Cody Hoyle of Rutherfordton won the tournament. Photo by Andy Crawford/B.A.S.S

Sept. 27. Cody Hoyle of Rutherfordton had the winning three-day total during the Basspro.com Bassmaster Southern Open on Lake Norman this past weekend. You might have seen the duded-out bass boats stalking coves and docks around Cornelius.

“This is pretty amazing; I really wasn’t expecting to win,” said Hoyle, who pulled in $43,533. “I entered this tournament thinking I’d get 11 pounds a day. I was actually surprised that I caught what I caught.”

Strategy

Hoyle spent the first two days in Mountain Creek where he targeted docks in 10 to 20 feet of water, then on Sunday he fished docks and marinas in Davidson and Ramsey creeks.

He caught most of his fish on a homemade 1/2-ounce Arkie-style jig with a Zoom Twin trailer. Using green pumpkin and orange for the head and skirt allowed him to leverage two common forage items.

“I tied that jig to look like a bream or a crawfish,” Hoyle said. “The crawfish on this lake have a green back and their bellies are orange. That’s what the jig looked like.”

Joey Nania of Cropwell, Ala. finished second; Cole Huskins of Gastonia finished third. Shane Lineberger of Lincolnton won the $750 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award. David Williams of Newton won the Southern Open standings with 577 points.

Visit Lake Norman, based in Cornelius, hosted the event.