Culling up in Carolina

Balance beams will get workout at FLW Tour event this week

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – As anglers made last-minute preparations Thursday morning for the start of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Norman, many were digging out their culling beams and digital scales to have them at the ready.

North Carolina’s Lake Norman is chock full of keeper-size bass, and the only way to sort through them effectively is to use a balance beam or miniature digital scale to cull up.

“This one is going to be a culling war for me,” said pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., as he checked his balance beam this morning. “Everything will be a matter of ounces this week. I’ll bet a single pound is going to separate 30 places in the standings. Some of these guys might know where a 3- or 4-pound kicker is located to separate themselves from the pack, but as for me, the only way I’m going to get there is by a few ounces at a time.”

“It’s definitely going to be a buck war,” agreed Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., who is familiar with Norman’s waters. “There are bunches of buck bass still up on the beds, but they’re all the exact same size: 14 to 15 inches. You’ll have to go through a whole bunch of them just to cull up 10 or 11 ounces.”

The FLW Tour visited Lake Norman in 2007 during this same week in April; however, conditions are not quite the same as they were last year.

This time around tour pros have found Norman to be higher, cooler and clearer. Many pros have described Norman as being “behind” in comparison to last year, meaning the fish are not as far along in the postspawn phase of their spawning cycle. Many bass are still on beds, and the much-anticipated shad spawn has not begun – yet.

“We’re right between the bass spawn and the shad spawn,” iterated Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., who finished fourth last year and is clearly a hometown favorite again this year. “This event is going to be the bass spawn versus the shad spawn. I think those targeting the bass spawn will do well the first day, but those targeting the shad spawn will go the distance for four days.”

In case you are wondering what the significance is in the timing of bass spawning and shad spawning, here’s the scoop.

In many Southeastern impoundments, the shad spawn shortly after the bass spawn. Unlike bass, which pair off on individual beds for their spawning ritual, shad spawn in big bunches around some kind of hard structure – rocks, pilings and docks – and it usually happens at dawn’s first light after a warm, late-spring night.

Consequently, it just so happens that just about the time bass – especially larger female bass – are moving off their beds to hunt an easy meal, hordes of shad start swirling around dock floats somewhere creating an all-you-can-eat buffet – and it does not take the bass long to find them.

When anglers who are dialed in to the shad spawn hit it just right, it can be a bassing bonanza as Cherry and fellow local pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., demonstrated last year when they both made the top 10 skipping jigs and swimbaits on docks where shad were spawning.

“The tricky part about the shad spawn is you have to anticipate it and time it right,” said Thrift. “One morning there’s not a shad spawning on the lake, and the next morning there are 15 docks that have shad piled up on them. And since it’s mostly a morning deal, if you miss out on it, you miss the best opportunity at a bigger bass.”

The thinking among this local contingent of Norman experts is that the shad spawn will be the key to catching the bigger postspawn females, as many of them have left the smaller bucks on the banks.

The biggest problem, however, is that during practice none of them witnessed any evidence of a strong shad spawn yet.

“I didn’t see any shad on the docks in practice, but it’s going to happen any day now,” Thift said. “And that’s the gamble we’re all taking. We’re counting on the shad to start spawning during the tournament.”

Montgomery agrees.

“I know for a fact the shad spawn is wide open at Lake Wylie right now, which is just a few miles down the road,” Montgomery said. “So it’s only a matter of days before it cranks up here.”

“Last year the shad spawn had already started during practice,” Cherry said. “This year we’re about a week behind on the right water conditions to make it happen. The water is about 4 or 5 degrees colder this time. But if we can get some sun, I think it’s going to happen. The weather all during practice has been cloudy and cool. If the sun pops out like they say it’s supposed to, it will improve things tremendously.”

One thing is for sure: There will be a lot of fish caught at Norman this week. Many pros have talked about the sheer numbers of keeper bass the lake produces. Getting into the top 10, however, is going to require either a big bite or culling up through the field by ounces at a time.

Let the culling begin.

Logistics

Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Blythe Landing located at 15901 NC Highway 73 in Huntersville, N.C. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Blythe Landing beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center, located at 501 S. College St. in Charlotte, beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Charlotte Convention Center from noon to 6 p.m. each day.

The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator.

Saturday and Sunday children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone will also receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last.

On Sunday, April 27 during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in, one lucky member of the audience will win a new Ranger boat. Admission is free and you must be present to win.

The total purse for the Lake Norman event is $1.5 million, including $10,000 through 75th place in the Pro Division.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:39 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 57 degrees

Expected high temperature: 79 degrees

Water temperature: 68 degrees

Wind: ENE at 5 to 10 mph

Day’s outlook: sunny to partly cloudy