“It looks like we are going to get some pretty heavy rains Sunday night and Monday and that should bring the water level up a little bit,” said Chris Lucas, Anglers Choice tournament director.

Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C., one of the North Carolina Division qualifying anglers, agreed.

“They are forecasting it will come inland rather than go off the coast. For Kerr to jump up it has got to be wet around Danville and Smith Mountain Lake. If it does that Kerr would jump up and there would be a good shallow water bite,” said Thomas, a fishing guide and tournament angler from Broadway, N.C.

And that would suit Thomas fine, since he is an avid shallow water angler.

“Normally, the water level dictates the fishing, but it’s at a level that is frustrating to the shallow fishing guys,” Thomas said. “Right now the water is a little higher than we would like it, but not quite as high as we’d like it if it is going to be up. There is not enough water around the shoreline stuff and it’s not low enough to take the fish off the structure.”

The situation is ideal, he said, for the anglers who fish away from the bank, the crankbait guys. But Karen could change things for the better by the first of the week, he added, if it pumps some heavy rains into the system that flows through Kerr.

“The lake would jump up and there would be a good shallow water bite then,” he said. But if the lake does not rise, he and teammate Dennis Reedy of Siler City, N.C., will probably run up the river to find some current and fish shallow.

“I think we can still catch them. We probably won’t get the number of bites the cranking guys will, but we should still catch some quality fish.”

Reedy and Thomas fished three tournaments in the North Carolina Division and two in the Virginia Division, catching a limit in each of the five tournaments, to qualify for the Classic. Anglers had to fish at least five of the 12 tournaments, six in each division under the new two-state format this year, to make it to the Classic.

The new format has gone over very well in both states, said Lucas, and next year promises to be even better with some tweaking of the schedule.

“In next year’s format three may not be quite as many tournaments and the schedule may be spread out a little bit. The trail is going to get even bigger next year and we hope to be able to unveil things about it really soon.”

First prize in the Classic is a fully-rigged Ranger Z118 with a Mercury 150 outboard, valued at over $30,000.

Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail Classic

Oct 12-13, 2013

Kerr / Buggs Island Lake

Occoneechee State Park Ramp #1

Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844

www.anglerschoicemarine.com