"Every three years since 2003, we sample the river from Lillington downstream to Lock and Dam No. 1," Ashley said. "The Cape Fear has largemouth and spotted bass. Spotted bass were stocked in tributaries near Lillington in 1977, and 2008 was the first year in which spotted bass outnumber largemouth bass in our samples. It was also the year of poorest fish condition."

Ashley said he has seen a few largemouth bass of 9 pounds and shocked up a 4.5-pound spotted bass in 2008. He said the magnificent spot was caught near Elizabethtown, but most spotted bass weigh a pound or so.

"It can be very tough to catch a big bass in the Cape Fear River," he said. "But Lake Waccamaw has one of our best bass populations. If you hit the lake in spring and fish docks and the piers and the extensive maiden cane beds, you will catch nice 5- to 7-pound bass."

Baytree Lake has some excellent bass fishing, which may be due to a mercury warning against any consumption of bass. The best access is through a gated community. But a primitive road provides kayak and canoe access through the state park.

PIEDMONT
Christian Waters is the commission's biologist supervisor for Piedmont districts 3, 5 and 6. He said drought had some effect on angler access, but no major influence on bass populations.

"We had some lakes that had angler access issues," Waters said. "The drought of 2003 was bad at High Rock Lake. But the bass recovered in one or two years. There hasn't been any impact on bass from the drought of 2007-08."

The Catawba River lake levels were all down, but new management plans helped offset drought conditions. Falls Lake dropped quite a bit, and for a short period angler access was nonexistent. Waters said while it was difficult to sample Falls Lake because of low water, it seems to help the bass over the long term, even with the loss of a single year-class.

"Populations rebound quickly," he said. A drought lasting three or four years might have an impact through the loss of reproduction. But the loss of one year's reproduction probably helps bass in the long term, especially in smaller reservoirs where bass begin to crowd, and don't exhibit the growth they should have. It's a better fishery with an occasional drought, so look for some good fishing in 2009."

Waters said that in this instance, fish harvest is good and necessary to improve the bass population: So drought may do the culling job fishermen aren't doing with bass. Lake Norman is the strongest example of this phenomena: something Waters can't explain is happening to reduce the number of bass, but the average size of the bass is increasing.

A number of city lakes offer good bass fishing, including Burlington's Cammack and Mackintosh, Greensboro Brant, Oak Hollow and Higgins, and Durham's Little River and Michie. Some of these lakes had difficult access during the drought last summer, but based on past history, any effects on the bass fishing will be minimal and short term. High Point City Lake was one with difficult angler access, but access should not be a problem now. Thom-a-Lex has an 18-inch size limit and the trophy bass regulations have created an excellent fishery for largemouth bass.