Windy works for Kindy

Fourteen pounds needed to crack FLW Tour top-10 at Norman after day one

CONCORD, N.C. – Just as predicted, limits poured out of Lake Norman during day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour National Guard Open. In all, 178 pros recorded limits, and weights are tight all the way through the field.

For those pros hoping to break into the top 10 after day one, 14 pounds was the mark to beat.

Also as predicted, a host of productive patterns are taking form on Norman. The top 10 consists of pros sight-fishing, walking topwaters, dead-sticking weightless plastics and pitching jigs to docks.

Leading the way by a scant 3 ounces is Land O’Lakes pro Jeremiah Kindy of Benton, Ark., with 15 pounds, 6 ounces.

When Kindy saw the windy, cloudy weather Thursday morning, he decided to abandon the few sight-fish he found in practice and just go fishing.

“I decided to hit as many windy docks as I could in one day,” Kindy said. “I basically rode down the lake looking for the flatter docks that were receiving wind.”

Once he stopped on a dock, Kindy obliterated it with a small jig, hitting just the key spots – the corners and posts – before pulling up the trolling motor and heading to the next one.

“I think these fish are guarding fry, so I’m not soaking or finessing the jig at all,” he described. “I give it one drop per post, and if a fish doesn’t react on it, I reel up and fire to the next corner or post.”

Kindy estimates his run-and-gun approach produced about 12 keepers, but several of them were the better quality 3- to 4-pounders that are so valuable in this event.

Moynagh second

BP pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., started the event in the second position with an opening weight of 15 pounds, 3 ounces.

Moynagh reported catching 10 keepers today, but his best three fish came on a new lure made by Salmo called a Skinner.

“It’s like a floating minnow bait, but I’m fishing it real slow on top like it was a topwater,” Moynagh explained.

Moynagh fished the Skinner around docks and brush and caught his other keepers on weightless plastics.

“I did catch a few off beds as well, but I ended up culling those out with the ones I caught on the Skinner,” he added.

Pugh third

Pedigree pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., grabbed the third-place position after day one with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces.

Pugh is sight-fishing in the middle portions of Lake Norman.

“I found a bunch of fish on beds during practice, but when I went back and checked them yesterday, they were all gone,” Pugh said. “So I kind of started from scratch this morning, and most of the ones I caught were new ones I found today.

“I know they were new fish because I did not see them during practice. I’d say the bulk of the spawn is over, but there are obviously a few more new ones trying to move in for this next moon.”

Powers, Hardin tied for fourth

It’s getting to be late spring and bass are moving toward postspawn, so there’s a pretty good chance that Bounty pro Craig “Pop-R” Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., is throwing his favorite oversized Pop-R.

“You got it,” said Powers, who weighed in 14 pounds, 7 ounces to tie for the fourth-place position. “I certainly caught some on it today, but it wasn’t as good as it had been in practice. The water is still a little low and clear for it to be at its prime here.”

Powers sight-fished two of his best fish off beds today, but noted that he found them with the Pop-R.

“They came up and boiled on it,” he said. “So I fished on down the bank and then snuck back up on them with a weightless plastic.”

Also tied for fourth is Mark Hardin of Canton, Ga., who is using his go-to lure on Norman: a Lucky Craft Pointer 100.

“I found some fish on beds during practice, but they’re all gone,” Hardin said. “I quit fishing the inside pockets today and just focused on the deeper water outside of the pockets, targeting postspawn fish that are moving out.”

Big bass

Chris Malone of Ironton, Ohio, weighed in the Snickers Big Bass in the Pro Division weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces and worth $1,000.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the FLW Tour event on Lake Norman:

6th: Bobby Curtis of Siloam Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-6

7th: Eric Ambort of Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 14-5

8th: Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz., five bass, 14-3

9th: John Sappington of Willard, Mo., five bass, 14-3

10th: Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, five bass, 14-2

Horick leads co-anglers

Robert Horick of St. Petersburg, Fla., reeled in 12 pounds, 3 ounces today to take the early lead in the Co-angler Division of the FLW Tour event on Lake Norman.

Horick’s primary weapon was a swimbait.

“I don’t want to say a whole lot about the exact set-up just yet, but it’s a 5-inch, soft-plastic swimbait that I’ve been using since Okeechobee,” Horick said. “During practice here on Norman, I really committed to making it work and gained a lot of confidence in it.”

Today Horick went to work with the swimbait, catching a limit on it by 9:30 and then loaning it to his pro partner, who also finished out a limit on it.

“The key is getting around the right kind of water with it,” Horick added. “If my pro gets me around the right kind of stuff tomorrow, that swimbait should work again.”

Caraballo less than a pound behind

When Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., drew out pro Darrel Robertson for a partner today, Caraballo figured it was going to be a tough day.

“Nothing against Darrel, he’s a great guy, but he’s also a great fisherman and he seines everything,” Caraballo said. “And I really figured I wasn’t going to catch much because he is so thorough.”

But the Gain co-angler kept his head down and kept grinding, and by the end of the day, he ended up with five keepers weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces for second place.

“It turned out to be great day,” he added. “I caught my first fish 30 minutes into the day and my last fish with just 20 minutes to go, and I was sweating it out every minute in between.”

Rest of the best

Donnie Hannah of New Lexington, Ohio, is in third place with a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces.

Sondra Rankin of Benton, Ky., is in fourth place with a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces.

Sammy Orr of Maryville, Tenn., is in fifth place with a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Tour event on Lake Norman:

6th: Eric Sertl of Pittsford, N.Y., five bass, 10-6

7th: William Redmond of Sciotoville, Ohio, five bass, 10-5

8th: Alessandro Debbi of Italy, five bass, five bass, 10-3

9th: George Hirapetian of Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 10-2

10th: Kenta Kimura of Livingston, Texas, five bass, 10-0

Day-two competition of the FLW Tour National Guard Open on Lake Norman begins Friday at 7 a.m. at Blythe Landing located at 15901 NC Highway 73 in Huntersville, N.C.