Most of the reservoirs were more full than during 2007, so spawning and recruitment were within the normal range on most reservoirs. Last year, some ramps were closed at Lake James, but now the lake is nearer to full pool than last year.

Santeetlah is historically a good lake and Fontana has been producing bass reasonably well as it always has. Both of these lakes have largemouth and smallmouth bass. Santeetlah has more largemouth than smallmouth bass, and in Fontana, the bass mix is about half and half.

Santeetlah is an excellent fishing lake due to the shape of the basin and other characteristics that make it resemble a Piedmont reservoir rather than a high mountain lake. It does not suffer low lake levels and therefore the habitat is excellent.

Fontana experiences large drawdowns. Therefore, bass habitat consists of dropoffs, ledges, cliffs, large boulders and rocky points. Fontana has a population of threadfin shad that has held up well over the last several winters. The year-round forage base results in large bass.

Lake James is a perennial favorite, with both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Like Fontana, James has a population of threadfin shad that wintered well the past couple of years, and that bodes well for this year's bass fishing. The Catawba River arm is more productive than the Linville River arm because of the larger watershed and increased fertility. The Linville side drains straight out of the mountains, so it's less productive.

Lake Rhodhiss is on the Catawba River and has a stable largemouth population that hides among the submerged cover and aquatic vegetation. It's tricky for lake anglers to get the hang of Rhodhiss because it has current flow and plenty of places to hang up. River anglers will do well, but lake anglers will become frustrated fishing in the brush.

The next Catawba River Lake is Hickory, which has a stable largemouth population. Extensive shoreline development provides nutrients but reduces habitat diversity. Unlike Rhodhiss, Hickory has docks to provide for fishing cover.

"On the Catawba lakes, we started a project in 2008 with 'porcupine' PVC fish attractors," Martin said. "The attractors look like balls with PVC spikes coming out of them and are marked with buoys. We will post GPS coordinates of the attractors on the Web site in the future."

On the Tuckasegee River, Wolf Creek, Bear Lake, Tanasee and Cedar Cliff lakes have largemouth and smallmouth bass. Bear Lake is the largest of these lakes and has the best fishing. It supports good growth of largemouth and smallmouth bass.

One small lake that anglers may overlook is Lake Adger in Polk County. It supports a good largemouth population. The lake has plenty of tree cover and submerged vegetation and offers bass good spawning habitat. It is a private hydropower lake but has a public ramp.

For more information on fish attractor locations and boat ramps, visit the N.C. Wildlife Commission's Web site at www.ncwildlife.org.
Lake James: Jesse Buchanan, Blue Ridge Fishing Adventures, (828) 385-1220. Toe, Nolichucky rivers: Scott Cunninghan, On the Fly Guide Service (828) 659-0059.