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VATALARO WINS WALMART FLW SERIES
EVENT ON LAKE DARDANELLE
Hults wins co-angler title, $23,000
by Chad Gay
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (Aug. 15, 2009) – It
came down to the wire Saturday, but in the
end Team Iams pro Vic Vatalaro’s one-fish
catch Saturday of 1 pound, 9 ounces was
enough to win the Walmart FLW Series® BP
Eastern Division tournament on Lake
Dardanelle. Vatalaro’s four-day catch of 15
bass weighing 39-4 earned him more than
$119,000.
The catch gave him the win by a solid 6-
pound, 6-ounce margin over Nate Wellman of
Jenison, Mich., who caught a total of 14 bass
weighing 32-14 and earned $47,331.
“It was a lot of work,” said Vatalaro, who now
has won more than $643,000 in FLW
Outdoors events. “I had to look around a lot.
This was my first time ever being here and I
ended up looking for current breaks and
ended up finding the fish.”
Vatalaro said he fished a Texas-rigged
Berkley Finesse Worm with a 1/8-ounce
weight and a 3–inch Berkley Chigger Craw
on the back of a 1/2-ounce War Eagle jig to
catch his fish all four days of competition.
Vatalaro said the key to his win was a “niche”
technique, something a little bit different than
other anglers may be trying. He said he liked
to find a unique pattern for every tournament
he fishes to improve his chances for a win.
On Lake Dardanelle, Vatalaro targeted drain
areas in the Illinois Bayou area that had
current in four to 12 feet of water. Vatalaro
said side-imaging electronics were vital to
finding the underwater drains.
“It’s kind of a neat deal,” Vatalaro said. “I
knew it was back there. I looked at the GPS
and could see water back there, so I just
went up to it, looked along the bank and then
side-imaged it, and it’s a pipe you can drive
your boat through underwater. You can see it
perfect. It’s an open spot and you can see
the concrete coming down and the concrete
on the top. I mean, it’s awesome.”
Although Vatalaro has won nearly a quarter
of a million dollars over the course of his
career, the Kent, Ohio, pro’s Dardanelle win
was his first major win.
“I’ve talked every year about trying to make
top 10s and put myself in a position (to win)
and to finally make an FLW win is the best,”
Vatalaro said. “It’s unbelievable.
“This feels great,” Vatalaro added. “To be
able to fish against the best guys in the world
right here and beat them … that’s the deal,
you know?”
Vatalaro opened the tournament in 13th
place Wednesday with four bass weighing 9-
7. On Thursday he added five bass weighing
18-5 to move into first place. He then caught
five bass weighing 9-15 Friday to make the
crucial top 10 cut in first place.
Rounding out the top five pros are Chad
Prough of Chipley, Fla. (11 bass, 31-14,
$37,865); Team Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre
of Union City, Pa. (16 bass, 31-14, $28,399)
and Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas (13
bass, 29-13, $18,932).
Jeff Magee of Mendenhall, Miss., caught the
biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro
Division Thursday – a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass
– that earned him the day’s Folger’s Big Bass
award of $430.
Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., won the Co-
angler Division and $23,000 Friday with a
three-day total of 10 bass weighing 27
pounds even followed by Team BP co-angler
Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., in second
place with 12 bass weighing 24-10.
Hults caught three bass weighing 5-11 while
fishing with pro O.T. Fears of Sallisaw, Okla.,
Wednesday and four bass weighing 16-14
while fishing with pro Ricky McLemore of
Pine Bluff, Ark., Thursday. He wrapped up the
win Friday with a three-bass catch weighing
4-7 while fishing with Clausen.
“My brother won the last tournament at
Eufaula and some of the guys at work were
picking at me and wanting to know if Chris
was coming to this tournament,” said Hults,
who now has won more than $164,000 in
FLW Outdoors events. “I told them no, and
they told me I’d have a chance.”
“We just like to fish and share a lot of
information,” Hults added.
Hults said he began the tournament “junk
fishing” by fishing banks and caught fish on a
trick worm, ribbon-tail worm and a Berkley
PowerBait Chigger Craw. The second day
Hults said he fished a 10-inch Berkley Power
Worm. On the third day of competition, Hults
said he caught one fish on a Berkley
PowerBait Chigger Craw and the other two
keepers on a shaky-head rig. Hults credited
his pro anglers with being a big factor in the
win.
“Every one of the guys were around fish,”
Hults said. “You can’t catch them if you’re not
around them, and we were lucky enough to
be around them every day. Yesterday I had
three five-pounders, and that’s just
unbelievable as much as everybody’s been
struggling.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are
Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga. (eight bass,
18-8); Team National Guard co-angler Pat
Lay of Cleveland, Tenn. (five bass, 13-13)
and Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga. (five bass,
13-6).
Hults caught the biggest bass of the
tournament in the Co-angler Division
Thursday – a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass – that
earned him the day’s Folger’s Big Bass
award of $286.
Coverage of the Lake Dardanelle
tournament, hosted by the Russellville
Advertising and Promotion Commission, will
be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on
VERSUS, the network which brings anglers
the best fishing programming on television
featuring the most-trusted authorities on the
water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW
Outdoors,” will air Sept. 27 from 12:30 to 1:30
p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason
Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500
million households worldwide, including
internationally through agreements with WFN
(World Fishing Network) and Matchroom
Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany,
China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia,
Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom,
making it the most widely distributed weekly
outdoor-sports television show in the world.
The next FLW Series BP Eastern Division
tournament, hosted by the Columbia County
Georgia Convention and Visitors Bureau, will
be held Sept. 16-19 on Clarks Hill Lake in
Appling, Ga. Boats will launch from Wildwood
Park in Appling and the final weigh-in will be
held at the Walmart located at 4469
Washington Rd. in Evans, Ga.
FLW SERIES VIDEO
ARKANSAS TOURNAMENT FISHING.COM
ARKANSAS TOURNAMENT FISHING.COM
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of
Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world.
FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy
Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy
sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for
only $10 to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit
FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about
FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
FLWOutdoors.com
Hults wins co-angler title,
$23,000
Vic Vatalaro wins Malmart
FLW Series on Dardanelle
and earns over $119,000
LAKE DARDANELLE
Arkansas Tournament Fishing.com
Greenbrier, AR
