CLEWISTON, Fla. – Florida tends to be a co-angling paradise – with shallow, bassy cover all over the place, there’s plenty to cast at. Moreover, Florida can reward patience, and most co-anglers worth their salt have that in spades. This week, Alan Hults got the job done on the Strike King co-angler side in the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division event on Lake Okeechobee. Weighing a total of 45 pounds, 11 ounces, Hults took home a Phoenix Boats package and $500 – as well as some more hardware. Between the boater and co-angler side, Hults is now up to 10 wins with FLW and MLF.
Slowing down was the ticket
Retired after a career with Chevron and now a commercial hook and line fisherman, the Mississippi co-angler has been to Okeechobee a bunch, so he knew what to do.
“The whole key at the back of the boat is just getting a good draw and being with somebody that’s around some fish,” Hults said.
As it happened, Hults was around fish all week. Fishing behind Bud Randall on Day 1, Jason Smith on Day 2 and Parker Knudsen on Day 3, he ended up fishing the south side of Okeechobee for the most part.
“The first day we went down to South Bay,” Hults said. “There were like 60 boats down there, but he just fished real slow. So that’s what I did. I just started fishing real slow and ended up catching a 7-11 and another one about 5 and then three small ones.”
With 17-12 on Day 1, Hults was in good shape, and he improved on Day 2. On Day 1, Hults did his damage with a watermelon red Netbait Super Twitch, and he used a black and blue, 5-inch Yamamoto Senko for the most part on Day 2. He soaked both baits in BaitFuel, to make sure he didn’t leave anything on the table.
A longtime co-angler stick with plenty of wins to his credit, it still doesn’t get old for Hults.
“This one especially came out of the blue, because I really thought the guy who went out with the leader was going to catch them really good today,” Hults said. “But, I think we had some divine intervention on that maybe. He didn’t catch ‘em today, and I lucked out and caught just enough.”
Top 10 Strike King co-anglers
1. Alan Hults – 45 – 11 (15) – $34,000
2. Rich Frey – 41 – 5 (15) – $5,375
3. Ray Ruiz – 38 – 13 (15) – $4,300
4. Brady Lunsmann – 38 – 5 (13) – $3,650
5. Roger Phillips – 36 – 11 (15) – $3,150
6. Garrett Vick – 36 – 8 (10) – $2,650
7. Jeffery Baffa – 36 – 0 (14) – $2,150
8. Grant McPeters – 35 – 9 (11) – $1,825
9. Grayson Honeycutt – 35 – 2 (15) – $1,530
10. Michael Leach – 34 – 10 (12) – $1,290