Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Detroit River, Trenton, Mich.
Final round, Saturday
Better half … For the first time in the FLW Tour’s history, a husband and wife both made the top-10 cut, and FLW Outdoors made the most of it here in Detroit. Hector and Diane Delagarza of Garland, Texas, were treated to a special husband-wife shootout at Saturday’s final weigh-in for the Co-angler Division. And in addition to vying for a bigger payday, the couple had a side bet on the line too. “We had a little wager going,” Hector said, explaining that the loser would do some serious housework for a week. “Even though I didn’t want to cook and do laundry for a week, I still wanted him to do well,” Diane, a second-year co-angler on the Tour, graciously said. Well, both anglers did well just by qualifying for the finals, but Diane proved herself the pair’s better half by hauling in four bass that weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces compared to Hector’s single 2-9 fish. For the record, she placed fifth and earned $6,000 while he ended up ninth with $3,000. But there were no hard feelings between the two, just praise for each other. “Oh, shoot – I love this man,” Diane said when asked if she’d rub it in. “I’m proud of her, and I love her to death,” said Hector, a second year co-angler with the Tour and also a Stren Series pro.
Sweet taste of victory … Mark Frickman of Grand Ledge, Mich., has said all week how “pumped” he is to be fishing in his first FLW Tour event. Well, imagine how excited he was to win the Co-angler Division at the Detroit River and $30,000 in cash. “I’m so pumped – I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’m having the blast of my life.” He couldn’t thank his main sponsor enough: his wife, Laura Nevin, who was also visibly thrilled to see him win. Frickman said Laura and his mother-in-law, Lois Nevin, have been a tremendous source of support for him as he pursues his tournament-fishing dreams. In fact, they bought his first two boats for him. In tribute, he had their names added to his current tourney boat as part of the wrap art. So, what are the plans for the money? “I better give it to my wife,” he said. After the weigh-in, Laura added: “I’m the CFO. When he said he was giving the money to me, he wasn’t kidding.” However, he added that his accountant recently told him that buying a new boat for the upcoming tournament season might be a wise investment. Frickman said a new Ranger boat is a definite possibility for next year.
Smokestack lightning … The weather hovering over the industrial landscape of Detroit today made fishing difficult for several pros in the top 10. Mark Modrak of China Township, Mich., said: “We had to quit fishing for a bit. We had a real bad lightning storm, and we had to take shelter under a bridge up by St. Clair. I don’t like lightning.” But Modrak was still able to bag a limit of five for 12-9. Burgin, Kentucky’s Keith Monson didn’t fare as well with three bass for 6-14 and simply said, “I’m not good with big water.” Others who have been fishing large Lake Erie also said the wind and weather kept them from fishing up to the potential they had seen earlier in the week – or from even reaching their primary spots. Yesterday’s leader and a former resident of Amherst, Ohio, who now calls Minnetonka, Minn., home, David McCrone probably suffered as much as anyone, weighing in only two for 6-15. He didn’t make the 70-mile run to his main spot on Erie, opting instead to travel about 30 miles to East Sister Island. “It was too rough,” he said. “There’s no way I would have made it.” And though J.T. Kenney of Port Charlotte, Fla., caught a limit on Erie right away and ended the day with a weight of 16-14, he said the weather drove him off the big water after only an hour of fishing. And Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif. – who had a hard time boating them, bringing in only three for 8-12 – said, “We had a little bit of crazy weather out there.”
Chevy Open fave … If there was any doubt about the crowd favorite at the Chevy Open this week in Detroit, it was evaporated by the rousing cheers that erupted when Chevy pro Kim Stricker took the stage at the Cobo Center downtown. The Howell, Mich., pro had the loudest cheering section at the weigh-in, and he’s also reportedly attracting quite a crowd to his TV show “Hook n’ Look,” appearing on the Versus network. “What a privilege it is to be representing Chevy here at the Chevy Open – right here in the Motor City,” Stricker said. The longtime pro picked up his second FLW Tour top-10 this week, currently sits in sixth place with 11-15 and stands to win anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000.
Quick numbers
25: Number of keeper bass caught by second-place pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio, on day three of the Chevy Open.
5: Percentage of FLW Fantasy Fishing players who picked pro Alvin Shaw of State Road, N.C., to be on their fantasy teams for the Chevy Open. Shaw is currently leading the tournament by 13 ounces with one day to go.
0: Percentage of FLW Fantasy Fishing pundits who put Shaw on their teams.
16: Percentage of FLW Fantasy Fishing players who picked pro Vatalaro to be on their fantasy teams for the Chevy Open. He is currently in second.
60: Percentage of FLW Fantasy Fishing pundits who put Vatalaro on their teams.
1: Number of pros in the top 10 fishing in their first FLW Tour event (Modrak; McCrone is fishing his second after fishing the Chevy Open on the Detroit River last year as well).
3: Number of co-anglers in the top 10 fishing in their first FLW Tour event (Frickman, Mike Weidman of Burton, Mich., and Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind.; Todd Robbins or Romulus, Mich., is fishing his second after fishing the Chevy Open on the Detroit River last year as well).
Sound bites
“If you have a dream (fish professionally), there’s no better training grounds than FLW.” – 2008 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., encouraging young people to fish The Bass Federation, Bass Fishing League, Stren Series, FLW Series and, ultimately, FLW Tour events as steppingstones toward a career in fishing.
“I like it this year; I didn’t like it last year.” – third-place co-angler J.B. Young of Deer Park, Texas, when asked if he likes fishing the Detroit River (this year marks his second time; last year he zeroed at the event).
“Well, everything around me was taller, so that’s a benefit of being short.” – Weidman, on fishing during a lightning storm.
“I need pacifiers for these.” – Monson, on the size of his three fish.