Retiring soon. Which is the better lake to retire at? Fishing, cost of living, boat traffic, golf, shops and restaurants. Have friends retiring at Norman, but wasn't too impressed with last FLW event weights. (32lbs for 3 days). Any help would be appreciated
Depends on if you want to catch 40 spots that will weigh 10 pounds(Norman) or catch 5 to 8 that will weigh 15 pounds or more( High Rock).
Norman is prettier but has lots more boat traffic. The homes on Norman are higher dollar. Norman is closer to Charlotte so lots more shops, restaurants, things to do, etc.
2B576211
Make sure that you have a bass boat, cant get under a few of the bridges on high rock with a CC, ask me how I know this.
One other thing to think about is access to good healthcare. Although I don’t live in the Charlotte/Mooresville area I think there is better access to good healthcare there. Cost of living is slightly higher than the high rock area. As far as bot traffic goes, Norman is huge so there is always somewhere to get out of it. I personally never think it’s that bad on norman except on weekends and holidays but that’s everywhere. If you like to catch a lot of fish, Norman is head and shoulders above anything on the yadkin chain and you will catch an occasional big fish. It’s full of spots and it has some really big ones, just have to figure out how to catch them. Some will disagree with this statement but I used to love 10 minutes from high rock and it is by and far the worst lake I’ve ever fished in North Carolina. It is not easy to figure out and it has a low population of fish. It does have a few big ones, but it is very tough. It’s a cess pool a lot of the time. As someone else said the bridges are hard to get under at times especially over the last 3 years with the biblical rain that we’ve had. It’s definitely the worst lake on the yadkin chain and the others are all small and get a lot of pressure. And to add to that area, I would highly suggest against living in Davidson county. I think the best place to have the best of all worlds is the greensboro area. I live in Greensboro and am close to shopping, healthcare, and have 25-30 lakes within a 1.5-2 hour drive of my house. I can be at falls in an hour, Norman in an hour, all the yadkin lakes in under an hour. There are a lot of smaller lakes that are under an hour away. If I were retiring and planned on moving to an area in Nc and loved to fish, it would be the Greensboro area. Just my .02. I’m sure the high rock homers will disagree.Originally Posted by Bassfish1234
Last edited by kb_rn; 10-09-2020 at 11:27 PM.
Thanks Kb. A lot to consider. Have a cottage on lake Gaston , but wife's best friend moving to Norman. So my plans to retire there where I have a ton of confidence have changed. Presently I live in on a creek on the Potomac. Just was looking in North Carolina for warmer year round fishing.
Norman, during the week the lake is almost boat free. Weekends are terrible, but , b eing retired no n eed to go out then. Lots of fish to be caught. Lots to do too.
Lake Norman, N.C./New Britain, CT.
An Khe 66-67
Hi,
We are considering the Davidson area for retirement. We currently live in Austin, TX but my wife would like to get back East. Besides Norman are there other good bass fisheries within easy towing distance? I’m kind of spoiled here with 10 or so quality lakes nearby.
How is the weather for fishing in winter? I actually fish more in winter than summer here. Summer is primarily night fishing.
Thank you very much for your help.
If you lived in Greensboro as a center point you have 3 city lakes Townsend, Brandt and Higgins, Next to Greensboro is Kernersville where you have Belews Lake 3864 acres, High Point has two city lakes as well. Within 1.5 hrs to the east you have the Raleigh area with Falls 12410 acres, Shearon Harris 4152 acres and Jordan 14,000 acres. Going west you have James 1229 acres, lookout shoals 1300 acres, Hickory 4223 acres Next to Norman 32,510 acres is Wylie 13,400 and then you have just north of Raleigh Kerr Reservoir, known also as Buggs Island 50,000 acres and Gaston 20,000 acres. Then you have the Yadkin river chain, High Rock, 15,180, Tuckertown, 2560 acres, Badin, 5350 acres and Tillery 5000 acres
There are many other lakes that I did not mention but within 2 hrs you have at least the listed above. Others can add more lakes.
Summer is brutal and it can get really cold in Jan and Feb.
Last edited by JohnnyO; 11-16-2020 at 05:50 PM.
2002 Pro Craft 200 Super Pro- 2005 200 Mercury Optimax, Retired
Empty Nester- Proud Grandfather 5-30-2014-Boy-Aiden, 8-2-2017-Boy-Calen
Thank you very much. I need to break out the map and do some research. Much appreciated.
Jordan lake is only 13940 acres.
Amen. Way, way smaller than 46,000 plus acres.
Do y’all winterize your boats or fish through the winter? We are spoiled here...we get some winter mornings that can reach below freezing (a few per year) but even on those days it’s often 50s or warmer later in the day. 60s and 70s are pretty common. On the other hand day after day of 100+ is tough in summer so a lot of our fishing is at night.
Check out the Montgomery Co area. Some nice houses for sale on lake Tillery and some good fishing. Also you are no more than 30 minutes away from 3 more lakes, Badin and Tuckertown . Also only an hour away from Charlotte and not much longer to Norman. In the other direction there is Jordan and Sharon Harris. 2.5 hrs to the coast and about same to Mtns. Ask rb about the lakes here. He is good on all of them. Also if you like to hunt this area is excellent. And also some very nice places to live on Badin lake but more expensive. Just a few more options. Check out the Yadkin Gang fishing at the top and look at the top weights for 3 fish. Highest weight was around 20 lbs.
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