Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
It’s easy to get excited about NPFL Stop 2 at Lake Norman. In fact, there are six things that have me thinking this could be the fish catching-est, nail-biting-est tournament of the entire season.
Here’s why.
First, we know there are bass in all phases of the spawn — pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn. To a real degree, the 117 competitors will be able to pick and choose which of these groups they will target. That means that a lot of different baits and techniques will come into play — sight fishing, dock fishing, Flippin’ and pitching, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, squarebills, wacky worms, drop shots, and on and on.
Second, we know that Lake Norman is an outstanding numbers lake, but that it does not produce a lot of giant bass. Limits would be easy but for the 14-inch size limit. That will cut down on the number of fish brought to the scales, but the lake is still good enough that it could set league records for the number of fish weighed in even with the 14-inch minimum.
Third, we know the lake has largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass. The largemouths tend to be bigger than their cousins. The smallmouths are relatively scarce; we likely won’t see more than a few brought to the scales. That leaves the spots, which are plentiful and come in sizes that can make a difference. It’s likely that every angler in the field will have at least a couple of spots in his bag each day and many will have all spots.
Fourth, the average keeper in this tournament will likely weigh about 2 pounds, so a typical 5-fish limit will weigh around 10 pounds. An extremely good catch will weigh around 15 pounds, and any angler able to put together three limits averaging 15 pounds for a 45-pound total is going to be in the hunt to win.
Fifth, because the bass are plentiful but not particularly large, expect weights to be tight and many places in the standings to be separated by mere ounces. It makes for great tournament drama when 20 or more anglers launch on the third and final day with a chance to win, and we should have that here. I cannot think of the last time on any circuit where that was true.
Sixth, there are 20 anglers in the field who reside in North Carolina and another 13 who call South Carolina home. That’s almost 30% of the league! Of those 33, many call Lake Norman home or have extensive experience here. In fact, it’s a safe bet that this is the most locally star-studded field in national bass tournament history. At least 10 top nationally touring pros live within 15 or 20 minutes of the lake, grew up around here, and have fished here dozens or hundreds of times.
Will local knowledge carry one of them to victory or will an angler from far away come in with a different approach and win?
Will someone crack 20 pounds with a 5-fish limit?
What will this tournament do to the Progressive Angler of the Year standings?
And what bait or technique will prevail?
We’re going to find out.
The live coverage runs Thursday and Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET, and the live weigh-in features the full field all three days starting at 3:00 p.m. ET April 16-18, 2025.
