The invention discloses a preparation method for a sludge carbon based Fenton-like catalyst. The preparation method uses sludge as a raw material to prepare active carbon with high specific surface area through pyrolysis, and loads iron with the active carbon as a carrier to prepare a high-activity catalyst. The preparation method comprises the following steps: drying the sludge, then carrying out grinding and sieving, carrying out activation with a composite activator, after the completion of activation, carrying out high-temperature anaerobic pyrolysis with a certain heating program so as to prepare sludge carbon, then carrying out pickling, washing, drying, grinding and sieving so as to obtain sludge active carbon with high specific surface area, with the sludge active carbon as a carrier, carrying out impregnating in ferrous sulfate for 1 h, carrying out stirring for 24 h, carrying out drying for 12 h, and calcining the dried active carbon so as to prepare a high-activity sludge carbon based catalyst. The invention provides an effective method for sludge recycling; the catalyst prepared by using the method provided by the invention has high specific surface area and a plurality of active sites, so activity is extremely high; and by utilizing the catalyst provided by the invention, azo dye rhodamine B in water can be effectively removed.