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Outdoor writer Hicks reels in co-angler victory at Wheeler
DECATUR, Ala. – Mark Hicks couldn’t have written it better himself. OK, he probably could, but it’s a guarantee that the ending would be the same.
Hicks, a contributing writer for FLW Outdoors and Field and Stream magazines, hooked himself a whopper of a story to tell this week by winning his first-ever Wal-Mart FLW Tour Co-angler Division title. In fact, Wheeler Lake was the first FLW Tour event that he’s fished.
Hicks crushed the competition on day one with a 20-pound stringer, but zeroed on day two. He bounced back when it counted, in Friday’s finals, and caught four bass weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces, beating second-place Derek Jones by exactly 5 pounds. Hicks won $20,000.
“In a way, I kind of feel sorry for guys when I beat them, just because I know how hard they work. The neat thing about being a (co-angler) here is that you don’t have to do any work, really. You just show up and fish,” said Hicks, who, nevertheless, added that he was very grateful for the win. “Because there was no pressure on me, I think it really helped me. I made a lot of changes this week.”
Fishing with pro Toshinari Namiki in the shallows of Browns Creek on Guntersville Lake, Hicks’ day started slowly. When he realized that he needed to shorten his casts and induce the bass on the bottom of the shallows to react to a jig, things picked up.
“Today was a tough day, actually. I didn’t have a fish until 11 o’clock,” Hicks said. “Then I finally got one on a jig in the submerged grass. My first fish was the big one. Then I knew I was going to have a good day.”
His big one, an estimated 7-pounder, was the difference-maker.
“The key was the short cast,” he said. “The long cast wouldn’t make it through the weeds. I never got a bite on the initial fall. I had to snap it through the weeds, then they would bite.”
Jones, who hails from Chicago, led the opening round and put up another solid weight – three bass weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces – in the finals. He won $10,000 for second place.
“I fished with Kelly Jordon today,” Jones said. “I was just throwing an 11- and an 8-inch worm on slopes with grass.”
Jones, with 878 points, also edged out Tee Watkins, with 873 points, for the lead in the Co-angler Division yearly standings.
Third place for the co-anglers went to Greg Fleming of Holly Lake Ranch, Texas, for a three-bass weight of 9 pounds, 10 ounces. He earned $9,000.
Kelly Greer of Green Forest, Ark., finished fourth and collected $8,000 for two bass weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces.
Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark., caught two bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces and finished fifth. He won $7,000.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finishers at FLW Wheeler Lake:
6th: Rick Turner, Tyler, Texas, one bass, 2-9, $6,000
7th: Ralph Mulleins, Cumberland, Va., one bass, 2-3, $4,000
8th: Bill Rogers, Jasper, Texas, zero bass, $3,000
9th: Dwight Ameling, Fremont, Ind., zero bass, $2,500
10th: Tee Watkins, East Point, Ky., zero bass, $2,000
Pro finals Saturday
Day four of Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition at Wheeler Lake begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from Riverwalk Marina at 6:30 a.m. Central time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and the $100,000 Pro Division winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.