CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Darold Gleason’s not a greedy guy, but he wasn’t satisfied with only one big bite, so he added a second kicker toward the end of his day. Good thing he padded his weight, as his five-bass limit of 18-12 leads Day 1 of the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman presented by Battery Tender by a narrow margin.
In a tight race where only 15 ounces separate the Top 3, Gleason holds a 10-ounce margin over second-place Colt Blanton.
“It was an amazing day,” Gleason said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so when you get special days like this you just gotta enjoy it — and I enjoyed it! I can’t wait to go back.”
The first angler to weigh on Day 1, the seasoned pro from Leesville, La., anchored his bag with a 5-3 that bit around 10:30. By noon, Gleason had amassed a limit of approximately 16 pounds on BassTrakk’s unofficial standings.
Just for good measure, he caught a 4-pounder and made a 2-pound cull with less than an hour of fishing time left.
“That was a really key upgrade,” Gleason said. “I got very blessed and got several key bites that freed me up to run around and check some areas that I wasn’t sure if I’d get to today or not. That also allowed me to not have to go to some other areas.”
Gleason described a multi-layered day that kept him on the move.
“I started with one little deal and then after about 9 or 10 o’clock I started swapping up,” he said. “The main commonality between my patterns is just going; looking at new water and trolling so fast.
“This is my first time here, so I’m trying to learn the rhythm to it. I don’t know if it’s the blueback herring that has (the bass) acting so wild, or if they just want to run me ragged.”
Stating that he caught fish on three different baits, Gleason said he used a mix of moving and slower presentations.
“I ran all over and had fish in different places,” he said. “I was able to hop around and check a few things today. A few things were not so good and a few were.
“I felt like I was in dead water 2/3 of the day, but things can happen fast when you get around them. That’s very hard, so I’m trying to cover enough water to give myself a chance to make it happen.”
Gleason said he was able to locate several productive areas, but each required a good run. His bites, he said, came from various regions of the lake.
“Most everything was dock-oriented, with a little bit of baitfish in the morning,” Gleason said. “The key was faster presentations early and then making incredibly accurate casts the rest of the day.”
Expressing his eagerness to see what Day 2 offers, Gleason said he intentionally avoided some of his options.
“I wanted to leave a few areas where I’ve gotten bit, so I have confidence going in there tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know what’s in there and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Hailing from Piketon, Ohio, Blanton is in second place with 18-2. Despite having to make major adjustments due to fishing pressure, Blanton kick started his day with a 5-7 that buoyed his effort.
“That big one was first thing this morning, around 7:30,” Blanton. “I had to adapt as the day went on. What I expected going into this was throwing big swimbaits toward docks and catching a lot of big fish coming out from underneath them. Some were prespawn and some were spawning.
“That pattern seemed to die on me. I had one good bed fish, so I caught that 5-7 and went on fishing brush throughout the day, I transitioned a little deeper and caught the bag I had.”
Noting that his bed fish ate a Crush City Cleanup Craw, Blanton described the key to his success as slowing down, fishing methodically and breaking down each piece of cover.
Timothy Reams of Morgantown, W.Va., is in third place with 17-13. He, too, had to make a wholesale change from how he expected to catch fish, but once the day started to click, it didn’t take long to fill a competitive limit.
“I had a pretty good practice but I had to change everything up,” Reams said. “About 10:30, it all started happening for me and I laid off of them around 1.”
Reams said he’s fishing a dicey scenario with several obstructions. This challenging habitat robbed him of a big fish that came unbuttoned, but Reams remained confident that the ends would justify the means.
“It’s a risk-reward scenario, but I was blessed today; the good Lord was looking out for me,” he said. “Some of those fish, when they get you wrapped up there’s nothing you can do.
Blanton holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass lead with a 5-7.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at Blythe Landing. The weigh-in will be held at the same location at 3 p.m.
Follow along with all of the action from the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman presented by Battery Tender on Bassmaster.com.
Visit Lake Norman is hosting this event.