Went out yesterday evening with phishinphan. Got to the dam launch at about 7:30 and headed to the south shore to get out of the wind. After two hours of getting rained on we finally put up the bimini. It continued to rain until about 9 and the wind stayed steady and strong out of the south. We caught about 10 fish all together and all were short (except the 4’ gar). There were schools of bait fish coming by in waves on the surface. It is by far the most bait I have ever seen on the surface. i guess the lack of big striper has helped the bait population. All these short fish should be able to eat well and grow fast.
I agree, I saw more herring than I’ve seen in a while. Tons of bait at the Dam ramp. Its a wonder The herring salesman stay in business. One cast of the net could fill the bait well. I’ve just got back in town so I havent been on the lake or the web site. One big question ? Where did all the big fish go? Did they all get caught. It doesnt make any since. Its kinda sad when I read all the post of all the short fish being caught and no large fish. Hmmmm… Very strange.
It seems like there’s a bunch of theories depending on who you talk to…summer fish kills, low stocking for a few years when the lake was down, fishing pressure…etc Maybe all 3? In any case, I find it hard to get motivated to get out there these days.
I guess the good news, like Steely says, is with the numbers of small fish and all that bait it should just be a matter of time before there are plenty of keeper size fish.
BTW, there still is the occassional big fish caught. I know LW has weighed in some over 20 lbs this year, but they are no where near as common as years ago.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
Have they not stocked piles of fish in the past few years??
Yea, apparently they have stocked plenty in the past couple of years as there are tons of small fish. If they had been putting in the same amount of fish in the previous years as they did in the last couple of years it seems like there should be plenty of keeper size fish around. I don’t claim to know why it has gotten so bad, I was just commenting on thoughts I have heard from talking to others.
Looking back I realize how much I took for granted what a good striper fishery we used to have here. I never would have believed we would see the day where a 7lb fish could win big fish in a tournament 
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
They dropped the stocking when the lake was down plus they had two major fish kills. I also think the fish were easier to get in the summers when the water was down. All you had to do was go to the towers, put herring down and leave with a limit. On top of that they stocked the grass carp and killed all the vegetation. Which seems to ruin every lake they do it in. Small stripers and bait fish populations are way up. Grass carp should all be dead in 2 to 3 years. The fishery will recover, I just hope lessons were learned.