A Few Ounces Will Go A Long Way At Norman

The bass are biting at Lake Norman, and limits shouldn't be too tough to come by when the third FLW Tour event of the season gets under way today near Charlotte, N.C. You can catch five keepers doing just about anything you want.

The trick will be boating a couple that weigh more than the 1 3/4- to 2 1/4-pound norm. That's not easy at all.

The bulk of the spawn is over, but few of the fish that have completed the reproduction ritual have settled into the mode in which they'll spend the warmer months to come. There's still a substantial number on the beds, but the larger females are frequently there one day and gone the next. And then there are some stragglers that are still on their way up.

But no matter their stage, the depth at which they were holding, the structure they were relating to or the bait they were enticed by, the vast majority of the fish caught during practice fit within that half-pound window. Anybody who can average 3 pounds per fish over 4 tournament days will be sitting pretty.

Some in the 200-angler field will try to play a sheer numbers game to come up with a few of those higher-quality fish, and others will seek them on the beds. The key will be consistency, because the odds of overcoming a sub-par day and still achieving a high finish are extremely long. It'll take a miracle bite to offset any sort of stumble.

Before getting into more about the bite, here's more about the lake itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: Norman
> Type of water: Lowland reservoir
> Surface acres: 32,510
> Primary structure/cover: Boat docks, points, clay banks, humps, shoals, creek channels, brushpiles
> Primary forage: Crawfish, alewives, blueback herring, shad
> Average depth: 33.5 feet
> Species: Largemouth and spotted bass
> Minimum length: 14 inches
> Reputation: Good numbers lake but big bites are scarce, and the bass are here today, gone tomorrow
> Weather: Mix of clouds and sun, high temperatures in or near the 80s, variable winds
> Water temp: Mostly low 60s
> Water visibility/color: Mostly clear/10 feet in some places
> Water level: About a foot below normal pool (insignificant)
> Fish in: 2 to 30 feet
> Fish phase: Mostly post-spawn, but a decent number are on beds and there are still some pre-spawn stragglers
> Primary patterns: Plastics (especially finesse worms), sight-fishing, jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, topwaters, etc.
> Winning weight: 27 pounds (final 2 days)
> Cut weight (Top 10 after 2 days): 24 pounds
> Check weight (Top 50 after 2 days): 19 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 4 for Norman
> Biggest factor: Angling pressure on the fish
> Biggest decision: Whether to fish the creeks for largemouths or the main lake for spots
> Wildcard: The sight-bite

Pick your Pattern

Norman is home to a relatively even mix of largemouths and spotted bass, and both species can be caught a lot of different ways right now.

"I don't think there's going to be any one pattern that will dominate," said Randy Blaukat, who fished here several times on the Bassmaster Tour in the 1990s (this is the FLW Tour's maiden visit). "From what I've seen, you can catch them on just about anything you like to throw – topwaters early, then crankbaits, Carolina rigs, you name it."

David Walker also caught big numbers during practice.

"All phases of the spawn are going on, so the strongest pattern is kind of hard to determine because the fish are divided up," he said. "I haven't found one that seemed to be stronger than any other – the fish are pretty well spread out top to bottom, and you can catch them on just about anything. My only problem is I haven't caught any big ones, or even seen any.

"I'll have quite a few lures tied on, and right now I have confidence in all of them. That might be a downfall too, because a guy might be better off sticking to one thing."

Norman's shoreline is highly developed, and there are massive stretches of boat docks just about everywhere. Most patterns will center around that type of structure, although fish can also be found in rocky areas, near stumps and on clay banks.

"If you're not fishing docks here, you're usually not catching fish," said Todd Auten, one of several North Carolinians in the field.

Then again, with a lot of post-spawners around, there's a chance that an offshore specialist could get something good going.

"I'd like to find out what David Fritts or somebody like that has found away from the bank," Walker said. "I was able to catch some out there, but there still wasn't any real quality, so I didn't devote much time to it."

Look for Kickers

There are still a lot of fish on the beds, but the anglers BassFan spoke with agreed that the peak of the spawn has passed. Most think sight-fishing will play a role, but doubt that anybody can catch a limit just by looking – even on day 1.

"There will definitely be some caught that way the first day," said Alvin Shaw, another North Carolina resident. "I don't know if it will work all week unless a bunch more move up."

Auten said he's heard talk of some larger fish on beds, but he hasn't found any.

"It'll definitely be a factor if guys can get 3-pound fish doing that. If you're just fishing, it's tough to get more than 10 or 11 pounds.

"There was a big wave (of spawners) that came through about a month ago, and that had most of the bigger fish. There's another wave up now, but it's not as strong."

Rookie Bryan Thrift is a semi-local who's won several club tournaments here. He said if anybody's going to bust a 20-pound bag, it'll likely happen today.

"The weights will probably be real big (on day 1), then they'll drop off after that," he said. "Those fish that are up shallow and the ones guarding fry are going to get hammered right away."

Get 'Em on their Way Out

Anthony Gagliardi, the reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) from nearby South Carolina, predicted that post-spawners would hold the keys to victory.

"There'll be a lot of fish caught and everybody will be bunched together weight-wise," he said. "One or two quality bites a day will be the difference, and whoever figures out how to pinpoint the post-spawn females will rise to the top. Historically, that's just the way it's always been here.

"But post-spawn here doesn't necessarily mean offshore. A lot of these fish aren't big on getting out on the drops. They'll position themselves on shallow points and under docks.

"You can catch shallow fish here year-round."

Top 10 to Watch

In no particular order, here are BassFan's picks for the Top 10 to watch in this event.

1. Mark Davis – A high percentage of the fish are in the post-spawn mode, and that's his time of year. He's coming off a win at Fort Loudoun-Tellico, and he's shown before that he knows how to sustain momentum.

2. Anthony Gagliardi – The 2006 AOY is comfortable at any depth, and that's a good trait when fish are in various phases of the spawn. He was 16th last time out and is ready to notch his first Top 10 of the year.

3. David Fritts – He has plenty of experience here and is as capable as anyone of cranking up some deep post-spawners. He's been solid so far this year, but not spectacular. He's due to make some big noise.

4. Bryan Thrift – The rookie made a big statement with his runner-up finish at Travis. He's fished Norman a lot and loves to skip baits underneath docks. This one sets up well for him.

5. Shinichi Fukae – He always seems to do well in tournaments in which weights are tightly bunched. His work ethic makes him a good pick just about anywhere, but he's especially dangerous when he can fully utilize his finesse skills.

6. Matt Herren – He's all the way down in 51st in the AOY standings and fared no better than 47th in either of the first two events. Those numbers are due to get a lot smaller.

7. Dave Lefebre – The AOY leader and No. 9-ranked angler in the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten has finished among the Top 7 in three of his last four events dating to last year. He won the points title on the 2006 FLW Series and seems bent on doing the same on this year's Tour.

8. Luke Clausen – He's finished outside the Top 50 just once in nine events over the past 12 months. His vast finesse-fishing repertoire should play well here.

9. Larry Nixon – He's off to a slow start (87th and 89th in the first two Tour events), but he's superb with a worm and won't be afraid to move away from the bank to catch fish of a little better quality.

10. Clark Wendlandt – The Texas veteran can do it all, and might be able to pick up a good kicker or two with his sight-fishing acumen. He's due to bounce back after a 111th-place showing at Fort Loudoun-Tellico.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. each day from Blythe Landing (15901 NC Highway 73, Huntersville, N.C.). Thursday's and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the same location beginning at 3 p.m.

Saturday's and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center (4751 Highway 49 N, Concord, N.C.) beginning at 4 p.m.

Notable

> Jay Yelas had a fairly strong practice and likes his chances in this event. To read his report, click here to go On Tour With The BassFan Big Sticks.

> Only the Top 40 in the final AOY standings are guaranteed berths in the Forrest Wood Cup. Wendlandt (44th) and Herren (51st) are currently below that mark, but secured spots in the championship event with their finishes in the 2006 FLW Series (Wendlandt was 5th and Herren 25th).

> Davis, a three-time Bassmaster Tour AOY, is tied for 2nd in the points with Darrel Robertson – eight points behind Lefebre. To see the complete standings, click here.

> Edwin Evers won the last tour-level event at Norman – a Bassmaster tournament in April 2005. To read the Winning Pattern story, click here.

Weather Forecast

Here's the Weather Channel's forecast for the tournament days.

> Thurs, April 26 – Partly Cloudy – 85°/63°
- Wind: From the S at 18 mph

> Fri, April 27 – A.M. Showers – 82°/56°
- Wind: From the S/SW at 17 mph

> Sat, April 28 – Partly Cloudy – 77°/55°
- Wind: From the W/NW at 9 mph

> Sun, April 29 – Partly Cloudy – 79°/53°
- Wind: From the NW at 8 mph