RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (Aug. 15, 2009) - It came down to the wire Saturday, but in the end Team Iams pro Vic Vatalaro's one-fish catch Saturday of 1 pound, 9 ounces was enough to win the FLW Series bass fishing tournament on Lake Dardanelle. Vatalaro's four-day catch of 15 bass weighing 39-4 earned him more than $119,000.
The catch gave him the win by a solid 6-pound, 6-ounce margin over Nate Wellman of Jenison, Mich., who caught a total of 14 bass weighing 32-14 and earned $47,331.
"It was a lot of work," said Vatalaro, who now has won more than $643,000 in FLW Outdoors events. "I had to look around a lot. This was my first time ever being here and I ended up looking for current breaks and ended up finding the fish."
Vatalaro said he fished a Texas-rigged Berkley Finesse Worm with a 1/8-ounce weight and a 3-inch Berkley Chigger Craw on the back of a 1/2-ounce War Eagle jig to catch his fish all four days of competition.
Vatalaro said the key to his win was a "niche" technique, something a little bit different than other anglers may be trying. He said he liked to find a unique pattern for every tournament he fishes to improve his chances for a win. On Lake Dardanelle, Vatalaro targeted drain areas in the Illinois Bayou area that had current in four to 12 feet of water. Vatalaro said side-imaging electronics were vital to finding the underwater drains.
"It's kind of a neat deal," Vatalaro said. "I knew it was back there. I looked at the GPS and could see water back there, so I just went up to it, looked along the bank and then side-imaged it, and it's a pipe you can drive your boat through underwater. You can see it perfect. It's an open spot and you can see the concrete coming down and the concrete on the top. I mean, it's awesome."
Although Vatalaro has won nearly a quarter of a million dollars over the course of his career, the Kent, Ohio, pro's Dardanelle win was his first major win.
"I've talked every year about trying to make top 10s and put myself in a position (to win) and to finally make an FLW win is the best," Vatalaro said. "It's unbelievable.
"This feels great," Vatalaro added. "To be able to fish against the best guys in the world right here and beat them ... that's the deal, you know?"
Vatalaro opened the tournament in 13th place Wednesday with four bass weighing 9-7. On Thursday he added five bass weighing 18-5 to move into first place. He then caught five bass weighing 9-15 Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in first place.
Rounding out the top five pros are Chad Prough of Chipley, Fla. (11 bass, 31-14, $37,865); Team Kellogg's pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (16 bass, 31-14, $28,399) and Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas (13 bass, 29-13, $18,932).
Jeff Magee of Mendenhall, Miss., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday - a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Folger's Big Bass award of $430.
Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., won the Co-angler Division and $23,000 Friday with a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds even followed by Team BP co-angler Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark., in second place with 12 bass weighing 24-10.
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. He wrapped up the win Friday with a three-bass catch weighing 4-7 while fishing with Clausen.
"My brother won the last tournament at Eufaula and some of the guys at work were picking at me and wanting to know if Chris was coming to this tournament," said Hults, who now has won more than $164,000 in FLW Outdoors events. "I told them no, and they told me I'd have a chance."
"We just like to fish and share a lot of information," Hults added.
Hults said he began the tournament "junk fishing" by fishing banks and caught fish on a trick worm, ribbon-tail worm and a Berkley PowerBait Chigger Craw. The second day Hults said he fished a 10-inch Berkley Power Worm. On the third day of competition, Hults said he caught one fish on a Berkley PowerBait Chigger Craw and the other two keepers on a shaky-head rig. Hults credited his pro anglers with being a big factor in the win.
"Every one of the guys were around fish," Hults said. "You can't catch them if you're not around them, and we were lucky enough to be around them every day. Yesterday I had three five-pounders, and that's just unbelievable as much as everybody's been struggling."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga. (eight bass, 18-8); Team National Guard co-angler Pat Lay of Cleveland, Tenn. (five bass, 13-13) and Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga. (five bass, 13-6).
Hults caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday - a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Folger's Big Bass award of $286.