A change in plans works just fine

Hults proves versatility hallmark of great co-anglers

DEL RIO, Texas – During his prefishing period, Chris Hults of Vancleave, Miss., caught all of his best fish deep. He knew what he wanted to do come tournament time.

On day one, fishing with pro Jeremy Guidry, Hults used a Carolina rig to pull an 11-pound, 13-ounce bag from deep water. So far, so good.

But fishing from the back of the boat, a co-angler doesn’t always get his way. Sure enough, on day two Hults’ partner announced he wanted to fish topwater baits in the shallows.

Hults did what every good co-angler does: He went with the flow.

“I thought, `Well, I catch ’em back home on a topwater,’ so I was comfortable with that,” said Hults, who lives near the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. “I tied one on and caught a 9-pound, 10-ounce bass and four more to go with it. Today I caught every fish on that same bait.”

The bait was a Zara Spook in flitter-shad color. It’s one of his father’s favorite baits. He uses it to catch speckled trout and redfish in the Gulf, and it turns out that Amistad’s big bass like it too. Hults, who finished first in the Co-angler Division with 44 pounds, 3 ounces, said he knew the bait would work from the moment he got here.

“On a lake like this – clear water, big fish – they’ll hit that big Zara Spook,” said Hults, who earlier this year won the co-angler title at the Walmart FLW Series tournament on Lake Eufaula.

Thoughts of turning pro are not prominent at this time, as a job at the Chevron oil refinery in Pascagoula, Miss., and a family that includes a wife and two young children keep him plenty busy when he’s not fishing.

Hults earned a Ranger boat and trailer for the Stren Texas win.

Best of the rest

2nd: Sonny Kopech, Tyler, Texas, 42-11

3rd: Rich Dalbey, Greenville, Texas, 41-15

4th: Debra Cunningham, Phoenix, Ariz., 41-5

5th: Toby Wallace, Tolar, Texas, 39-0

6th: Mike Power, Canyon Lake, Texas, 38-3

7th: Danny Cherry, Kountze, Texas, 37-7

8th: Jesse Fry, Round Mountain, Texas, 35-0

9th: Joshua Wallace, Wimberley, Texas, 33-3

10th: Daren Scott, Fort Worth, Texas, 31-3