Winnning will be ‘anybody’s ballgame’ in NC BFL on Lake Norman this weekend
The way the fish are biting, the North Carolina BFL two-day final on Lake Norman this weekend could be anybody’s ballgame, said veteran BFL angler Maurice Freeze of Concord, N.C.
“I think there will be a lot of fish caught,” said Freeze, who is sitting in third place in the standings. “I think it will be a matter of whoever gets those 2 ¼- to 2 ½-pounders the most consistent both days will be the winner.”
Freeze predicted it will take 13 pounds a day and 26 to 27 pounds for both days to win the final, but an angler with 11 pounds on Saturday will make the cut to fish on Sunday.
“You should be able to fish a bunch of different ways. There will be some fish deep and some relatively shallow,” Freeze said. “You could catch them on a little bit of everything, jigs, topwater, a Carolina rig. There will be a lot of fish caught on a drop shot on deep brush, but generally those fish won’t be the right size.”
Freeze, whose strength is fishing shallow, will fish shallow at Norman, but he noted it will not be the normal shallow bank fishing most anglers prefer.
“The lake is down a good 4 feet and Norman is fishing different because of the low water so the choices for bank cover will be docks, rocks and stumps. A lot of the piers you normally catch fish on, the places there where you normally catch fish have no water.”
Between 2006 and 2014 Freeze won the NC Division points title three times and placed 2nd two other times. In two of those years when he was on top in North Carolina he finished 1st and 2nd in the South Carolina Division, too. Last year he was ranked 10th at the end of the NC Division season.
He is sitting 3rd in the points going into this weekend’s two-day final, 36 points behind John McDonald of Thomasville, who is leading, and 24 points behind Scott Hamrick of Denver who is in 2nd place.
“With the way the fish are biting I don’t think any of us three at the top are going to struggle,” Freeze said. “The guy in the lead has consistently caught them all year and Scott Hamrick lives on the lake, so I don’t think I’ll get the championship.”
But if the top two do struggle, Freeze has proven over the years he is more than able to take charge.
“We’ll be swinging at them,” he promised.
WalMart BFL North Carolina Division
Sep 12-13, 2015
Lake Norman
Pinnacle Access
