What’s up, dock?

Fulgham capitalizes on hot bite for Stren Central co-angler victory on Norfork

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – Howard Fulgham Jr. of Ash Flat, Ark., moved up seven places to win the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series Central Division event on Norfork Lake. Bagging four fish weighing 9 pounds, he finished with a 14-7 total and won $5,000.

Working the midlake area, Fulgham fished MegaBass jerkbaits around boat docks in 8 to 9 feet. Each of his four fish hit a different color bait.

“Being in the right place at the right time was the key,” he said. “I caught them all in about a 10-minute span. There were quite a few shad in the creek arm that we were fishing. The bass wouldn’t come up and bust the shad on top of the water, but they were feeding on them.”

Maintaining a disciplined presentation was challenging, but essential, said Fulgham: “I tried to slow down my retrieve from how I fished yesterday. When I start catching fish, I have a tendency to speed up, but I just tried to fish a little bit slower.”

Evans runner-up

Fulgham edged out day-two leader Kurt Evans of Hardy, Ark., who caught no fish on day three and finished second with a 12-9 total. Evans won $3,177.

Best of the rest

In third place, Chuck Lee of South Bend, Ind., improved from his seventh-place finish on day two by weighing 2-2 for a tournament total of 7-10. Jamie Horne of Jonesboro, Ark., led the Co-angler Division on day one, but came up empty-handed on day two. He rebounded with a single fish weighing 1-7 to claim fourth place with a 7-8 total.

Brad Baldwin of Dayton, Ohio, gained one notch to finish fifth with 7-3.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series Central event at Norfork Lake:

6th: Steven McFarland of Mountain Home, Ark., 6-0

7th: Lawrence Bean of Union, Mo., 5-14

8th: Tory Iverson of Galena, Mo., 5-12

9th: Robert Prebeck of Norwood, Mo., 5-5

10th: Keith Abrams of West Plains, Mo., 5-5