Hults takes Strike King co-angler victory on Guntersville
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Few co-anglers have had as illustrious a career as Alan Hults, and he just keeps adding to it.
The Gautier, Mississippi, angler had racked up seven victories from the back of the boat since 2002 (along with one from the front in 2010). Yet, coming into the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event on Lake Guntersville it’d been nearly a decade since he’d held a trophy.
This week, he decided to change that.
Despite sitting in 23rd place after Day 1 thanks to only catching four fish for 13 pounds, 3 ounces, Hults took home the victory on the Strike King co-angler side by bringing in the biggest bag by a co-angler all week (and one of the biggest of any angler) – 22 pounds, 15 ounces – to give him 36-2 total and the victory.
“I’ve fished a lot of these things, and the main thing is you have to get with somebody who is around fish,” Hults said. “Luckily, both the guys I drew out were around fish.”
Those pros were Cody Nichols on Day 1 and Jeff Knight today, and fortunately for Hults, both were predominantly fishing open-water grass. Thus, he said he was able to basically cast wherever he wanted with either a vibrating jig, lipless crankbait or a jig.
Unfortunately, he only caught four with Nichols, making him figure any shot at the win was over. Yet, when he caught a 6-11 and another 5-pounder today, it turned out to be more than enough for him to get his hands back on a trophy.
“I’ve had some really close calls these last 10 years, but just hadn’t gotten there,” Hults said. “So, it feels good. It never gets old.”
Top 10 Strike King co-anglers
1. Alan Hults – 36 – 2 (9) – $38,500
2. Kyle Gelles – 32 – 2 (8) – $8,150
4. Sam Maxwell – 28 – 7 (10) – $5,150
5. Dakota Bishop – 27 – 15 (9) – $4,500
6. Andrew Kilgore – 27 – 2 (6) – $3,750
7. Michael Miller – 26 – 11 (7) – $3,250
8. Jon Fatheree – 26 – 10 (7) – $2,500
9. Mark Lyons – 25 – 10 (6) – $1,800
10. Joseph Koch – 25 – 4 (7) – $1,600