Powroznik produces despite tough bite

Regardless of favorable conditions, anglers struggle on day one

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – With sunny skies and just a slight breeze, the sight-fishing conditions on day one of the National Guard Open were just about perfect. Unfortunately, nobody relayed that message to the Lake Norman bass. Anglers were seeing ample fish in the shallows – but many were not in the biting mood.

The Walmart FLW Tour has been visiting annually for the last three seasons so there really should be no fishing secrets. But strangely enough, the pros are saying the bite is way off. Norman is by no means a big-fish factory, but the quality largemouths are inexplicably absent. Last year Scott Canterbury led the tournament after day one with 18 pounds, 5 ounces. Today, Jacob Powroznik leads with only 13-12. Something isn’t quite right, but most cannot put their finger on it.

Powroznik spent nearly his entire four days of practice looking for spawning bass. He caught only two today by sight-fishing, but he knows all of his fish were spawning. In addition, many of the females he marked had vanished.

“I sight-fished in practice so I wouldn’t have to sight-fish during the tournament,” he said. “Now that I know where they are, I just go casting.”

The Prince George, Va., native was targeting mainly stumps and docks located near the mouth of pockets. The two sight-fish he caught came on a Berkley Power Hog and the rest came on a Berkley Shaky Worm.

“When I’d pull into a pocket, I’d get a couple of bites right away,” Powroznik said. “Then I’d fish the rest of the pocket and never get another bite until I got back around to the mouth of it. So that keyed me into fishing just the mouths of the pockets.

“My best fish was actually hung up underneath a stump. It kept sawing back and forth and back and forth. It eventually came around and it ended up being a 3-15. I caught that fish with great line (15-pound Berkley 100 percent fluorocarbon) and a little bit of luck.”

Powroznik wasn’t one of the heavy pretournament favorites coming into the event, but he was certainly on the radar. He finished 12th on Lake Norman last year and 47th the season prior. With two good females still on bed in his area, his chances at making the top-10 cutoff tomorrow are excellent.

“This lake is kind of like Gaston back home. The main structure is stumps and docks and I just love fishing them.”

Evans uses blade baits for second

In second place is Summerville, S.C., pro Dale Evans, who caught 13 pounds, 11 ounces. Evans said he had an excellent practice and that the lack of wind actually hurt his bite today.

“I honestly had the best prefishing I’ve had in years,” he said. “I came and spent four days here before the off-limits cutoff too.”

Evans’ pattern is much different than the rest of the field. He begins each day by throwing what he calls a ChatterBait-style bait at secondary points. He’s throwing his bait over water 15 feet deep and bringing it through the water column at 2-3 feet.

“It was great this morning. I had all my fish by 10 a.m. and then they pretty much quit. I need a little wind tomorrow – once the sun came up my bite died.”

In addition to his prespawn points pattern, Evans caught two good ones sight-fishing with a Zoom lizard.

“I spent the rest of the day looking for some more sight-fish and I found a few. I’m one of the first boats out tomorrow but I’m not going to those sight-fish first. I’m going to the ChatterBait deal because the bite is best early.”

Fantasy favorite third

Michael Bennett, the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup champion and the top pick according to the Fantasy Trend didn’t disappoint today as he sacked a limit weighing 13-10.

The third-place pro struggled early in the day and didn’t have a bass in his livewell until nearly 10 a.m. Although his total weight looks good on paper, he only caught eight keepers.

“I’m happy with that but its still tough – no doubt,” he said. “In no way is the fishing as good as the last two years. Plus, it’s changed a lot since practice and to be honest I don’t feel real comfortable right now.”

Bennett too caught a few bedding bass but most are postspawn. His biggest fish was extremely long but also extremely thin.

“I’m using three different Tru-Tungsten baits. A 1/2-ounce flipping jig, a swimbait and a Reverse Dart finesse worm. All three are playing a big role. I’m just covering a lot of water. It’s docks, it’s a type of bank, some are deep, some are shallow – it’s just junk-fishing.”

Williams fourth

Land O’Lakes pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark., caught a limit of Norman bass that weighed 13 pounds, 3 ounces, for the fourth-place spot after day one. After a poor practice, Williams was pleased with his performance.

“To be honest with you I usually don’t do well on this lake,” he said. “I had a good first day of practice and then I just struggled. So today I went to back to what I did the first day and the fish actually grew. Usually when the tournament starts they shrink, so that was a nice surprise.”

Williams said he too caught a few spawning bass by sight-fishing. He used a Zoom trick worm, but rigged it two different ways – one on a shaky head and one weightless and wacky style.

“I’m just running in pockets in the main-lake area. I’m trying to key on certain shade spots within those pockets.”

Martin fifth

National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., rounds out the top five after day one with a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Martin is using two Berkley baits – a Hollow Belly Pro tube in gizzard shad color and a Berkley wacky worm. Instead of using mono or fluorocarbon line, Martin has braid on his spinning reels.

“It is great for skipping docks,” Martin said of the braid. “I can put my baits in places other people can’t. You’d think braid would be a bad choice for a lake with clear water but its working great. Once I get a bite I can wrestle them out of there and not have to worry about the line breaking.”

Besides his line choice, Martin said the key to his success was the tube.

“It looks just like a baitfish and the bass can’t stand it.”

Martin caught his limit sight-fishing with the tube and then upgraded a few times with the worm. Interestingly, he actually threw back a few fish that were bigger than what was in his limit. In other words, he has returned those fish to their nests and is betting he can catch them again tomorrow.

“I also found a 5-pounder on bed. I saved that too, so hopefully I can execute tomorrow.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros at the National Guard Open on Lake Norman after day one:

6th: Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 13-0

7th: Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., five bass, 12-11

8th: Joe Thomas of Milford, Ohio, five bass, 12-7

9th: Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., five bass, 12-4

10th: Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., five bass, 12-3

10th: Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 12-3

Ehrler also won the $1,000 Folgers Big Bass of the day, which weighed 4 pounds, 10 ounces.

Hudson returns to the top

Co-angler stalwart David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., continues to demonstrate that angling from the back of the boat is all about skill – not luck. Hudson, who won the 2008 National Guard Open, has quickly reestablished himself on top of the Lake Norman leaderboard with 12 pounds.



“My partner was targeting bedding bass and I was throwing out in the deeper water,” said the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup champion. “The male was up on the nest and I was catching the females that spawned and moved off. This was the plan I had in case my partner was bed-fishing and it worked. I’m just real comfortable with a spinning rod and clear water.”

Hudson used a 1/8-ounce shaky head jig and tipped it with a green-pumpkin and purple Zoom finesse worm. He presented the bait on 8-pound fluorocarbon line in water 6-8 feet deep.

“Last year I had 19 pounds and I made the cutoff so to be safe I want 8 pounds tomorrow which would give me 20.”

If Hudson makes the top 10, he’ll have a great chance to become the first co-angler in FLW Outdoors history to break the $200,000 career earnings mark.

“After winning two tournaments last year, that’s my next goal.”

Hayden hauls in 10-9 and Big Bass

Local fisherman Jerry Hayden of Charlotte, N.C., bagged the Folgers Big Bass in the Co-angler Division today weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces, which anchored his second-place weight of 10 pounds, 9

ounces. That largemouth bass, which was worth $500, was caught in only 4 inches of water.

Hayden drew Nixon as his day-one partner. In the later stages of his prestigious career, Nixon doesn’t sight-fish much, which is advantageous for a co-angler. Hayden caught his fish along docks and random bank cover with a 1/8-ounce Spot Remover and 5-inch Berkley Wacky Crawler.

Rest of the best

Jason Ober of Johnstown, Pa., is in third place with a five-bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces. Ober, who has prequalified for the Forrest Wood Cup through the FLW Series, led the opening day on Lake Guntersville. He also won the Lake Champlain Stren event last year as a professional.

Dearal Rodgers of Camden, S.C., is in fourth place with a five-bass limit weighing 9 pounds even.

Grant McPeters of Marion, N.C., rounds out the top five co-anglers with five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at the National Guard Open on Lake Norman after day one:

6th: Alex Posey of Roswell, Ga., four bass, 8-8

7th: Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C., five bass, 8-7

8th: Bob Bjorklund of Centennial, Colo., five bass, 8-6

8th: Jason Law of Brunswick, Ga., five bass, 8-6

8th: Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., five bass, 8-6

Day two of the National Guard Open on Lake Norman will begin Friday a 7 a.m. at Blythe Landing, located at 15901 North Carolina Highway 73 in Huntersville.