A super-charged Top 12

The Lake Norman code may have been cracked Friday, at least by the 12 finalists in the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open sponsored by Allstate.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Lake Norman code may have been cracked Friday, at least by the 12 finalists in the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open sponsored by Allstate.

Two of the "best sticks on the lake" are at the top of the leaderboard: David Williams of Maiden, N.C., leads for the second straight day with 27-6, and Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., moved from fourth to second with 26-14.

They've got a 2-pound-or-more lead on the rest of the Top 12, and that's a big margin on Lake Norman.

"David Williams is one of the top five fishermen on this lake," Montgomery said. "I'm within striking distance, and that's all you can ask for on the last day. It's going to come down to who catches the biggest bag (Saturday)."

It could well be a two-man shootout.

"We've got pretty good separation (from the other finalists)," Williams said. "But anybody could catch a 16-pound bag (Saturday)."

If you don't believe that, ask Ronald Farrow of Rock Hill, S.C. He weighed the biggest bag of the tournament with 16-10 Friday that included a 4-10 and a 4-9. The big bass on Day 1 was 4-5, by Richard Howes.

"Yesterday was my first B.A.S.S. event," Farrow said. "I got in a big rush and was just a little overwhelmed. I settled down today."

Farrow was confident he could catch another 16-pound bag on Saturday. He's in 10th place with 22-0, trailing Williams by 5-6.

Cherry most confident of all

No one making the Top 12 was more confident than Elite Series angler Hank Cherry, who, like Williams, lives in nearby Maiden. Cherry realized late Friday that he had failed to take advantage of a common fall pattern on Lake Norman.

"Typically, in the fall here, the fish will get on the flattest stuff they can find when they pull the water down," he said. "They've pulled it down just enough to put the (boat dock) floats on the bank.

"I skipped under one today, a 5-pounder hit it and came off. I threw back in the same spot and caught a 4-pounder."

Cherry went on to explain – blow by blow – how he could have caught a 20-pound bag Friday, with just a bit of luck.

"The temperature is going to drop, and they're going to be up there," Cherry predicted. "I watched 18 or 20 pounds swim off today, and I didn't even start doing this until the last two hours. I had one fish at 2:30."

Cherry weighed 11-15 Friday for a two-day total of 22-7. No one has talked about 18- or 20-pound bags at Lake Norman this week, not seriously anyway. If Cherry is serious, the two-pound lead that Williams and Montgomery have on the rest of the field might not look so big after all.

Big bass Jordan Lee

Alabama's Jordan Lee, who has already qualified to fish the Elite Series next season through the Central Opens, planned to shoot for the moon at Lake Norman this week. He concentrated on Lake Norman's upper reaches in the Catawba River.

The plan didn't pay off on Day 1, when he had a 36th place total of 9-13. But it did on Friday. Lee crushed Thurday's big bass of 4-5 with a 5-14. His two-day total of 22-7 put him in Saturday's final – tied with Hank Cherry for 6th place.

"I found some bigger fish up there (in the river)," Lee said. "Yesterday, I caught only one – a 3-8. But I had a 20-pound-bag practice day up there. It's just hard to get many bites. Today I caught two up there."

The big largemouth came on a Zara Spook around 8 a.m.

"I made a good cast on a laydown and he was there," Lee said.

After he coaxed "another good one" on the Spook, Lee ran back to the main lake to fill his limit.

Lee is another example of someone who could make a big move on Saturday, even though he'll start 4-15 behind David Williams.

"It's definitely a gamble running up there, but anywhere you can catch a 6-pounder, the possibility is there (for a big bag)," Lee said.

Walker's Norman conquest in limbo

Elite Series angler David Walker was overjoyed Thursday when he weighed 10-4 at Lake Norman, which put him in 24th place. This lake has been his nemesis for many years.

Walker weighed-in early Friday with 9-4, which briefly moved him into the Top 12, and presented the possibility of fishing on Saturday.

"I hope so, and I don't hope so," he said on stage, revealing his continuing ambiguity about Lake Norman.

"This lake is really puzzling to me," Walker said later. "I don't know what to attribute that to. I've had success on all types of waters. At this point, it has got to be me, more than the lake."

At least Walker went home with a check after his latest venture at Lake Norman. He finished 25th with 19-12.

Derek Remitz is NOT dead

Elite Series angler Derek Remitz wasn't as fortunate as Walker. Not only did he fail to finish in the money (65th, 16-4), he dumped his cell phone in the lake Friday.

"I pulled my rain suit out and there went my cell phone, end over end, between the PowerPoles and the motor, right to the bottom of the lake," Remitz said.

The loss of a cell phone creates some form of modern day paralysis, when no one remembers anyone else's phone number anymore. No cell phone equals lost as a baseball in high weeds.

So what did Remitz, who lives in Grant, Ala., plan to do about it?

"I guess I'll just go home and let everybody think I'm dead because I'm not answering my phone," Remitz said.

So let's take this opportunity to quash the rumors: Derek Remitz is NOT dead.

Quotes

"I had to change up everything to catch what I caught. Yesterday I had a limit by 8 o'clock. Today I didn't have a fish in the boat at 10."
— David Williams, the tournament leader, who had 14-1 and 13-5 for 27-6

"I've been waiting to go there since I was five years old."
— Van Soles, who qualified for the Bassmaster Classic by winning the first Southern Open at Lake Kissimmee, and punched his ticket by finishing 20th at Lake Norman.

"I wasn't very lucky. Look how skinny this fish is. That should be a 3-pounder, no?"
— Jacopo "Smash the Giant" Gallelli, from Tuscany, Italy, about a long spotted bass

"I hate bream. They're always coming to hit my shaky head."
— Gallelli, who finished 33rd with 18-9

"I came down the lake and just punted for some peckerheads."
— Jordan Lee, about having to fill his limit with 3 spotted bass after catching 2 big largemouths from the Catawba River.

"I feel like the luckiest guy on earth."
— Carl Jocumsen, when asked about qualifying for the 2015 Elite Series.