RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (Aug. 13, 2009) – Team Iams pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces Thursday to capture the lead in the Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle with a two-day catch of nine bass weighing 27-12.
“I had four fish at 11 a.m. and caught my fifth fish about 11:30,” said Vatalaro, who has won more than $524,000 in FLW Outdoors events. “It was a spotted bass. Fifteen minutes later I caught the big one and culled a 12-inch spot.”
Vatalaro said he fished a Texas-rigged Berkley Finesse Worm and a 3-inch Berkley Chigger Craw on the back of a jig to catch his fish Thursday. Vatalaro said he targeted areas that had current in four to 12 feet of water. Vatalaro said he targeted the same 10-foot wide zone that he fished the first day of competition and plans to do the same on the third day.
“It’s a feeding area,” Vatalaro said. “It’s a spot they’re funneling through, so you never know what’s going to be in there. There might be 8-inchers in there tomorrow.
“I’ve got four or five of these spots that I keep hitting and some miscellaneous little spots along the way,” Vatalaro added. “That’s what I’m looking for.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros are Kevin Snider of Elizabethtown, Ky. (eight bass, 25-7); Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas (nine bass, 22-2); Team Chevy pro Luke Clausen of Gainesville, Ga. (nine bass, 20-10); Team Chevy pro Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Okla. (six bass, 20-8); Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C. (nine bass, 18-10); Daniel Kweekul of North Little Rock, Ark. (seven bass, 18-9); Team BP pro Ray Scheide of Dover, Ark. (six bass, 18-5); Team Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (seven bass, 18-3) and J.T. Palmore of Gasburg, Va. (eight bass, 18-1).
Jeff Magee of Mendenhall, Miss., earned the day’s $430 Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Overall there were 227 bass weighing 545 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 105 pros Thursday. The catch included six five-bass limits.
Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of seven bass weighing 22-9 followed by Team BP co-angler Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., in second place with nine bass weighing 19-2.
“I had a really good partner,” said Hults, who has won more than $141,000 in FLW Outdoors events. “He’s just a super nice guy and we fished off the bank a little bit and he told me everything that was going on – what was on the bottom and everything. That was a big help. When you’re beating the bank it helps to know what’s down there. And we were around fish, so that helped.”
Hults said he fished a plastic worm “real slow” to catch his fish Thursday.
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.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga. (six bass, 15-0); Larry Hostetler of Floyds Knobs, Ind. (four bass, 11-2) and Team National Guard co-angler Pat Lay of Cleveland, Tenn. (three bass, 10-15).
Hults earned $286 for the Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass.
Overall there were 88 bass weighing 208 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 56 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included one five-bass limit.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Lake Dardanelle State Park located at 100 State Park Drive in Russellville. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Lake Dardanelle State Park beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 2409 E. Main St. in Russellville beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Walmart. All activities are free and open to the public.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
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.
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.