Kerr Lake Striper & Catfish Weekend

Dates: May 31st – June 2nd

Location: Henderson Point Campground

Address: 1427 Rev Henderson Rd, Henderson, NC 27537

Sign Ups Close: Midnight April 1, 2024

Four Open Positions for Applicants Only.  Volunteers are not needed for this event.

A minimum $35 donation will be required following selection to attend the event. 

Event Description:

Brian Harris (blinded veteran) and Monaca Gilmore (Mentor Program Coordinator) joined Drew Blake and Cam Patrick for a weekend of fishing on Kerr Lake/Buggs Island Reservoir.  Buggs Island consists of nearly 50,000 acres of surface water and 800 miles of shoreline.  Join us as we target two of the lakes well known fisheries (Striped Bass and Catfish).  Buggs Island is known to have two “schools” of stripers which is based on their original stocking locations.  One school ranges from Clarksville to the Ivy Hill area and “migrates” up the Dan River.  During spring, these stripers can be found in the upper end of the lake and in the river above Clarksville as fish travel upstream to spawn.  The second school ranges from Eastland Creek back toward the dam and “migrates” up to Nutbush Creek.   As the summer progresses the upper school migrates down the lake and joins the lower school around Eastland Creek due to a combination of high water temperatures and low dissolved oxygen which forces striped bass to be found in the lower end of the lake (the dam to about Buoy 9 and in the mouth of Nutbush Creek).  Striped bass caught during the summer suffer high mortality rates when released (approximately 75 percent). Therefore, both NC and VA have removed the size limit restriction during the summer months (June – September) and ask that anglers halt striper fishing when they catch their legal limit of four striped bass per day rather than continue to catch fish and cull smaller fish.

Buggs Island is also home to the World Record Blue Catfish weighing in at a whopping 143 pounds.  Catfish can be caught throughout the lake by focusing on points next to deep channels.

The trip started Friday evening with the group checking into the campsite at Henderson Point Campground.  Camp started with Drew and Cam setting up the Davis Canvas Tent.  This tent was chosen over the Wall Tent Shop wall tent due to the limited space of the campsite and due to the small number of participants. Brian and Monaca quickly joined in and helped setup the Disc-o-Bed Cot Bunk beds while Drew and Cam cooked dinner and setup things for the next day.  As the sunset, Cam and Drew launched the Sea Hunt BX21 Bay Boat from the boat ramp and tied it up along the shore of the campsite.  Drew then loaded the boat down for the next morning with ten (10) fishing rods, 6 for trolling for stripers and 4 for catfishing, along with fifteen (15) catfish noodles, cannon downriggers, and two (2) Icey-Tek coolers full of ice, drinks and snacks.  The rest of the night consisted of Drew and Cam preparing trolling rigs and strategizing the plan for the next day while Monaca and Brian enjoyed some long awaited friend time by the campfire.

Saturday morning came early as the crew departed camp not long after sunrise and soon began targeting stripers.  Drew and Cam threw every trick in the book at the fish in an attempt to make a striper bite the hook.  Drew made the decision to switch up species after 5 hours of no action covering miles and miles of the lake.  Cam began baiting noodles while Drew navigated the boat to a cove that consistently produces high numbers of catfish.  Drew utilized the Lowrance Elite 12Ti to locate the perfect underwater ledges and channels and told Cam to toss the noodles.  The first fish bit before all the noodles were set and from then on it was immediate and constant action for 30-45 minutes.  The crew boated five (5) catfish that were the perfect eating size.  The crew decided to call it a day after nearly 9 hours on the boat.  Back at camp, Cam cooked steaks over an open fire while Drew deep fried hushpuppies along with the freshly caught catfish.  Everyone enjoyed the meal with Brian eating his first fried catfish.

Sunday morning the crew had a short time to fish before Brian had to make his flight out of RDU back to Chicago.  They set out early and decided to skip the stripers and target catfish.  The morning started off interesting with a huge snapping turtle taking the bait.  Catching turtles is bad luck when fishing so Drew made the decision to change location.  The noodles were redeployed and it wasn’t long Brian boated a 4 pound large mouth off a noodle.  After that the crew headed back to camp to start the dreaded task of packing up.  As the trip concluded the crew realized that a special bond was formed over the weekend and Brian insisted that he will be back for future events.

Check out the video Here