Fishing
Known as an angler’s paradise, North Carolina is home to countless popular fishing spots, and you can find some of the top ones in the NC Triad! With rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs—both stocked and naturally reproductive—that generate big catches year-round, the Triad is a great bet for a big catch whether you plan on going solo or gathering a group together for a celebratory reunion.
Spectacular Fishing Spots
The Triad is rich with fishing holes, and many of them reside near the area’s major cities.
If you’re looking to fish and enjoy the area’s riverine beauty, visit Mayo River State Park north of Greensboro and enjoy the natural beauty of a tributary of the Roanoke River while casting a line for large and smallmouth bass and catfish from the Anglin Mill Access Point. The river pools into ponds—the hiking trails, picnic areas, and pavilions highlight these features—making it a destination ripe for a visit to make a quick cast and catch.
Tanglewood Park outside Winston-Salem features two easily accessible stocked lakes. And a beautiful hike through Boone’s Cave Park in Lexington leads to a rustic lake perfect for bank fishing. Camp for a night or two and enjoy a weekend-long fishing trip with loved ones.
A Lake Fishing Haven
Created as a drinking water reservoir for Greensboro, Randleman Lake is a phenomenal fishing spot. With most pleasure watercraft banned from the lake and a lake-wide speed limit, anglers have a free run of the reservoir to cast until their heart’s content and bond over a day of fishing. Largemouth bass and crappie are plentiful—with bluegill prevalent in the reedy shallows and catfish in the deeper channels—and the lake is already becoming a North Carolina hotspot for trophy-size bass catches.
There’s no single article that could describe the sheer richness of fishing spots the Triad offers. Salem Lake in Winston-Salem, High Point’s Oak Hollow Lake, and Belews Lake north of Winston and Greensboro all deserve special attention of their own. And so does Lake Thom-A-Lex Park, a Lexington fishing destination, where you can launch your boat and spend the day reeling in catches.
Lake Higgins, Lake Brandt, and Lake Townsend are also must-fish spots found in or near Greensboro. Higgins is the smallest of the city’s lakes but famous for great fishing. Brandt, almost four times as large, sometimes also produces larger catches. Both lakes have piers for anglers on a time crunch, but their boat launches are publicly accessible, and rowboats, kayaks, and canoes are available for rental.
Lake Townsend – Greensboro’s largest municipal reservoir – is also its most impressive fishing destination. With multiple boat ramps, the lake can accommodate a variety of vessels, from sailboats to pleasurecraft. Covering more than 1,500 acres, it contains fishing nooks and crannies that will keep anglers coming back to continue exploring its intricacies and catching its abundance of largemouth, striped, and hybrid bass, as well as catfish and crappie.
Come and experience the ultimate fishing trip any time of year in the Triad, and leave with closer bonds and unforgettable memories.
