Carolina jigging
Two local favorites share their Lake Norman secrets
CONCORD, N.C. – Ask just about any serious bass fisherman from the Concord-Charlotte area who is going to win the Wal-Mart FLW Tour National Guard Open on Lake Norman on Sunday, and the two most popular answers are Hank or Bryan.
Hank Cherry or Bryan Thrift, that is.
Cherry qualified in the pole position going into today with 26 pounds, 13 ounces.
Now, like all of the top 10 pros, he starts from zero.
“The last time I was this nervous was for my wedding,” said Cherry, as he arrived to the banks of Norman for day-three takeoff this morning. “I feel like I’m about to jump out of an airplane.”
Several boats over, Thrift, who qualified in fourth, was putting trailers on jigs.
“My pick to win this thing is Hank,” Thrift said, trying to deflect attention away from himself. “He can catch 15 pounds a day here. He’s got a little something figured out that I can’t make work.”
These two North Carolina anglers have been fishing Lake Norman since they were pups. Though local knowledge can be a stumbling block for pros fishing their home waters, in this case, both Cherry and Thrift are committed to a pattern that they believe – beyond a shadow of a doubt – is the only way to be fishing Lake Norman right now.
“Skipping jigs on docks,” said Cherry. “The bigger fish on this lake – the females – are in a postspawn, and the first place they go to recooperate is around docks. My goal the next two days is to skip my jig into the hardest part of the dock to reach. I want to make presentations to water that no one else has made over the last week. Even if I have to sit there and skip that jig 10 times to get it in the right spot, that’s what I’ll do.”
Once he gets the jig where he wants it, he swims it out from under the dock.
Cherry’s jig of choice is a 1/2-ounce Jymsu jig with a Zoom Superchunk trailer on the back, tied to 20-pound-test flourocarbon and fished on a 7-foot rod.
Besides jigs, Cherry’s ace up his sleeve is a Silent Killer swimbait that has garnered him two big bass a day the last two days.
“I’m going to commit to the jig first, but if I get a decent limit, I might throw the swimbait around too.”
Thrift’s jig set-up is similar to Cherry’s. Thrift employ’s a 1/2-ounce Shooter jig with a Zoom Superchunk also tied to 20-pound-test flourocarbon.
“If I’m letting it go to the bottom, I go with the natural pumpkin colors,” Thrift said. “If I’m swimming it, I go with white.”
Day-three festivities for the National Guard Open Family Fun Zone begin at noon at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center located at 4751 Highway 49 N. in Concord, N.C., followed by the weigh-in at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:35 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 55 degrees
Expected high temperature: 80 degrees
Water temperature: 70-72 degrees
Forecasted winds: WNW at 10 to 20 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny and breezy