Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
The bite remains steady on Lake Norman, but with most of the field posting limits, it’s still the quality bites that are proving hard to come by. That wasn’t the case for Kyle Welcher, who rocketed to the top of the leaderboard on Day Two with a massive 19 pound, 13 ounce limit—including a 5-pound, 10-ounce kicker. Adding to his 12 pounds, 12 ounces from Day One, Welcher now leads the field with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 9 ounces.
Greg Hackney, who held the lead after Day One, drops to second with a total of 30 pounds, 11 ounces. After opening with 16 pounds, 6 ounces, he added 14 pounds, 5 ounces today to stay within striking distance.
Seth Ellis now sits in third, backing up his 13 pounds, 15 ounces on Day One with 16 pounds, 7 ounces on Day Two, for a total of 30 pounds, 6 ounces. Just behind him, South Carolina’s Patrick Walters remains consistent, adding 14 pounds, 6 ounces to his Day One 15 pounds, 5 ounces, bringing his total to 29 pounds, 11 ounces.
With weights stacked tight and fish being caught all over the lake, Finale Friday is shaping up to be a battle to the very end. Welcher’s 5-pound, 10-ounce largemouth takes over the big bass of the event thus far.
Welcher Finds His Zone
Coming off a big Elite Series win last week, Alabama pro Kyle Welcher had limited time to figure out Lake Norman. After driving in from the previous event, he had just a short first day of practice and one full day on the water. On Day One of the tournament, he returned to some spawning fish he had marked—but they were gone.
On Day Two, he put his Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST on high and started covering water, learning more about the lake and eventually finding a couple of “key areas” where fish were moving up to spawn.
“I’ve never been to Norman before, and with a short practice, I tried to find an area with some fish and locate a few spawners,” he said. “When they vanished on Day One—which was a tough day overall fishing wise for me—I found a zone where they were moving up, and I had high hopes for Day Two.”
He righted the ship in a big way, using his eyes to locate both cruising and bedding bass. With a one-two punch from Rapala Crush City, he fished a Bronco Bug on beds and tossed a Janitor Worm at fish swimming around. As for Finale Friday, he’s not overthinking it.
“In my mind, Norman is the same everywhere,” he said. “You can catch big largemouth or spots all over the lake, but it isn’t easy anywhere. I’ll settle into the areas I’ve been fishing, but most of the places haven’t been reloading—so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Hackney Sticking to the Plan
With nothing changing for Greg Hackney on Day Two, the only difference was the lack of a big bite. The Louisiana angler had two largemouth and three spots on Day One, but Day Two saw a full limit of spotted bass. Despite that, he’s still catching better-than-average fish, which has kept him near the top.
“I fished the same today and just simply lacked a big bite,” he said. “I was a bit afraid of that coming in, but today was such a good day for sight fishing—I could see fish everywhere, and a lot deeper too. It’s confusing, because today was the first day I haven’t seen any decent largemouth.”
Hackney predicts that based on the weather changes, Finale Friday should be one of the best and most consistent days of the tournament for everyone. With the first two days offering drastic shifts from morning to afternoon, with temperatures shifting, he expects things to level out for Day Three.
“The morning should kick off a bit better tomorrow, and that’s exciting. It should be good for everyone. I’m planning to stick with the same program, but I will not be starting in the same place as I have been,” he laughed.
Ellis Leans on the Sight Game
Seth Ellis knew coming into this event that in order to compete with the locals, he’d have to sight fish. After two days, it’s safe to say he made the right call. Ellis has called North Carolina home for eleven years, but has little recent experience on Lake Norman. While the locals know every dock and pocket on the lake, Ellis picked out small areas and stretches to focus his efforts.
“When I saw the schedule way back when, I knew this one was going to be about right,” he said. “After practice, I figured I could do well by looking for them, and so far so good. I had some good fish marked and they felt fresh.I thought they were going to stay around for the event and I committed to it.”
Coming into Day One, he had about 60 dots marked—fish he had seen either locked on or cruising—but more than half had either left or been caught. Despite that, his efforts had him sitting in 17th.
“Around 2:30 on Day One, I started looking around for more fish to use on Day Two, and I found some that I planned on trying to catch,” he said. “Today, I ran that stuff and caught some fish, but I had saved a big one from practice for when I needed it, and it saved me. I worked on her for an hour and got her to bite. At 1:30, I had 11 pounds. That fish gave me over 3 pounds and was huge for my tournament.”
With two 4-pound-class fish in the bag, he again spent the afternoon scouting for more options for Finale Friday. Whether they stick around or not, Ellis is proud of how he’s executed—and he’s fired up for the final day.
“I’m keeping it simple,” he added. “I’m looking around and tossing a Strike King Ocho in front of the boat, and when I find one, I slow down and fish a Strike King Rage Bug at it. So far, so good. I knew I couldn’t win this event just ‘fishing’ against these guys, so I did what I do—and the sight game has worked. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Walters Stays in Fourth
Starting the day in fourth, Patrick Walters made a push to climb the leaderboard on Day Two, but ultimately stayed put heading into Finale Friday. Now, a few pounds back from Welcher, the importance of landing a big bite has never been greater.
Coming into the event, Walters planned to catch them shallow. During practice, he found areas holding fish and spent part of Day One picking them apart—with limited success.
“I made a move early on that first day and fished around,” he said. “I filled a small limit on some places I know hold fish, and then just got back shallow and caught a few more.”
Despite losing two key fish today, he managed a few quality bites but wasn’t able to cull out three smaller ones.
“I’m fishing a bit of history and mixing things up, but in general, I’m in an area and just fishing around,” he added. “I’ve got a worm locked in my hand—a Zoom Fluke Stick—rigged wacky and Neko-style. I’m fishing everything that looks good and keeping an eye out for spawners.”
Top Ten:
Kyle Welcher 32-9
Greg Hackney 30-11
Seth Ellis 30-6
Patrick Walters 29-11
KJ Queen 29-8
Jason Burroughs 28-12
Ricky Robinson 28-3
David Williams 27-12
Joey Bloom 27-7
Barron Adams 27-0
