“It’s amazing what’s going on down there,” said Walser. “When I crossed it Tuesday it was within 2/10 of a foot being full in the lake and the river was running three feet above flood stage. There are 23,000 cubic feet per second flowing down and it normally runs about 4,000 cfs.”

Walser said he fished the lake Sunday afternoon and managed only one keeper.

“Fishing is tough and if the water stays really high like it is now, you can’t get under the bridges. That would take the two largest creeks out of the picture Saturday.”

Walser said that while the fish typically stay shallow when the water is high, he “must have flipped a million times Sunday” and only landed that one keeper.

“The water is so high it’s hard to flip most of the docks. You can’t get your bait under the docks. The water is actually up to the bottom of the piers and when boats come by the water splashes on tops of the piers.”

If the water were to fall just a 8 to 10 inches, he said, it might spur the fish to bite Saturday, but with more rain in the forecast before tournament time that is unlikely.

Walser, who placed 15^th at High Rock in march, 16^th at Kerr in April and 6^th at Badin in June, is 10 points ahead of Mike Miller of Trinity, N.C., on the eve of the High Rock Tournament, and those two are well ahead of the rest of the field in the Piedmont Division standings. Walser won the Piedmont Division points title in 2007 and 2011, and he placed second in 2009 and 3^rd in 2000 and 2003.

“All I have to do is catch some at High Rock and then go to Gaston for the last tournament and catch some there,” he said.

“But it’s going to be a different tournament at High Rock. Right now I’d be tickled with 10 or 11 pounds and take my chances.”

Walmart BFL – Piedmont Division

Sat, Jul 13, 2013

High Rock Lake

Tamarac Marina

www.flwoutdoors.com