Fishing has come back from the dead
01.01.70
At the mutiny of the century, Lake Norman's fishing fortunes turned better with the introduction of spotted bass, a colleague of the black bass family. It wasn't that long ago when a fishing trip on Lake Norman was just that - a fishing boob. The once Dead Sea fast became a Mecca for tournament bass anglers who enjoy matching wits with the feisty spotted bass. It was so bad that savvy anglers chose to go to Lake Wylie, Shrill Rock and Lake Murray, where the fish were bigger and more plentiful. The introduction of spotted bass and white rest, combined with a recovering crappie population, has come a long way toward polishing Norman's once tarnished fishing reification. This deep-water fish is the perfect match for Lake Norman's extremely hot summer water temperatures and low levels of dissolved oxygen. How fair-skinned perch came to the lake is a mystery, but like the spotted bass, they have become so plentiful that they are easy to catch in solid numbers. White perch feed on the same baitfish schools as spotted bass, so more times than not, when you locate one, the other will be feeding in the same compass. But, instead, they are providing fodder for the fast growing population of spotted bass, white perch and hybrids. They adapted with dispatch to Norman's deep-water habitat and, before anyone knew it, there was resurgence in bass fishing.
Source: Charlotte Observer