MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — Kaden Buchmann spent a lot of time looking for deer today, but the Troutman, N.C., pro was not distracted from the task at hand. Actually, spotting whitetails helped him sack up the limit of 16 pounds, 7 ounces that leads Day 1 of the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Norfork Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops.
A field of 134 competitors took to this White River impoundment for the first of three “EQ” events, also including Toledo Bend (Oct. 21-23) and Lake Guntersville (Nov. 11-13). After the final event, the Top 10 anglers in EQ points standings will qualify to fish the 2027 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series.
Heading into Day 2 with a 2-ounce lead over Mike McClelland, Buchmann attributed his success to strictly targeting big-fish areas. In some instances, that meant spots that resembled places where he had caught good ones on other lakes.
Elsewhere, he focused on areas that had not been disturbed. His biggest clue — deer.
“I was looking for places that didn’t look like there had been anyone on there in a while,” Buchman said. “I looked for deer on the bank today for the first couple of hours. Deer were a pretty good indicator of whether a boat had been in there or not.
“I weighed two or three fish off of places where I was like, ‘Nobody’s been in here, I know that for a fact.’ If I saw 15 deer in a pocket, I’d say, ‘I’m getting bit here.’”
Noting that the largest deer he spotted was a 9-point buck, Buchmann’s top bass was a 4 1/2-pounder.
“There were definitely hot periods, but those were usually when I’d hit the areas where I knew I’d catch fish,” Buchmann said. “Most of the day, I spent swinging for big ones and I got one of them today. I’ll see if I can get a couple more tomorrow.”
Following several weeks of daytime highs reaching into the upper 90s to 100 degrees, a mild cold front moved through the region just in time for the tournament’s start. A cooler morning brought upper 50s, with daytime highs in the mid 80’s.
“I think the colder weather changed it,” Buchmann said of the lake’s moodiness. “It was hot in practice, so maybe some guys got keyed in on some stuff when it was hotter.
“For me, it was just fishing the conditions.”
Buchmann said he stayed on the move today and fished about 3/4 of Norfork Lake. Never parking on an unproductive spot for too long kept him in the hunt for active fish.
“I can’t tell you how many spots I hit today,” Buchmann said. “My trolling motor is about dead, if that tells you anything.”
True to the seasonal transition, Buchmann described a junk fishing routine that produced his day’s weight.
“It was a little bit of everything — an urchin, a jig, buzz bait, topwater,” Buchmann said. “Cycling through the stuff is efficient enough for me. I jumped around and did different things.”
As far as technique, Buchmann called speed his best friend today. Covering water was top priority, so he maintained a discerning eye.
“It depended on how good a spot looked to me,” he said. “If I pulled up and it didn’t look right, I’d move on. A lot of what of I fished today was stuff I didn’t fish in practice. If it looked right, I’d fish it.”
Buchmann said he intends to repeat his plan on Day 2. He’s confident that his approach is sustainable, but he knows he’ll likely need to look for more deer.
“It may or may not work out again tomorrow, but I don’t think it can happen in the exact places I fished today,” he said. “You never know. This time of year, it’s hot and you just have to fish to water.”
Hailing from Blue Eye, Mo., McClelland is in second place with 16-5. With a lot of history on this lake, McClelland got off to a quick start, but then he endured a midday drought that forced him to make a decision that salvaged his day.
Essentially, McClelland spent his day chasing windward banks and throwing a SPRO reaction bait. After devoting most of his time to clean water areas, he ended his day in a more stained area that enabled him to fill his limit.
“I got very fortunate to catch a 5-pounder on my first spot, but I only had three fish at 2:30,” McClelland said. “It was a testing time at that point, so I made a pretty good run and shut down and caught one that was a 1-2 and that gave me four, then I caught another one about 2 pounds shortly thereafter.
“I was running in and there was one spot I wanted to hit. I made one throw on it and culled with one about 2 1/4. I was very blessed today.”
Brennan Flick of West Monroe, La., is in third place with 15-14. Even with the cooling weather, the water’s still warm and Flick decided to conclude his day about an hour early and bring his fish to the tournament’s larger, oxygenated holding tanks.
“Ounces are gonna be a big deal here, so we don’t want to lose any fish,” Flick said. “Today, I didn’t know if I was going to have anything to weigh, so I left it up to God and let Him do His thing.”
Flick said he had a busy morning and caught his limit by about 9 a.m. He finished his day’s weight by 10.
Flick mostly fished deep and caught his fish on a mix of reaction baits and slower presentations. With this event prohibiting the use of forward facing sonar, Flick targeted high probability areas.
“I was just getting in areas that they’re likely to travel and waiting for one to get there,” he said.
Kollin Crawford of Broken Bow, Okla., holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass lead with a 5-2.
Thursday’s takeoff is scheduled for Buzzard Roost Boat Dock at 7 a.m. CT. The weigh-in will be held at the same location at 3 p.m.
Coverage of the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Norfork Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops can be found on Bassmaster.com. Bassmaster LIVE will be available on Friday, Sept. 25 from 8-11 a.m. ET and Noon-3 p.m. on Bassmaster.com and Roku Sports Channel.
This event is being hosted by the City of Mountain Home, Arkansas.