Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Williams caught a 15-01 sack on Thursday to grab the early lead at the Walmart FLW Tour Invitational at Norris Lake. Right behind him in 2nd place is Tour veteran James Watson, who boxed 13-10.
Williams will take a 1-07 lead into day 2 of the 3-day event.
“I had no idea that I was going to go out and catch them like that today,” he said. “This is the first tournament that I have ever fished here, and I practiced for 3 days and never caught more than three in a day. I’ve had quite a bit of success right up the road at Lake Cherokee and that’s one of the reasons that I decided to fish in this event. I figured that Norris would fish very similar, and it does.”
Despite the beautiful scenery and fall weather, Norris Lake fished tough for the majority of the field. Only nine anglers were able to weigh in a five-bass limit, but Williams said that his big day could have been bigger.
“I had a limit by 10:30 or 11 o’clock,” Williams said. “I located a big school of fish in practice that were suspended over very deep water. I caught one on a jig, and when I pulled it up there were 10 more bass following him. So, I started there.
"After I caught my limit I left them and just went practicing. I broke a 5-pounder off just running around fishing shallow, then went about 30 yards up the bank and hung another one that was around 4 1/2 pounds. I had no idea those fish were on the bank like that. The clouds and the wind today made a good mudline along the bank and I think the fish might have just moved up today.”
Williams brought a mixed-species limit to the scale, weighing two largemouth, two smallmouth and a 3-pound spotted bass. He said that he caught his suspended fish with a True South Lures jig, then a homemade spinnerbait and a swimbait when he went shallow.
“The deep fish are in gin-clear water, so I really am not sure that I will be able to catch them again tomorrow. But I’m doing what I like to do. The fish are wolf-packed up and it is really hard to find them, but I know they are out there.”
Here's a look at the Top 10:
1. David Williams: 15-01
2. James Watson: 13-10
3. Jason Lambert: 12-14
4. Derrick Blake: 12-04
5. Wesley Strader: 10-11
6. Bill Dunn: 10-01
7. Tracy Adams: 9-13
8. Todd Hollowell: 9-11
9. Kurt Mitchell: 8-09
10. Matt Arey: 8-08
