Vatalaro takes dominating lead at Dardanelle
Hidden culverts key to Vatalaro’s success
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Iams pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio, known as a smallmouth specialist on the Great Lakes, is proving that he knows a thing or two about green bass in the South as well – make that hot, green bass on Lake Dardanelle in August.
After sacking the tournament’s biggest limit on day two weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces, Vatalaro furthered his tournament lead Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces.
The Iams pro now has a three-day total of 37 pounds, 11 ounces, giving him nearly a 10-pound lead going into tomorrow.
While Vatalaro’s lead is impressive, what’s really neat is how he is catching his bass.
Essentially Vatalaro is fishing a series of submerged drain pipes that run out of a pond; the pond is separated from the main lake by an earthen dam. The pipes connect the pond with the main lake, but they are not visible because they’re buried under the berm separating the two water bodies.
Vatalaro found the four drain pipes by using side-imaging sonar to scan the berm bank and discovered four huge submerged pipes. At times current is gushing out of the pipes, which naturally makes the bite better.
“It seems like when there is no current, the fish actually get in the pipe because I have to cast right to it to get a bite,” Vatalaro said. “But when the current is boiling out of the pipes, the fish set up out in front of the pipe.”
As for lure choices, Vatalaro is using a jig with a Berkley Chigger Craw trailer and a Berkley finesse worm on an 1/8-ounce weight to pluck fish from the drains.
Scheide second
BP pro Ray Scheide of nearby Dover, Ark., moved into the second-place spot today with a three-day
total of 27 pounds, 9 ounces.
Though Scheide lives near Dardanelle, he has never fished it in the middle of August.
“I’m fishing undercut banks and channel-swing banks – anywhere the current sweeps up against the bank – in both the main river and back in creeks,” Scheide said. “I got bit on a couple of those type places in practice, and then I went and found as many of those kinds of places as I could. Now I’ve got about 20 spots like it.”
Scheide noted that some are pretty obvious spots and other boats have been fishing them, but he has found a way to beat the pressure.
“I’m pitching a Crazy Leg Chigger Craw; I’m doing something a little different with the bait on my presentation, and I think it’s making a difference,” Scheide added. “I know I’ve fished behind some boats on some of these banks and still caught fish, so I think I’ve isolated a little something on these banks that makes sense to me.”
Clausen third
Luke Clausen of Gainesville, Ga., is in third place with a three-day total of 26 pounds, 13 ounces.
“I’m just driving around, fishing whatever looks good to me,” Clausen said. “And what looks good to me is anything that does not look good to everyone else.”
In other words, Clausen is purposely looking for places that do not look good to the average angler.
“If I have any pattern at all, it’s that I am ignoring the obvious,” Clausen said. “If I see a bunch of nice lay-downs along a bank, I don’t even stop. But if I see like a single, nothing-looking rock sticking out off the bank, or an overhanging tree, I’ll go out of my way to fish it.”
Houston fourth
Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Okla., is in fourth place with a three-day total of 26 pounds, 8 ounces.
Houston continues to milk the single, hard-to-reach backwater area that produced his day-one leading bag of 16 pounds, 3 ounces.
Today, his honeyhole only produced two bass, but they weighed 6 pounds. Houston’s area seems to have the best quality per fish, if he can just get them in the boat.
“I’m going back again tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve lost some big ones in there, so I know there are still some grownups in that little place.”
Robertson fifth
Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., rounds out the top five at Lake Dardanelle with a three-day total of 26 pounds, 4 ounces.
Big bass
David Cooke of Mooresville, N.C., caught the Folgers Big Bass in the Pro Division on day three weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Walmart FLW Series BP Eastern on Lake Dardanelle who will be fishing the final day:
6th: Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas, three-day total of 25-14
7th: Chad Prough of Chipley, Fla., three-day total of 25-13
8th: Kevin Snider of Elizabethtown, Ky., three-day total of 25-7
9th: Nate Wellman of Jenison, Mich., three-day total of 24-8
10th: Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn., three-day total of 24-7
Day four of the FLW Series Eastern on Lake Dardanelle will begin Saturday at 6:30 a.m. at Lake Dardanelle State Park.