Loeffelman gets the shakes on Wheeler

Missouri co-angler claims first win in FLW Tour Open

DECATUR, Ala. – Things were looking pretty shaky this week for Nick Loeffelman Jr. but that’s just what the Missouri co-angler wanted and his plan paid off with a victory in the FLW Tour Open event on Wheeler Lake.

Every fish that Loeffelman weighed this week came on a 3/16-ounce Croc-O-Gator shaky head with a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm. Coming into day three in second place, he was admittedly nervous about his fellow top-5 competitors, but when all were weighed, Loeffelman had amassed a three-day total of 33 pounds, 7 ounces, with a winning margin of 5-5.

“I brought 12 rods, but I ended up using one rod all three days,” he said. “I kept trying other things when it got tough, but the Croc-O-Gator is a good jig head. It has long hook shank and I think it helped me get some good hooksets.

“I worked the bait pretty fast this week and I think that could have helped. I worked it fast, but I kept it in the same place. I really didn’t move it that much. I think I just aggravated the fish so much they thought ‘If you aren’t going to get out of here, I might as well eat you.'”

Loeffelman thanked his three pros Steve Kennedy, Jerry Lawler and Blake Nick. “They all gave me water to fish. I knew that if I just did my thing and catch the fish, I’d (finish well). I thought I needed at least a 5-fish limit,” he said. “I got my limit by about 9:30 and it was a tough day. I don’t think I caught another fish after that.”

Loeffelman caught his fish on 12-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon. He typically spools with 10-pound, but he figured he might need more strength in the depths he was fishing.

“I’m not much of a deep fisherman,” he said. “Most of the fish were caught in 15-20 feet of water. I’m from Lake of the Ozarks and I fish a lot of docks on my home lake. I still use that same bait; it was just about 10 feet deeper (here).

Jonathan Henry, of Grant, Ala. moved up one spot to second with 28-2 and Alan Hults, of Gauthier, Ms., gained three spots to finish third at 26-7.

Richard Peek, of Centre, Ala. placed fourth with 25-15. Peek posted his best score of the tournament, 12-2, in the final round and moved up 9 spots from 13th. Mark Horton, of Nicholasville, Ky. took fifth with 23-10.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the FLW Tour Open event on Wheeler Lake:

6th: Ben Todd, of Pierson, Fla., 23-0

7th: George Yund, of Albany, N.Y., 21-14

8th: Casey Martin, of New Market, Ala., 21-6

9th: Kevin Brumfield, of Madison, Miss., 20-6

10th: Philip Jarabeck, of Lynchburg, Va., 20-6