Nixon Lake Fishing in Lincoln County, North Carolina

• Overview

  This water sits in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Height above sea level is 794 feet. 1.1 miles away sits Westport, the nearest town. The big place round here is Charlotte, 19 miles distant. What else is close: Smith Lake within 0.6 miles, Lake Norman a shade over 2.2 miles, Stillwell Lake within 5.5 miles, Hasting Lake a shade over 5.8 miles and Kelly Lake within 6.3 miles. It sits near the edge of the county, so check which rules apply.

• Where to Fish on Nixon Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Lincoln County cover striped jumprock, seagreen darter and Carolina fantail darter. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Nixon Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 78°F at the top of summer and 40°F at the bottom of winter. The year never really closes; it just gets uncomfortable in summer. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to be out. March through May is the strongest run, with October and November a second stretch. Nixon Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. A parking area is marked roughly half a mile out. For the catfish, fish bottom baits into the deeper holes and let them sit. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Smith Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Nixon Lake if anything is unclear.