Deer season starts in three days in the state of Arkansas. That was not the reason; however, Kaden Buchmann was scouting the banks, looking for antlers (or does) on Wednesday.
With 132 anglers competing in the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Norfork Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops, finding untouched real estate on the relatively small reservoir was hard to do on Day 1.
The best way the North Carolinian could tell no one had fished a pocket or stretch of bank, at least in a while, was by looking for deer. Buchmann felt that if deer were close to the bank, a fellow competitor wouldn’t have been there to disturb them.
Following the clues that nature threw him resulted in a big day as the Troutman, N.C. angler caught 16 pounds, 7 ounces to claim the lead in the opening round. In total, he saw over 30 deer during tournament hours, including a 9-point buck.
He didn’t see nearly that many bass, but two 3-pounders came in pockets where he found deer, critical bites in a tournament where the majority of the field landed less than 11 pounds.
“Deer are a pretty good indicator of whether a boat had been in there,” he said. “I have mentors and buddies who have always told me that if the deer are moving, the bass are going to bite. At one point, there were 15 in one pocket, and I knew I was going to catch one there.”
Of course, there is a little more to finding big bites than just looking for deer. Presentations had to be spot on, and speed was incredibly important on a post-front day that changed fishing drastically from a blistering hot practice period. Instead of shorts and T-shirts, hoodies and bibs were the predominant clothing selection at takeoff as temperatures fell into the low 60s.
While fish were still caught in the first several hours, the much-anticipated morning bite was not as productive as many anglers felt it would have been. While he caught three fish in the first 30 minutes, including a 5-pounder, Mike McClelland didn’t get another bite before 1 p.m. local time. Many other anglers quipped during weigh-in that bites were hard to come by before the air temperature warmed.
“I had really struggled all week in the morning,” McClelland said. “I wasn’t getting bit until mid-morning, and then the afternoon was best. The cold could honestly help, because there are a lot of bass wolf-packing right now.”
Stahl’s new groove
At points over the previous few seasons, tournaments became stressful for Cody Stahl. How practice went resulted in too many bad decisions during events. So at the beginning of 2026, Stahl made a commitment to a new mindset. He had let the conditions dictate the decisions he made, not what happened during the previous day.
“So many times, I was making bad decisions and mental errors because I wasn’t fishing the moment. These are fish; they react to the conditions and bait. If you are stuck on one thing, you are going to miss something else that pops up. I’ve had plans A, B and C, and then there have been times when I’ve just gone and rode around for a minute. Doing that has helped me calm down.”
That new attitude has made all the difference for the Georgia native and it might just lead him to the Elite Series in 2027. Stahl enjoyed his best season as a Bassmaster Opens pro and opened Day 1 of the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops in fifth with 14-3.
He already clinched his spot in the Bassmaster Classic by winning at the Kissimmee Chain before clinching the Division I title. All year, especially in Florida and at Lake Erie, things fell into place as the tournament progressed and instantaneous decisions have panned out.
“Every good tournament I have had, I have made game-time decisions that lead to crucial culls and finding new patterns. At Erie, I only had 19 pounds Day 1 and then fished new water the next day. Kissimmee Chain was the same way. I picked somewhere to start and just fished. Having that mindset all year gave me confidence in my decision-making and abilities, which is huge.”
Norfork already has that same feel to it. Whatever looked good, Stahl fished and capitalized on the few quality bites he did get. He moved from clean water to dirty water, shallow to offshore to secure a quality limit heading into a crucial second day. There were also times he could focus solely on finding new water for the next day.
“I had a subpar practice, but I knew if I rolled off the hip, fished new water and made key decisions, I could catch a few good ones. I also knew if I got hard-headed that there was a high likelihood I would not do well.
“Being able to pick up a fish here and a fish there is huge in these types of events.”
Does water clarity matter
A lot of Norfork Lake is clear right now, but there are sections where anglers have found off-colored water. Beau Browning believes the biggest bass in this lake lives in cleaner water, but moving to that off-colored water helped him dial in what he should be looking for everywhere else.
“The dirty water allowed me to fish my strengths,” he said. “Once I got those bites, I took back off down the lake and ran with it. It let me reset my gears.”
Other competitors had a similar sentiment. McClelland tried his hardest to get bites in clean water and couldn’t, so he made the move to the dirty water and found the bites he needed. Stahl has moved between the different visibilities as well and has made both work in his favor.
Overall, though, there are very specific things each angler is looking for along or close to the bank that usually produce bites.
More offshore action than anticipated
Riding around the lake, many anglers spent time offshore either fishing brushpiles and rockpiles or using their 2D sonar to target bass chasing bait. It is harder to do without forward-facing sonar, but Brody Robison and others made it work in their favor.
