Additionally, the lake level has facilitated much cleanup around the shoreline, as well as re-growth of plant life, which will make a nice addition to the lake when it gets back to normal pool.

Now don't misunderstand. That's not to say there aren't some changes at the lake. Anglers may have to change some of their tactics depending on where they fish. For instance, Rowley said, "I used to pull shiners at 55 feet at Bugwood. Now there's not even 55 feet of water there. It's probably around 30-something now, so obviously we have had to change some of the things we are doing. But the fish are still there and the fishing is great. You just have to experiment a little more until you find the fish."

The Wolf Creek Dam is a very important structure, as it holds back the second-largest lake in the state and one of the top 10 largest manmade lakes in the country. If there was a breech or worse yet, a catastrophic failure at the dam, millions of lives downstream would be at risk all the way into Nashville, Tennessee, and the financial fallout would be in the billions of dollars.

In January of 2007, it was first announced there was a problem with the dam and that the water level would be lowered immediately to 680 feet. Soon thereafter, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced they would further lower it to 650 feet. This brought immediate concern over the devastating effect that would have on the area above the dam that relied not only on the lake for a water supply, but also for its economic impact. Reducing the lake to that level would completely devastate the area financially.

Luckily, after further review, the lake was maintained at about 680 feet while the work commenced on the dam. The media made a big deal about the lake level and led many people to believe the lake was nearly dry. The truth, though, is that the working lake level is only 10 feet below normal winter pool of 690 feet — hardly rendering the lake anywhere close to dry. It did, however, require some work on many of the boat ramps to make them accessible. To date, there have been extensions or improvements made to 52 boat ramps and six water intakes.

The repair work is scheduled for completion in two phases. The first was grouting and this is already complete. The second phase is the installation of a curtain wall, which is ongoing and is scheduled for completion by 2012. The water level is to be raised incrementally throughout the repair project.

Striper fishing has been terrific for those undaunted by the media. Anglers have been catching good numbers of fish and good sizes as well. Fishing is looking very promising, and right now is one of the best times of the entire year to be on the water.

At this time of year, the stripers are spread out a lot and not in the huge schools present at other times of the year. Stripers will be feeding heavily and may be found anywhere there is forage; however, with warming water and constantly fluctuating baitfish activity, forage fish could be most anywhere. Anglers may find fish in a particular location one day and go back the next and not find a single fish. Thus is the reason most professional guides and hardcore striper anglers opt for using planer boards at this time of year.