Tournament angler Robert Walser is trying to solve a puzzle in practice for the WalMart BFL Piedmont Division Tournament on High Rock Lake this weekend: How to make up the difference between what it has been taking to win a tournament on the lake recently and what Walser has been able to catch.

It’s been taking up to 25 pounds to win a tournament on High Rock, Walser said, and he has been catching about 5 pounds a day less than that.

“I wish it was better for me,” said Walser who lives nearby in Lexington, N.C., and considers High Rock his home lake. “All the tournaments down there are taking 20 pounds to win. There is a gang of fish biting – and a lot of big fish – but I’ve been catching 12 to 15 pounds a day.”

A major factor, he said, is the heat.

“It’s brutally hot, anywhere form 84 to 88 degrees. The water is hot and it’s not really clear. There is some stain everywhere. I would not be shocked if the river gets muddy again. We had flash flood warnings Sunday for Wilkes County and all that drains right into the river.”

Even with very high water temperatures, the fish are biting good, he said. It’s just that the big fish apparently are not biting where he has been fishing.

“You can catch them any way you want to. The water is only about a foot down, so you can catch them flipping docks, fishing a crankbait, a jig, anything you want to fish. I caught some fish out to about 7 or 8 feet deep and apparently they are catching them deeper than that. I think most of them are catching the bigger fish on a crankbait.”

Actually, Walser said, the weights are coming down. Two weeks ago it took 25 pounds to win a tournament and second place had 21 pounds, plus there were several more that had more than 20 pounds. This past weekend it took about 20 pounds to win, he noted.

“If it is not the best lake in the state right now, it is one of the best,” Walser said. “There are just so many quality fish in this lake. I don’t know what prompted it three or four years ago, but since then it has just got better and better.”

While he would love to win, Walser said his primary goal is to qualify Saturday in the Piedmont Division for the regional championship and again two weeks later on High Rock in the North Carolina Division.

“It’s gong to take 4- and 5-pound fish because it’s a 20-pound deal every time you go to High Rock or you are not going to do any good,” said Walser who had finished in the top five in the Piedmont Division four out of the last five years and was No. 1 in 2007. After top 20 finishes in the first three Piedmont Division tournaments he is currently ranked third in points.

 

Wal-Mart BFL Piedmont Division

High Rock Lake

Tamarac Marina

Sat, Jun 11, 2011

www.flwoutdoors.com