CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The water’s low, but Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Shane LeHew’s expectations are high for the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman presented by Battery Tender. Opportunities abound, but the local pro dispels any assumptions of “easy” fishing.
Competition days will be April 30-May 2 with daily takeoffs from Blythe Park Landing at 7:30 a.m. ET and weigh-ins each day at the same location at 3:30 p.m.
Residing 10 minutes from this 32,510-acre Catawba River impoundment, LeHew has fished Norman for 20-plus years. Experience tells him that, despite the water level sitting about 3 feet below the normal pool level of about 97.8, North Carolina’s largest manmade lake has plenty to offer.
“It’s been a bit of an odd spring and the lake is very low,” LeHew said. “Like the rest of the Southeast, we’ve had pretty much no rain.
“Everything has been happening quickly with the weather. The majority of bass have spawned. There could be some prespawn and there could be some on beds, but the majority will be done.”
As far as reasonably dependable opportunities, LeHew points to the major baitfish reproductive cycle, which provides an easy food source for hungry postspawners.
“Shad spawns have been pretty heavy the last couple of weeks, and it will probably be even better during the Open, because we’ve had a couple of cold nights over the last week,” LeHew said. “The cold has probably knocked the shad spawn into submission for a few days, so that will probably make the shad spawn bite a little better by the time the tournament starts.”
Common shad spawn locations include rocks, seawalls and docks, but LeHew occasionally find these baitfish gatherings over flat points. The present low water conditions will minimize the likelihood of shad spawning on points, but wherever it happens, LeHew said this is a first-stop deal.
“Typically, if you get a really bright, sunny day, the shad spawn doesn’t last super late, so it’s something you’ll have to key on pretty early,” he said. “Some mornings, it will last 30 minutes to an hour and some mornings, for whatever reason, it’ll last a couple of hours.
“If you can find a pattern with shad spawning on docks, you can get bit on into the day. You won’t see the shad after the spawning is done, but those (bass) tend to live on the docks where it was happening for the rest of the day.”
This season’s format comprises two divisions, both with half of their four events allowing forward facing sonar and the other half without. With the Lake Norman event not allowing anglers to use live sonar technology, LeHew believes this will significantly impact how anglers fish the event.
“Norman has spotted bass and largemouth, but since it’s a nonforward facing sonar event, you’ll need a mix,” he said. “If it was a forward facing sonar event, you could win on spots, because our spots are getting pretty big. It’s not uncommon to catch 18-20 pounds of spotted bass.”
For shad spawn pursuits, LeHew recommends topwater baits including walkers, buzzbaits, and hollow body frogs, along with bladed jigs, spinnerbaits and swim jigs. For the lake’s many docks, LeHew said a white or crawfish color jig can be very productive.
The lake also holds many brushpiles where fish respond well to shaky heads and Neko rigs. Complementing the shad spawn’s focused feeding opportunity, postspawn bass will be looking for bedding bream, which spawn in clusters. Here, an old-school prop bait, bladed jig or wacky rig will tempt the bites.
A potential wildcard could be the eelgrass that has recently emerged on Norman’s south end. LeHew said this prime bass habitat has only existed for a three or four years and, because fish typically need a few years to establish populations within newer vegetation, LeHew considers this a hit-or-miss scenario.
“If someone can figure out how to make that work, they could do well,” he said.
Overall, LeHew believes a multi-faceted strategy will be the course to success. The low water will prove limiting to some, but in other cases, it will concentrate fish and shine a spotlight on the shallow patterns — particularly those bream beds.
“You might find wolf packs of 25 to 30 fish in 6 inches of water,” LeHew said. “That actually is better with low water, because Norman is a flat lake and the low water exposes more of that. You get one of those wolf packs to cross your path, you can get well in a hurry.”
Fishing offers little in the way of guaranteed success, but LeHew’s experience has shown that Norman tends to reward diligence with consistency.
“It’s a very good pattern lake, so whoever figures out the best pattern to lean on for some better quality bites and then have some stuff in their back pocket like brushpiles, stumps, maybe some offshore rock just to get some spotted bass limit fillers, I think will win the tournament,” LeHew said. “Somebody will probably catch a decent bag the first day primarily sight fishing, but over the last few years, they’ve been spawning very quickly.
“They’ll get up there during the day and by the next day, they’ll be gone and another one moves up. With increasing fishing pressure and as clean as the water is, a lot of them spawn overnight.”
Noting that he expects Norman’s entirety to be in play, LeHew said he believes anglers will need 13 1/2-14 pounds a day to make the top-10. For the win, he’s looking for a three-day total of 46-48.
“The spotted bass population is very big, LeHew said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple 5-pound spotted bass, but there will be several 5- to 6-pound largemouth weighed in. The big ones are hard to catch, but over the past couple years, I’ve seen 7- to 8-pound largemouth swimming around.”
All things considered, factors are lining up for a competitive event with options to suit any preference.
Follow along with all of the action from the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman presented by Battery Tender on Bassmaster.com.
Visit Lake Norman is hosting this event.
