I have had a good pre fish so far-hallelujah! I caught three good fish on day one cranking and carolina rigging on ledges.  I went out again yesterday looking to do the same thing and found that I can get them in two different depth zones.  Ledges that fall from the five foot depth down into 8-10 feet are holding some fish, and I have also caught some good fish on ledges that fall from 10-12 feet into deeper water.  It is good to have two different depth zones, it figures that with the weather we are going to get, at least one of those two groups should still bite.

Lake Norman is a smaller lake with lots of little cuts and pockets.  It also has a lot of docks.  I have done all of my fishing above the High Way 150 bridge, I haven't taken the time to go further South, I haven't had to.  I have six different areas about the 150 bridge and can get to them all within about 10 minutes of running, so I should be able to make a good milk run.

I really think that the North Carolina boys, like Marty Stone, Guy Eaker, David Fritts and Jason will have an advantage here.  Anyone who has fished this lake a few times and knows where the good ledges are could do well, if they have figured out what I have figured out.

It is good to be having a good pre fish, I want to walk across that stage on Thursday with a bag of five good ones, it would be about time.

In Texas, we would say that it's "Colder than a well digger's ....donkey" -miserable cold today, fished until 11:30, tried to expand on what I did the day before yesterday, cold really got to me today.  I do feel good about what I have going, working a slow rolled spinner bait, and carolina rig.  I am going to run to a ridge that has a bunch of stumps, that turns into a break wall, and then goes into a cove with a bunch of docks, it is a lot of water to work, and there are a lot of fish there, at the very least, I will know that I am fishing around fish.  Will they bite?

I have another spot that is a nice ridge with lots of sawed off stumps, that falls off into the river channel.  I feel real good.  I plan to slow roll a spinner bait, crank and throw carolina rigs.  Handling the cold will be the main issue tomorrow, I have got to make sure that I stay warm, it is very hard to concentrate when you get cold.

7 Fish / 13-07 / (98th Place)

Day one, more of the same, I went to my water and just really struggled, I had two little old fish that weighed close to six pounds, I suppose those were the kinds of fish I would need to do well in the tournament, but when I am going to catch a limit in a tournament?  So Frustrating.

Day two, I did it!  I got my fifth keeper with about 40 minutes left.  I had 3 early and one around mid day, lots of shorts today and finally got number 5.

My limit today, very average, 8-03, would have put me in the money if I could have done the same on day one.

I fished this event out of a friend's boat, I sold mine just before coming to Norman.  I am looking forward to getting back to Texas, I will be picking up my new Ranger, one of the new "Z Boats," with a Yamaha 250-that boat should be a scream.  Looking forward to Table Rock, and then getting back to the BASS Opens.

I do feel like I got the monkey off my back today, I hope this is a sign that things are going to get better.