Chapman takes second FLW co-angler title in 2007
South Carolina co-angler ChatterBaits his way to victory on Dardanelle
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Pros are not the only anglers that get on rolls in tournaments. It could be argued that co-anglers can produce some pretty impressive multitournament wins as well.
Such is the case of co-angler Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C.
Chapman just claimed a Wal-Mart FLW Tour co-angler victory at Fort Loudon-Tellico lakes in Tennessee in March, and today he claimed his second victory of 2007 at the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division event at Lake Dardanelle.
“That’s what happens when you draw good partners and you have confidence in the bait you’re throwing,” Chapman said after collecting $20,000 for his win.
Chapman, who is an admitted ChatterBait addict, threw the ChatterBait all week – chartreuse and white with a Zoom Ultravibe trailer – behind his pros to catch weights of 13 pounds, 3 ounces; 13 pounds, 9 ounces; and 13 pounds, 6 ounces, respectively.
His three-day total came to 40 pounds, 2 ounces, nearly a 10-pound margin over second place.
“I had a pretty good week going, and drawing Andy Montgomery, one of my ChatterBait partners in crime from the Carolinas, was a perfect end to it,” Chapman said. “When I drew Andy for today, my confidence went sky high because I knew what he was doing and the kinds of places he was fishing – all perfect for the ChatterBait.”
Chapman added that one of the keys to his victory was to fish the cranking jig very slow. 
“I wasn’t burning it, or reeling it fast,” he said, “just reeling it slowly and feeling its slow vibration through the grass.”
Hand up to second
Ben Hand of Memphis, Tenn., finished second with a three-day total of 30 pounds, 13 ounces to earn $9,835.
Hand’s best day was day one, when he caught 13 pounds, 7 ounces on a Zara Spook Jr. topwater.
From there he used Rat-L-Traps and 10-inch worms over the next two days.
Rest of the best
Bud Strader of Rockwood, Tenn., finished third with a three-day total of 30 pounds, 3 ounces worth $8,851.
Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind., finished fourth with a three-day total of 29 pounds, 13 ounces worth $7,868.
Jerry Weisinger of Wyandotte, Okla., finished fifth with three-day total of 29 pounds, 8 ounces worth $6,884.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Series Eastern on Lake Dardanelle:
6th: Bob Bjorklund of Centennial, Colo., three-day total of 28-12
7th: Jim Russell of Dade City, Fla., 28-9
8th: Ed Shannon of Milford, Ohio, 28-8
9th: Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., 27-14
10th: Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., 27-7