The next month or two will certainly tell if there is something wrong with the lake or not. The spawn should bring the fish up to shallower water and make them easier to target, if there are any left in the lake...j/k sort of. Since the algae bloom/drought/high water temperatures and fish kill of last summer the lake has been much different than years before and not for the good. Not near as many smallmouth are being caught and specifically big smallies. Yes, here and there people are getting into good fish but the overall average is way down. Hopefully the normal winter we had will help the fish and hopefully they bust loose this spring and all is forgotten. Either way I am heading down next week for four days to try and track em down. If the bronzebacks are not biting there is always the greenbacks to chase way up the Obey or Wolf rivers. The recent tournaments at Dale have been disappointing at least in regards to big fish. My numbers may be off a bit but my memory has gone with the green smoke.

December 2012- Smalljaw Tourney & Billy Westmoreland Invitational both two-day tourneys 125 ish boats total
2-3 Smallmouth over 21" weighed in
March 2013- Smalljaw Elite Tourney & BFL Tourney both two-day tourneys 150 ish boats total
1-2 Smallmouth over 21" weighed in

My numbers could be a little bit off but not much. The point is something has been off with the lake and hopefully this spring it will bounce back! In the past these tournaments have produced 5x - 10x the amount of Smallmouth over 21". Maybe when Cumberland gets back to normal pool it will help Dale and take some of the fishing/boating pressure off too. Only time will tell......