Catawba River from Muddy Creek to Morganton water intake dam
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Catawba River from Muddy Creek to Morganton water intake dam, as the state words them
Caldwell County · River · NC
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from NC's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
- All fishNo closed seasonDaily limit 2Size 14 inchesBait None
- TroutNo closed season.Daily limit The creel limit is two trout per daySize the minimum size limit is 14 inchesBait No bait restrictions.
- Trout
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Gear
- Inland game fish may be taken only with a hook and line.Statewide
- Bait
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Poles
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
trout | seven trout per day | min. no size limit | Statewide |
inland game fish | three days' creel limit | - | Statewide |
American or hickory shad | 10 American or hickory shad in total per day | - | Statewide |
crabs | one line per person and no more than one line per vessel | - | Statewide |
nongame fish, crayfish, and mollusks | 200 nongame fish, crayfish, and mollusks, in combination | - | Statewide |
American eel | See size | min. greater than 9 inches in length and with a minimum body depth greater than 1/2 inch | Statewide |
snapping turtles | Limits for snapping turtles are 10 per day and 100 per year. | min. No snapping turtle less than 13 inches (curved top shell length) may be collected. | Statewide |
bullfrogs | The daily bag limit (from 12:00 noon to 12:00 noon) for taking bullfrogs is 24 | - | Statewide |
Spotted Sea Trout | A daily creel limit of 3 fish per person and a minimum size limit of 14 inches in length. No fish may be harvested between 20 – 26 inches, only one fish allowed over 26 inches in the daily creel. | min. A daily creel limit of 3 fish per person and a minimum size limit of 14 inches in length. No fish may be harvested between 20 – 26 inches, only one fish allowed over 26 inches in the daily creel. | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
Different sections of this water can have different rules. The exact section boundaries are not marked on the map yet; each rule above describes in plain words where it starts and ends, and that written description is the authoritative boundary. Map boundaries come water by water, never as a guess.
Season at a glanceDerived
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Streamflow: 140 cfs at catawba r nr pleasant gardens, nc (2026-07-29 02:45)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Catawba River from Muddy Creek to Morganton water intake dam's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
Receipts
Local services near Catawba River from Muddy Creek to Morganton water intake dam
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Catawba River from Muddy Creek to Morganton water intake dam? Get listed.