It doesn’t get much tighter than this. For fantasy players, Lake Norman was predicted to be one of the hardest events this season to handicap, and that’s exactly how it’s turned out. When a mere 8 pounds separates first place from 100th, that puts a lot of anglers in contention. And when just 10 of those anglers advance to fish the final round, that kicks a most of those anglers out of contention.
That said, a few top picks did show up and make the cut when fantasy players needed them the most. Brent Ehrler, Chris Baumgardner and Greg Pugh were all popular picks for this one, and they qualified respectively in second, fourth and ninth place.
Big surprise has been Sean Hoernke, the leader. He was supposed to pop them last month at Smith Lake since he won that event last year, but apparently he didn’t get the memo from all the fantasy players who picked him there. Now he’s rubbing a little salt in their wounds by getting into some nice fish at Norman. That’s a nice touch.
Couple other head-scratchers come in the form of Glenn Browne and Mike Surman, two Florida guys who are normally more attuned to catching bass out of thick grass. Not a whole lot of that going on at Norman, but kudos to them for figuring out all those docks. Both of those guys likely disappointed more than a few folks with some rough showings at Lake Toho, where, on paper, they should have caught them big. Instead, they’re all over Lake Norman. Go figure. Also, take note: Browne’s rolling. This is his second top-10 in a row.
From the other end of the country come Jim Moynagh and Art Ferguson, two Northern pros who are no strangers to fishing docks. Moynagh top-10ed here last year, so he should have been, and was, on some savvy fantasy players’ radars.
The last two who made the cut are a little tougher to analyze: Scott Canterbury and Bud Pruitt. Canterbury just seems to have his rookie roll going here early in the season (although he almost didn’t catch enough fish today to make the cut after crushing them yesterday), and Pruitt’s like Moynagh: He just seems to know how to fish Norman, especially this time of year. He just missed a top-10 here last year.
Biggest fantasy groaner of the day: Andy Morgan. He missed the cut in 11th place, killing the exacta hopes of the 34 percent of fantasy players who picked him. He was this tournament’s fourth-favorite overall pick.
Cross your fingers for those exactas, fantasy players. This one’s going to be a barn-burner. Positions will shift and change with every little ounce caught over the next two days, and there are plenty of well-picked guys in the top 10 to make lots of fantasy players happy. So if you’re feeling good right about now, congrats on your picks. But don’t go out just yet and buy that new boat with the reward money. You have lots of company.