Ned Connelly of Wilmington takes a nice largemouth bass at Sutton Lake. Photo by Mike Marsh.

If you're like most bass anglers, cold weather in midwinter probably has you in the grip of cabin fever. Therefore, this month we'll take a statewide look at the upcoming season's bass-fishing prospects in North Carolina. We take each region in turn, beginning with the coast.

COASTAL REGION
The Coastal Region is subject to the whims of nature, with swings between drought and flood posing distinct problems for bass in rivers and lakes along the coast. Hurricane Isabel damaged fisheries severely, but the bass fishing has recovered, according to District 1 biologist Kevin Dockendorf.

"Our stocking project wrapped up in 2007," Dockendorf said. "The bass were sub-adult fish, about 8 inches long . . . In response to fish kills following Hurricane Isabel on Sept. 18, 2003, we began stocking in February 2004, and 2004 through 2007 were our evaluation years."

Initially, those stocked largemouth bass contributed to the population. But over time, the largemouth bass began naturally reproducing. In waters that were not affected by the storm, bass reproduced normally and have contributed high-quality year-classes ever since. In other words, the stockings were not the major factor allowing for the rebound of the largemouth, but helped jump-start the rebound. Many of those 8-inch fish stocked in the Chowan and Roanoke rivers grew and were weighed in tournaments where they were identified by magnetic cheek tags.

Two-inch bass fingerlings were stocked in the Little River, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Scuppernong rivers and Merchants and Bennetts millponds.

"We had a fish kill in Merchant's Millpond last summer due to a die-off of Parrot Feather that caused a drop in dissolved oxygen, so we will stock that pond next spring," Dockendorf said. "It was a shame because there were quality fish. It will not be a good place for bass this year."

Lake Phelps and Mattamuskeet had low water levels in fall of 2008 that could only be restored by tropical events. The canals are accessible at Mattamuskeet. Boating access was limited to canoes launched from Highway 94 at Mattamuskeet. A new ramp was built at the Central Canal in 2006, but water level may remain too low for using it.

At Lake Phelps, much of vegetation remained above the water level and that could spell a year-class failure from 2008. Water from the lake was used to put the ground fire out at Pocosin Lakes NWR and exacerbated the low water level situation. Best fishing access for the lake, barring an increase in the water level, will be by wading.

"Spring sampling in 2008 showed excellent bass populations in the Perquimans, Yeopim, Little, Northwest, Roanoke, Alligator, North and Chowan rivers," Dockendorf said. "These rivers will all be excellent places to fish. But we need to be cognizant of the current drought. Salt wedges are pushing in and the oxygen is low in the upper reaches near the swamps. There may be reduced habitat for successful spawning unless we get some rainfall. But coastal bass are adapted to that and can be caught in the same places fishermen find blue crabs and flounder."