the wind. Also troll the drop-off running parallel to the west bank from the grass islands near the dam.
They move constantly and are never in one place very long. If you want to keep up with them, you have to keep moving, too.
Spin Fishing for White Perch
Look for fish marks on your GPS screen and splashes at the surface.
Troll with small crankbaits to locate fish. When you get a strike, toss out a marker float, head back, and anchor about 40 feet away.
Use medium-action spinning rods with 6-10 lb test monofilament line for casting small spinners. White perch will strike any small crankbait, spoon or jig.
Excellent lures for trolling and casting include ¼-ounce Rat-L-Traps, No. 2 or No. 3 Shad Rap in black/silver, and Rebel crankbaits.
Fly Fishing for White Perch
Use up to a 7-weight rod and intermediate or floating line.
Cast an intermediate line to allow the fly to sink slowly; intermediate line works better in windy conditions.
Use a floating line to cast a sinking fly; floating line is easier to pick up.
Cast towards feeding white perch schools of baitfish to the surface.
Strip the streamer across the surface mimicking panic. If no strike, use a sinking tip fly line or add split shot to drop the fly down the water column.
For catching bigger fish, allow the fly or lure to sink deeper before starting the retrieve.
White Perch Flies
Freshwater Clouser – A lighter bead chain version of the famous Clouser minnow flies. These flies are excellent for bass and large panfish, or as a streamer for trout. Simple, timeless baitfish pattern that works.
Muddler Minnow (Size 8 or 10) – Perhaps one of the best minnow/streamer fly fishing patterns ever tied. The Muddler Minnow was spawned, so to speak, by Don Gapen of Anoka, Minnesota in 1936, to imitate the sculpin. Gapen developed this fly to catch Nipigon strain brook trout in Ontario, Canada. It is now a popular pattern world-wide and is likely found in nearly every angler’s fly box, in one form or another.
Gray Ghost – From the Rangeley region of Maine, Carrie Stevens is perhaps one of the most famous fly tiers in the annals of fly fishing. The Grey Ghost was one of her most famous patterns and is easily one of the top five most famous patterns ever tied. Not only do they work, but you should have them in your box out of pure respect for the tradition of the sport.
Bead Head Caddis Pupa – Simple and effective fly pattern for imitating caddis pupa. Proper color, wing pads and profile make this a winning pattern anywhere caddis populations are the primary food source.
TIPS
Fish as early as possible in the morning (and later in the evening) when the fishing is substantially better. Just before dark can be fantastic if the wind is down.
Big Creek looks very fishy but you will fare better at the mouth of it and in the lake.
If you can’t smell fish, they aren’t on a bed, and if you don’t catch a couple within the first few casts, leave and try elsewhere.
The lake is generally calm until around 2-4:00 pm when a sea breeze fills in from Myrtle Beach.
Fish in waders on the edge of the lily pads and grass beds, especially between the Wildlife Landing and the dam where docks and grass beds become more prominent.
Wade out enough to cast to the grass beds. Don’t go all the way to the grass, or you’ll risk spooking fish. (gator mating season; May-June)
GETTING THERE
There are two boat ramps on Lake Waccamaw; the Lake Waccamaw State Park boat ramp on the SE side of the lake and the Wildlife Commission boat ramp on the NW side.
Lake Waccamaw State Park Boat Ramp
Set GPS to 1866 State Park Drive, Lake Waccamaw, N.C.
From Southport, head north on NC-211 N; turn left onto 214-W.
Turn left onto State Road 1757/Jefferson Road.
Continue onto Bartram Lane; turn left onto Bella Coola Road.
Cross the bridge over Big Creek; the boat landing is just past the bridge on the right.
The state-park ramp gives more wind protection. If an east wind comes up fast, like when a summer thunderstorm blows in, you can duck into the canal for a safe takeout. The State Park ramp also offers a place to get out of the sun.
Wildlife Resources Commission Boat Ramp (Presently closed for repairs)
Set GPS to 2402 Canal Cove Road, Lake Waccamaw, N.C.
From Southport, head north on NC-211 N.
Turn left onto 214-W.
Turn left onto Flemington Drive.
Continue right onto Canal Cove Rd.
Kayak fishermen can launch from the spillway dam parking lot at the far end of Waccamaw Shores Road, via Canal Cove Road.
LOCAL AMENITIES
Waccamaw Outdoors sells a good variety of spin and baitcasting tackle – and a few popper flies. Visit them to get a fishing report and to buy tackle that works on Lake Waccamaw. The adjacent convenience store has a grill. Tues–Fri, 9 – 6:30 p.m.; Sat. 9 – 12 p.m.
Lake Waccamaw State Park: 7-10:00 p.m.
Dale’s Seafood: 100 Lake Shore Drive, Phone 910 646 4466. Mon–Thurs, 11 – 9:00 p.m.; Fri-Sat, 11 – 9:30 p.m.
Subway in Lake Waccamaw: Mon-Fri, 6:30-9 p.m.; Sat, 7-9 p.m.; Sun, 9-9 p.m.
Hardee’s, McDonald’s, and Subway: intersection of 211 and 17; stop for breakfast.
LINKS:
Fishing the Edge (Lake Phelps is similar to Lake Waccamaw)
Fishing for Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass (Orvis Tutorial)