Okay, we’re down to the wire on Norman picks. This one is dicey simply because were down to the hour of when the postspawn patterns might start out-producing the spawn patterns.
It’s no secret: Fish are on beds at Norman, but as Jeff has pointed out, many anglers are claiming these fish to be very small. Some pros have mentioned that, given the number of fish in Norman, it would actually be more efficient just to fish for a quick limit of bass with topwaters and shaky-heads than to run around picking fish off beds. In the end, it’s the same result: roughly an 8-pound limit.
Pros emphasize that gathering a limit of 1- to 2-pounders is not a problem for anyone. Getting a couple of fish that weigh up to 2-3/4 to 3 pounds each day is going to be the key to getting in the top 10.
The way I see the situation shaping up at Norman is that there are still a lot of small bucks left on beds. The bigger females, however, are leaving the beds and just starting to take up residence on Norman’s plethora of boat docks.
The weather during practice has been cool and overcast. The weather during the tournament is supposed to be sunny and warmer.
For these reasons, I’m adjusting my Pundits’ Picks away from sight-fishers a bit and more in favor of dock specialists. Specifically, I’m replacing Clark Wendlandt and David Dudley with the two Andys: Andy Morgan and Andy Montgomery.
I’m leaving Bennett in for the win. That pick is followed by a couple of Norman dock-fishing specialists: Bryan Thrift and Hank Cherry.
I’m retaining Greg Pugh and Koby Kreiger as my sight-fishing representatives. These two guys are both coming off back-to-back top-10s from sight-fishing (Lewis Smith FLW and Santee Cooper Stren) and I’d have to figure that their eyes are as tuned up as an osprey looking for dinner; if there are any big ones left on bed come Thursday, they will find them.
After that I have a smattering of other guys who will likely be using other techniques: Craig Powers and Anthony Gagliardi for topwaters and Mark Hardin for jerkbaits.
And finally, my last two spots now come back full circle to end with dock masters Morgan and Montgomery.
If you have a couple of dock-fishing pros in mind, this might be the time to put them in your picks. Other good dock-fishing pros to consider will be Tracy Adams, Chris Baumgardner and Jeffrey Thomas.
If you’re really gutsy, you might even fill out your whole top 10 with dock-fishing pros as there are enough dock rockers to fill up a top 10.
I’m too conservative for that, though. I’m leaving in a couple of sight-fishers and topwater guys just in case those bigger females do not get on docks as expected.
– Rob