Current Conditions on Norman
How September is treating the playing field
When the Walmart FLW Tour Invitational presented by Lowrance gets underway on Lake Norman on Thursday, pros will be facing fairly typical September conditions.
The layout
Norman is a big lake at about 32,500 acres, and there is plenty of room to spread out, so crowding shouldn’t be an issue. The only part of the lake that might see enough pressure to really alter the bite is the far upper end where the Catawba River comes though the Lookout Shoals Dam. The concern up the river isn’t so much about the number of pros that’ll make the 35-mile run there, but that it’s a smaller area and likely to fish as such.
Through practice, most pros reported good numbers of spotted bass, but some are having a hard time getting quality bites. Limits should be plentiful, but 3-pounders are likely to be at a premium.
Water conditions
The water level is a couple feet lower than normal and coming down, but it is still high enough that the vast majority of cover that isn’t right on the bank remains in play.
Norman is mostly a clear-water reservoir. Currently, the average temperature is in the mid- to upper 80s, but that can fluctuate, particularly near one of the two warm-water discharges from the local power plants. Up near the outflow at the Marshall Steam Station, the water is a whopping 97 degrees.
Even with the power plants churning out warm water, the temperature on Norman is trending down, and fall isn’t too far away.
Weather conditions
After a few weeks of blazing heat, this week has been quite a bit cooler. The morning temperatures have mostly started out in the mid-60s, and aside from Wednesday (when the temps reached into the 90s) the temps have topped out in the 80s. The air temperature is expected to trend down into the low 80s again during the tournament. There’s a chance of rain in the forecast, but the likely result will be a succession of the beautiful fall days that only the Carolinas can provide.
Possible patterns
There are plenty of bass in Norman and many ways to catch them. In practice, pros reported catching fish both deep and shallow, and there’s definitely some schooling activity. Some pros have struggled to get quality bites out of brush piles, but that hardly means running brush should be disregarded. On Norman, brush can always be a factor.
Besides schooling fish and brush fish, there are plenty of bass that live around docks. They’re susceptible to jigs or swimbaits. And there’s ample shallow water where some summertime bass are roving in wolf packs. The bottom line is that nothing can be eliminated heading into this one, and the winner might end up running the bank or sitting in 30 feet of water.
Tournament details
Format: All pros will compete for the first two days. The top 20 pros based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 7 a.m. ET
Takeoff Location: Blythe Landing Park, 15901 NC Highway 73, Huntersville, N.C. 28078
Weigh-In Time: 3 p.m. ET
Weigh-In Location: Blythe Landing Park