congrats Chris and Dennis

Thats something that you can catch big fish every tournement, I think tournements jinx me.

I pre-fished pretty hard, never had a bad day (keep in mind I have a low pb) I felt good leading up to saturday. I met up with partner Bob Wheeler sat morn and we took side scan and went and smoked it over, fish were still there, we made a game plan. Bob brought his boat to tourny loaded for bear and we fished hard in about 4 areas. well, results were less than we had hoped. only thing I can say we should have done different...we should have been where the winners were. I had a good time, Bob is a darn good fisherman and look forward to the next. Rookie.... I feel your pain bro

Me & Lonnie fished the place we fished for year"s .Water was a bit cooler than other year's. But good place to start. Flat head's bit good but small . Above DLcater other side of river .Same bait they had .Fish were hungry. But every body that prefished had the same bait. The fish shy away from that bait in a small area .What I don't under stand it was like that all over the lake .Why was all the good fish in that one spot .

congrats guys, sounds like a wonderful,  i'd love to fish that tournament one day with you guys, maybe next march

 Them boys have no need to cheat at all. They good period. Its like I said in my first post they earned it! Most of us are still new to tourney fishing compared to these guys. I had someone to call me that night and the first thing that came out of my mouth was where is that black lund....lol. From what i heard they was seen catching fish when nobody around they was getting them. They landed in the hot seat is all.

 Now on a side note I caught a blue at norman today and wasnt even planning on fishing. I was helping my dad on a job he had at norman today. Well we get to the house and I awake from riding nap and we at the lake. I stepped out of the truck and took a stroll around the house and saw water. I was amazed! Dad came around the corner and said alright boy get your mind on work...lol. I said wait a minute....you see that bottle out there...its got a fish on it. He agreed with me after it stood up. Dang I didnt have no way of getting to it. I looked and there was a zebco 33 laying in the pontoon boat at the dock. Jug was still too far away though. So waited him out.....lol. about 45 minutes later here see come. I jumped in the toon and got that 33 and started casting. ON the 4th cast I was hooked up with the biggest blue I have ever caught on Norman. The fight was on and drag slipping. Im really starting to like this job now. Well i finally landed the trophy and hand weighed him at 4lbs. I took a picture with my cell phone but i cannot download it for some reason. The fish had been on the jug for at least a week. The mouth was really red and nasty looking. The hook was even starting to rust. Anyways I released the blue to live another day if he makes it. I was proud of my catch though and thought i would share my story with you fellows. My new PB from lake norman. As we where leaving the job today we was looking at another lost jug in the cove and I believe it had a fish on it also. Couldnt tell for sure but we looking at what looked like a bream bed when something came into it and make a swirl as big as the hood on the truck! I couldnt help but think MR. FLATHEAD had just feed right in front of our eyes.

congrats on doing so well sat night guys . That a heck of a catch for five fish. I've never had a combination even close to that but it was still fun just being there and giving it a shot.  Question DLCATTER said he had a hundres pounds before dark  How do you guys keep that many big fish alive for that long? Are you using those big white coolers that alot of people have at weigh in?  If so are they rigged up with pumps of airators or something?  Do you let them run all night long?  I've never had a problem keeping small ones alive but never tried anything close to that.  I sure would hate to do good some day and end up loosing a good fish. Just trying to find out some info from the the guys that do it very well.  Congrats again and see ya on High Rock .

Hey Shark, the coolers will work in the winter and spring as long as you don't over pack them and change out the water every couple of hours at least. When the water temps get warm (summer time) it's a bigger job to keep them alive. I have a couple of mesh duck decoy bags I use year round also, they will hold a big fish or several smaller ones. I just put a little lead weight in them so they will go down and tie a rope to them about ten ft or so. In a tourney I usually put the bigger fish in a bag and three smaller ones in the cooler. Yadkin Catmasters tourneys that will start back up in the fall are a two fish limit, that makes it easier... You need to fish them with us.

Shark, I use a cooler system too.  It has an aerator, and I also use a pump to cycle fresh water into the tank.  An overflow drain at the top of the cooler allows water to drain out and back into the lake.

The warmer the water the faster the ammonia will build up and kill or stress the fish, so you either have to chill the water or constantly cycle fresh water through.

I have only had to keep about 80 pound alive, and it worked well for that.  If I was as good as DLCATER I would have to buy a bigger one!!!   

DLCATER, we need you to speak at one of the Carolinas Catfish Club meetings!!!