SUTTON LAKE, N.C. (March 28, 2016) — When the coal-fired power plant at Sutton Lake shut down and its replacement gas-fired plant was under construction, the bass fishing suffered. N.C. Wildlife Commission District 4 Biologist Michael Fisk confirmed that the fish were thin in an interview. “Thin” is laymen’s terminology for relative weight. A fish with a relative weight of 80 is thin for its length while a fish with a relative weight of 100 is in good condition.
“In our most recent sampling, relative weights had recovered,” Fisk said. “It could have been the shad that were usually in the discharge canal in winter were not as abundant, or it could have been another factor.”
Biologists caught 298 bass in their 2015 electro-fishing survey. The largest weighed 5.1 pounds and average length was 12 to 17 inches. Relative weights averaged 87, compared to only 80 in 2014. The catch rate was 71 fish per hour, comparable to 2014. Fisk said the overall fishery was trending upward.
With that in mind, I called Ned Connelly. A couple of years ago, he caught a 10-pound, 3-ounce bass at the lake using a Zara Spook topwater lure.
“It was the fish of a lifetime,” he said. “I took a photo and weighed it before I let it go.”