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Of all times to head up to Lake Norman we went yesterday...my buddy running the CATT Trail up there had a death in the family so I ran the very 1st Norman CATT Qualifier...

I didn't think many would show with dove season and labor day kicked in but 24 teams came....

16 lbs won but dropped way down from there...

I've never been to Norman but this coming Nov I have a 2-day NBC Championship so I needed to go anyway...I'm glad I did....man those Spots are nuts...at the weigh in it was like weighing in a limit of mudfish...thay go crazy!

We caught over 20 bass...largemouths and spots...mostly on a pop-r ....a 1 lb spot makes the splash of a 5 lb largemouth as far as a top water strikes goes...theres a little trick we know that works on Wateree in May in June where you can get a topwater bite up until 12:00 even on a bright sunny day....it works up there too...big fish too..I caught a largemouth over 5 lbs at 11:00 am

Another thing I learned...I thought I've seen boat wake before...trust me...you haven't seen a boat wake until you go to Norman...I now know what it's like to be one of those Alaskan Crab fisherman on the Discovery Channel.

I had a great time plus I'm looking forward to this Fall....The total Norman membership is over 30 teams...new teams have paid for the 2nd Qualifier because they had plans for the Labor Day holiday...

After the 1st Qualifier the Lake Norman Fall CATT Trail payback is on track to be in the $10,000.00 range....could be more...and thats with ONLY 25 to 30 teams...3 Qualifiers and a Final

The Clarks Hill Fall CATT Trail will start up Sept 30 and hopefully will get off to a good start....Clarks Hill Fall CATT Trail will consist of 4 Qualifiers and a Final...with a 30 Teams average the Clarks Hill version of CATT will payback $12,600.00

In the meanwhile I'm going back to Norman...not to run a tourney..I'm going fishing!

Brett

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Sounds like a good day. Now for that little secret.................

Yea I did leave that off didn't I....

It's simple and it will work you to death but ...

The 1st thing I noticed at Norman was huge pine trees on the banks of the lake...

We went into Stumpy Creek and on every small or large point there was a small amount of shade up until 12:00 or so..

even it's just the shade of one tree at Wateree we have caught as many as 5 bass out of shade the size of the boat...most people are fishing docks by then so you can run from point to point pretty fast and catchem

We were using a pop-r but floating worm and buzzbait will work too..not really much of a secret but it's something we have always done on lakes where the bass stay shallow most of the day when it's hot. Wonder if it's works at ....hmmmm say Clarks Hill? You ever fished there before Dink?

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LOL like those Norman wakes do you, and if you wer in stumpy and not even down lake where the big spots live and caught that many just think if you were in davidson how many you'd have caught, in the famous words of Boots Beasley LEAVE MY FISH ALONE
PS thta's why the BBC Rally is on Norman this Oct, if you think the top water bite was good now just wait till then

Yeah I dont understand why anyone would put a tourny on labor day weekend on any lake around here, I would like to have fished it but I would not put my boat through that again!! Just too many drunks on that lake, already had 8 deaths this year on Norman!!

I've been up there once or twice.

Actually the boat wake we ran into was Friday... Up until 11:00 am Sat hardly any traffic around Midway but I'm sure it was busy somewhere else...I didn't think the traffic was any heavier than Lake Wylie...none of the guys entered said much about it...

I guess the tourney was on Labor Day because that was one of the Sat my buddy could do it on...anyway everything went well and next year we will probably not schedule on Labor Day...but most of these guys said they would have been on the lake fishing anyway and the drunks come out every Saturday not just Labor Day.

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They had a Poker run on Old Hickory today with the Cigarette boats like the Fontain twin screws and Magnums and there was a crash between some boats during the run and two people were killed. There was also a Poker run in Oklahoma on a lake out there and just heard on the news that 6 people died in two boats that crashed in that Poker run. It has been discussed here in Tennesse that the Poker Runs be banned and now after this it looks like it is closer to happening now. It is a form of Gambling according to the Gaming Commission here and declared illegal so that will probably end them here anyway. Sure makes fishing rough when you have 50 or more of those big Twin Screws running 70 - 80 MPH all in a row racing from point a to point and and so on collecting cards with best hand winning. I kind of knw they were planning one because I saw several of those boats on the water in the past week. Seldom see more than one a day if then. When you see several out you just know whats coming. I sure hated to hear about all of the deaths involved in those two races.

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Life Jackets and Kill switch's save lives! Soft baits catch fish softer baits catch more fish!
I carry a gun cause a cop is to heavy and when seconds count the police are only minutes away!!

I dont fish norman on Saturdays anytime durring the summer, sunday mornings till about 11am and anytime durring the week!! There must have not been much traffic if you think it looked liked wylie. It normally looks like the north pacific!! At least this weekend is the one that usually means about a 50% drop in pleasure boats on all the lakes and we should have some cool weather soon and then the lakes will be our again!!

Glad to see you come my way and catch some fish....Give me a call if you can't find anyone to go with you on your next trip up. I have a few spots that might help you out in your Nov tourney.....Nothing major though. The boat traffic will start getting better....Football season seems to help out by keep those yahoos on the couch.

Mark

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Santiago is the man!

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