John H. Kerr Reservoir

Overview

Kerr Lake, called Buggs Island Lake in Virginia, covers about 48,900 acres at full pool on the Virginia and North Carolina line. Most of it lies in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and its southern arms reach into Vance and Warren counties in North Carolina. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources calls it one of the state's best crappie lakes, with February through April the top months and Buffalo, Grassy, Bluestone and Butcher creeks among the go to areas. Channel catfish have long been the most popular target, and blue and flathead catfish draw plenty of anglers too. Largemouth bass fishing is best in the upper end and the lower lake creek arms, where water willow plantings and artificial habitat add cover. Striped bass move up the lake and into the river in spring, gather in the lower lake between the dam, Buoy 9 and the mouth of Nutbush Creek in summer, and spread out between Goat Island and the Clarksville bridge in fall and winter. White perch are established as well. On the North Carolina side, Kerr Lake State Recreation Area has eight access areas, each with at least one boat ramp, and North Bend Park in Virginia has an accessible fishing pier with fish attractors nearby.

Regulations

Kerr Lake has seasonal striped bass rules, a walleye minimum length limit, a crappie minimum length limit, a trophy rule on large blue catfish in the North Carolina part, and American shad may not be kept. Under a reciprocal agreement, Virginia and North Carolina licenses are both valid for fishing from a boat on the lake and its accessible tributaries. See the Virginia fishing regulations: https://dwr.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/ and the North Carolina inland fishing regulations: https://www.ncwildlife.gov/fishing/regulations

Nearby waters

• Lake Gaston · 22.8 km (NC)

More in Mecklenburg

• Lake Gaston (NC)