What tournament are you practicing for? Fishing was tough there 2 weekends ago. Heard it was better this past weekend, a 32 lb bag was weighed in one day in a tournament. You should have water in the upper 40s or low 50s, higher in the backs of the cuts.
There is standing timber in places, mostly in Beaver creek and on the main lake between Farrington and 64 and some in several of the smaller creeks on the west side of the lake. Alot of places where it is you can see parts of it, refer to a map and stay leave a good distance between what you see and where you run and you should be OK.
Beaver Creek- Running towards the back of Beaver creek stay over towards the left hand bank. When you get to the second big patch, someone put a white stake on the edge of it, when you see it, you want to be 1/2 way between the stake and the bank, too close to the bank and it gets real shallow. The very back of the creek gets real flat and shallow, after you run between the 2 points and it opens up again you will pass a big cut on the left, at about that point you will want to set down off of plane if you dont want to bury your lower unit in the bottom.
Running Hwy 64 to Farrington- Leaving the no wake zone at the 64 bridge go straight up the lake. You will be able to see the Farrington ramp far ahead, aim for it. Some where along the way off to the right there are a few small timber patches that may or may not be marked, they should be on a paper map or GPS map, if you aim for the ramp, you will miss them by a good bit. Where it gets a little tricky is between mile marker 10 and 11. I past just to the right of #10. After that you will see a single Danger buoy on the left side, on the right you will see a big danger buoy and a small one. You will want to run between the single one of the left and the two on the right. Keep going straight towards the ramp until you pass buoy#11.
Beyond the Farrington Bridge- When you go under the bridge, you will have an island on your left, look for the danger buoy on the right... dont go between that Danger buoy and the bank, theres a road bed there, stay between the no wake buoys and you dont have to worry. Also dont go between the island and the rip rap to go around it, it gets shallow and theres a road bed and a few old slabs and foundations you cant see. Running up towards Morgan Creek, Northeast creek and 751 you will see an island. You will want to past that island on the left side and make a turn to the right behind it to go around a big timber patch. All of Northeast is pretty shallow, Morgan gets shallower the further you go back. Alot of the cuts in that part of the lake are shallow and full of stumps.
S-curves and Haw river- Running from the main lake to the Haw River you will go through the area they call the S-curve. Safest way to get through the S-curve is to follow the main river channel out around the 2 islands, you can cut between the island and the main land, just stay in the middle between the island and danger buoy. I have been told there is stuff to hit if you run between the two islands and there is a danger buoy or two there. After that there isnt alot to worry about, just watch for floating logs and debris, it should be pretty clear but there could be a few floaters. Running beyond Robeson creek up the Haw the deeper water will be towards the right side, when you see the split it gets rocky.
