West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Woodrum Lake

Good news for bass anglers, a local lake is back.

May 27, 2009
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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Woodrum Lake in Jackson County has seen its share of transformations. Four years ago, a stuck gate turned it from a great bass and crappy lake to this, acres of dry ground.

Scott Morrison/DNR says:
"In 2005, there was a problem with the lake here and it drained. First thing we did was plant the winter wheat in the Fall of 2005 and we came in in 2006 and it was kind of a drought year and took a while to fill up, which was probably pretty good."

This is what Woodrum Lake looks like now. It's beautiful and almost back to where it was before the gate stuck and the lake emptied.

Scott Morrison/DNR says:
"When lakes are first flooded, it releases nutrients which will never be released into the lake again and so generally there is a peak for all fisheries after the first four or five years of fishing. When this lake drained, we knew we were going to get the nutrients, so we planted the winter wheat, which did help, so basically this lake is acting like a new lake."

But what's a new lake without plenty of fish to bring the anglers in? The DNR biologists are working hard to keep up with the fish management after a pretty intensive stocking program.

Scott Morrison/DNR says:
"We stocked blue gill before the bass, we stocked bass, Musky Inc. bought a bunch of minnows to give everything a head start. We stocked bass, catfish, musky, blue gill and crappy in 2006 and since then we've annualy stocked catfish and muskie."

So what can anglers expect to find? Plenty of nice bass. In fact, surveys conducted by the DNR this spring indicate that the lake is full of some really nice bass and other fish for that matter. So have fun --- Woordum's Lake is back. For WV Wildlife I am Patrick McMurtry.