Armour Takes Co-Angler Title
Experienced pro swaps over and sees instant success
The name Allen Amour can usually be found in the Pro Division roster of FLW tournaments. He has spent many years fishing from the front of the boat. But this week he found himself fishing from the back of the boat on Wheeler Lake and when the Costa FLW Series event presented by Mercury and hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism ended, he also found himself as the winner in the co-angler division.
Amour heard that the FLW Series was short co-anglers for the Wheeler Lake event and, on a whim, decided to drive over to Wheeler at the last minute and get in the tournament.
“Normally I fish the Central Division of the FLW Series as a pro,” Armour says. “But during the week of Kentucky Lake, my mom passed away and it’s been a tough couple of weeks for me since – I haven’t even thought about fishing at all.”
So when Armour heard openings were available at Wheeler Lake for the back deck, he jumped in as a co-angler.
“I just wanted to go fishing, simple as that,” Armour says. “So I called Ron (Lapin) at 4 o’clock Wednesday and said, “I’m headed your way, I’ll see you at takeoff in the morning.”
From there, Armour went to work from the back of the boat with a variety of jigs to post weights of 10-12, 14-15 and 7-4 for a three-day winning total of 32-15.
When fishing deeper waters on day one, Armour dragged a ½-ounce Lunker Lure Rattleback jig (brown) with a Zoom Fat Albert twin tail trailer and a ½-ounce Phenix Pro-Series Football Jig (black and blue) with a NetBait Paca Craw trailer.
When fishing shallower over the last two days he fished a 5/8-ounce Phenix Pre-Series Flipping Jig (black and blue) with a Paca Craw and a Phenix 7/16-ounce swimjig with a Paca Craw. He pitched a Strike King Rage Bug on a ½-ounce weight as well.
“I’ve spent years fishing from the front of the boat and I have a few trophies to show for it,” Armour says. “Then I fish just one tournament from the back of the boat and I win. Go figure.”
For his victory, Armour takes home a Ranger Z117 with a 90 HP outboard.