CHARLOTTE (Oct. 4) — With a last-minute change of plans, Pro angler David Walker headed to Charlotte for the Bassmaster Southern Open No. 3 on Lake Norman.
After locking himself into the 2015 Bassmaster Classic in Escanaba, Mich., the Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat Elite angler had all intentions on turning his focus to off-season preparations. However, Walker saw the third Southern Open of the year as a good opportunity to fish without any stress.
“It was a laid-back event,” Walker said. “There was no pressure on me, and with no practice as well it worked out good. I’ve never gone to an event before, on purpose, without any practice. I knew the lake though, so getting around wasn’t something I had to be concerned with. Basically on takeoff I just went and fished places that I would have gone had it been a practice. It was interesting and kind of fun.
“My enthusiasm level was still high too. This time of year fishing is tough; it’s obvious by the weights. It’s kind of hard to catch fish because they are very scattered. After multiple days of practice you can kind of be a little down about it and not really looking forward to the tournament when you expect poor results. Since I hadn’t been fishing yet, I was still optimistic. I was still looking forward to going out there and it worked out just fine.”
Even starting the tournament with no practice, Walker was able to bring a limit of fish comparable to the leaders at 10 pounds, 4 ounces. Continuing that success despite the heavy rain, the Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat pro angler weighed in with a bag of 9 pounds, 8 ounces to bring his tournament total to 19 pounds, 12 ounces overall. Ending the tournament 25th overall, Walker was able to end his season on a good note.
“Thursday it was just so nice on the lake,” Walker said. “It was 83 degrees, a nice warm day with a good breeze. It was real foggy that morning but not enough to delay us, just enough to knock the sun off. It made it a really nice fishing day.
“But Friday you could just see the front coming on the radar; it was coast to coast. It got to us by 1 p.m. but I didn’t have to check in until 4 p.m. Before when the storm was coming, the wind was hard. It was kind of miserable really. We were all expecting a better fishing day at that point. Normally with those types of storms fish really get active, where the day after the front can be really difficult. Surprisingly it wasn’t really good.
“I knew I was in good shape though to get a solid finish and a check. The end of the season is the end of the tournaments but certainly not the end of working.”
Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker caught a total of 19 pounds, 12 ounces at the Bassmaster Southern Open No. 3 in Charlotte.
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