High Rock Lake guide Maynard Edwards said last year was one of his toughest as a bass-fishing guide. After an excellent late-spring bite, the fish became unpredictable.

"The high water made fish stay shallow in the spring like they're supposed to," Edwards said. "The lake didn't drop and expose shoreline cover and bass beds as it usually does in the spring. After the spawn, I could see a tremendous number of fry in the pockets of coves. That should be great for the lake in years to come."

Though the fishing was excellent at High Rock throughout the late spring, the high water altered summer fishing patterns, baffling many anglers.

"High Rock fishermen have never seen the lake this high in the summer," Edwards said. "It was a new experience for everyone. The high water repositioned the fish, and there was no consistency to the bite."

An April 2003 electrofishing sampling of High Rock conducted by District 6 fisheries biologist Lawrence Dorsey and assistant fisheries biologist Bob Barwick indicated High Rock had recovered from the drought of 2002.

"The catch rate for bass is a little down from what it was in 2001, but it's consistent with what we saw in 1999," Dorsey said. "The catch rate at High Rock is still one of the highest in the state for bass."

Except for the unique situation at High Rock, fisheries biologists did not observe any major changes wrought by the heavy rains on Piedmont or Raleigh lakes.

McRae said the wet weather had little impact on Jordan Lake or water supply reservoirs in his district.

"There were no major effects at Jordan on fish or fish habitat, and there were no dissolved oxygen problems like elsewhere," he said. "The spawn should have been successful.

At Falls of the Neuse, Jones said he didn't expect any long-term damage from the heavy rains or any significant changes in fish habitat or lake structure. The bass should have had a productive spawn.

"We anticipate that largemouth fishing will again be excellent in Falls next year," Jones said.

"Heavy rains and receding flood waters have lowered oxygen levels and have made many areas of our coastal rivers unsuitable for fish," said District 1 fisheries biologist Chad Thomas."

Droughts didn't help, either.

"What we have been dealing with the last two years are environmental conditions that fall on both ends of the spectrum: drought and flood," Thomas said. "Under both scenarios the effects on the bass population are negative."

One objective of the enhancement program was to increase largemouth bass populations by stocking 2- to 3-inch micro-tagged fingerlings within designated sites in selected coastal rivers.

The electrofishing samples of these stockings proved disappointing.

In May 2002, 15,000 fingerlings were stocked in 10 shoreline sites within the Chowan, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Scuppernong rivers. Biologists allotted the tagged fish a five-month period before revisiting the sites in October. During that time, the fingerlings could either be eaten by predators or stray from their selected sites or grow into subadults, the last possibility being, obviously, the most desirable.

The October electrofishing sample revealed low returns of stocked fish.

"What we noticed was that at most sites, summer water quality was poor as indicated by low oxygen levels or high salinities or both," Thomas said.

"When oxygen levels at our sites drop below 2 parts per million, which has been the case at several sites, it doesn't matter how many fish we stock: They can't breathe. When this occurs, they can either stay and be stressed or possibly die or move in search of more suitable habitat."

Another sampling occurred April 2003 to determine how many tagged fish survived the winter. The returns of tagged fish, now age 1, were low with only 53 age 1 bass recovered from the 10 selected sites. Of the 53 fish, only three were tagged fish from the original stocking of 15,000 fingerlings.

"Not a stretch to say our stockings were unsuccessful," Thomas said. "For stockings to be successful, not only do the fish have to survive, they also have to stay in the areas where they are needed."

The stocking study was repeated in June 2003, only this time the 15,000 tagged fingerlings were scatter-stocked in four selected rivers and immediate efforts were made to determine the effect of predator fish upon the stocked fish.

Samplings indicated predation was high on stocked fish and, in one instance, took on a bizarre twist.

"In one of the Perquimans River sites, we found that two 9-inch bass had eaten three of our 2-inch tagged bass. So our attempts to increase the number of bass in this area were foiled by the very species we are trying to enhance."

In October 2003, biologists were to have checked the tagged fish again to assess the survival rate.

Monthly water quality checks at the stocking sites showed disturbing results.

"As was the case in 2002, dissolved oxygen is very low," Thomas said. "Heavy rains and receding flood waters have lowered oxygen levels and made many areas of our coastal rivers unsuitable for fish."

Assessments of coastal rivers indicate that the Chowan and Roanoke rivers offer the most promise for largemouth bass fishermen. The spring 2003 catch rate on the Chowan was 24 adult bass per hour; on the Roanoke, 25 adult bass per hour, both increases from previous samples.

Data indicates the Chowan has rebounded from the effects of Hurricane Floyd and it doesn't have the salinity and dissolved oxygen problems found in other coastal systems.

Studies also show that recruitment of young-of-the-year bass on the Roanoke has surpassed that of any other river system, though oxygen levels in the summer of 2003 were poor in the lower Roanoke.

"The Roanoke River at times is the hottest largemouth bass spot on the coast," Thomas said.

Catch rates on the Perquimans improved from 13 fish per hour in 2002 to 23 fish per hour in 2003, yet the waters above Hertford had low oxygen levels during the summer.

"If these adult bass are able to move into more suitable habitat until conditions improve, the Perquimans River may be a good bet in 2004," Thomas said.

Although the number of adult bass increased in the Scuppernong River in 2003, the river suffers from high salinity and low oxygen levels that might hurt recruitment of the 2002 year-class of fish.

The Pasquotank River faces encroaching salinities in its lower reaches and low oxygen in its upstream areas resulting in low survival rates for young bass.

"This situation has crippled the largemouth bass population in the Pasquotank," Thomas said.

The North River also has had saltwater intrusions into its upper reaches, but an August 2003 sampling showed increased catch rates, offering hope for the fishery.

The Alligator River and Currituck Sound had increased salinity levels because of drought conditions in 2002 that hindered bass reproduction. At Currituck, high salinity levels forced bass into small creeks and manmade canals for survival.

"Although heavy rains in the drainage in 2003 have freshened Currituck Sound, the pattern over the last 15 years continues to be one of elevated salinities and loss of aquatic vegetation in the main body of the sound," Thomas said.

"Tullis Creek and the Northwest River are protected from saltwater intrusion and continue to support the best largemouth bass populations in the Currituck Sound area."

In September its resiliency would be tested again. Hurricane Isabel struck the Carolina coast, and pushed large amounts of saltwater into the river systems. Only time will tell how the bass population responds to this, but Isabel may well dampen the fishing in parts of the coast for some time.