Tanking at Lake Erie doesn’t feel the same as tanking at other tournaments. Catching 17 or 18 pounds will feel like an accomplishment on the big water before weigh-in, but will have an angler towards the middle or bottom of the pack at day’s end.
That’s why this week’s Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman presented by Battery Tender, the third stop of Division I, is a pivotal point in the season for those in contention to make the Top 50 and advance to the Elite Qualifier round.
Norman isn’t going to play nice, however. The water levels on the lake are several feet under full pool. Some boat ramps are closed or only partially usable and the available cover in the water is limited.
Combine that with the fact most of the bass are in a postspawn phase and forward-facing sonar isn’t allowed, and you have a fishery where anglers aren’t exactly sure what will happen.
“The water is really low. I have a Humminbird LakeMaster map and you have to crank that way down for it to be accurate,” Virginia’s Jack Dice said. “There’s a lot of good looking stretches and docks that look good that are out of the water or too shallow.”
The good news is, Dice has still gotten plenty of bites, and knows the rest of the field has too. The bad news is, he hasn’t found a way to put together a big bite pattern.
“It will be all about getting a big bite or two. There are some decent spotted bass in the lake, more than I remember, but they are few and far between. The piece I haven’t found at all is a big largemouth bite. For most anglers, it is going to be a numbers game.
“The person who wins, though, will have figured out a way to get a bigger largemouth bite.”
While there are straggling spawners, Dice hasn’t found any worth revisiting on tournament day. The balls of fry he has seen are made up of bigger fry, indicating they hatched a while ago.
“It is 50/50 whether you will see a bass there protecting them or not. I think there are some fish still spawning on deeper docks and stumps, but it is hard to target those individual fish without forward-facing sonar. I’m just trying to find the right cover in the water.”
Adding to the confusion, Dice has not witnessed a shad spawn yet this week, something he was expecting to see heading into the week. With the low water, takeoff has been pushed back to 7 a.m., so even if his fellow competitors found a shad spawn, the window to capitalize will be much shorter.
“It has to be happening (somewhere),” Dice added. “The water temperature is there. It is 70 degrees most of the day and I am seeing some bluegill trying to spawn. In my experience, shad will spawn before the bluegill do.”
Anglers to watch at Lake Norman
David Williams: Williams is having a strong start to the season (9th in Division I) and now gets to fish in his backyard.
Brock Bila: Bila is coming off a 3rd place finish at Grand Lake in Division II and is sitting in 11th in Division I points. The Missouri native will be looking for some redemption after finishing 139th in the 2022 College Series event on Norman.
Buddy Benson: Benson has flown under the radar, but sits in a tie for first with Cody Stahl in Division I with back-to-back 15th place finishes. He finished fourth at Norman as a co-angler in the 2021 Open
Zach Goutremout: The New York angler is 58th in points, but could make life a lot easier on himself heading to Erie if he has a solid Lake Norman event.
Logan Johnson: If any Smith Lake tactics come into play on Norman, expect the Alabama native to make the jump he needs to get back into the EQ hunt.
