BENTON, Ky. (July 26, 2007) - Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., was named the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour's Co-angler of the Year following the tour's final qualifier, the Open, on the Detroit River July 12-15. Caraballo won the title with a total of 1,008 points out of a possible 1,200 over six qualifying events and will enter the Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., next week as the No. 1 co-angler seed.
"I am very excited to be named Co-angler of the Year," said Caraballo, who has amassed more than $68,000 in career winnings with FLW Outdoors since 2003. "It all came down to the Detroit River tournament. I had a bad first day, and I knew that I had to come back in order to get enough points to win the title. I was in the last flight to weigh-in, and at that point I was really nervous. After I weighed in I felt so great. I couldn't believe that I had won. I was just hoping to make top-10 so I could fish pro next year."
Rounding out the top five contenders for the Co-angler of the Year title were Spencer Shuffield of Bismark, Ark., with 977 points; David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., with 962 points; Kenta Kimura of Livingston, Texas, with 960 points; and Ken Murphy of Meridian, Miss., with 952 points.
For winning Castrol Co-angler of the Year, Caraballo received a $2,500 Wal-Mart gift card plus a year's supply of Castrol marine oil.
Caraballo started the FLW Tour season off with a third-place finish worth $9,000 on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. "It never crossed my mind after my third-place finish at Lake Travis that when it was said and done, I would win the title. It wasn't until the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake that I thought that it might become a reality," Caraballo said.
After Lake Travis, he then finished 16th on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes in Knoxville, Tenn., before earning his second top-10 finish at the Open on Lake Norman in Charlotte, N.C. At the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark., he finished 48th. He then placed 53rd at the Potomac River in Washington and finished up the qualifying season with a 73rd-place finish at the Chevy Open on the Detroit River in Detroit. Through six events, Caraballo has earned $20,250 this season, and he will be competing for a top co-angler award of $40,000 at the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5. In his FLW Outdoors career, Caraballo has finished in the top 10 eight times.
"This season I practiced with Gabe Bolivar, and it was a great learning experience," Caraballo said. "He knows right where to find the fish, and he helped me prepare for each event."