Badin Lake

Overview

Badin Lake is a 5,350 acre reservoir in Stanly and Montgomery counties, part of the Yadkin Pee Dee River chain, sitting between Tuckertown Reservoir upstream and Falls Reservoir downstream. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission calls it a popular destination and lists largemouth bass, striped bass, white bass, white perch, black crappie, bluegill, and flathead and blue catfish among the species anglers come for. Black crappie are a highlight. The lake generally produces quality crappie, and the fish grow unusually fast, often reaching in their first year a size that takes about two years in a typical Piedmont reservoir. Crappie size and creel limits were in place on Badin for close to 30 years, but Commission biologists found they did little, so the special limits were dropped in 2020 to encourage harvest of smaller fish and keep growth strong. The Commission surveys the crappie population every three years to track how that change is working. Blue catfish are another draw here, and the lake falls under a special rule meant to protect the largest of them.

Regulations

Badin Lake has a trophy rule that limits how many large blue catfish you may keep. The special crappie limits that once applied here were removed in 2020. See the current North Carolina inland fishing regulations: https://www.ncwildlife.gov/fishing/regulations

Nearby waters

• Lake Tillery · 27.7 km (NC)

More in Montgomery

• Lake Tillery (NC)