Posted February 18th, 2007  9:15pm CST

Aaron Hastings Earns First FLW Tour Title

Story by Dru Smith

Sunday the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by Kellogg,s wrapped up it’s final day on Lake Travis. What started with 200 hopeful pros on Thursday was eventually whittled down to ten anglers by the weekend. The ten finalists’ competed over the last two days for the lion share of a one million dollar purse.

The grueling first two days produced a star-studded field for the finals that included anglers like Ron Shuffield, Dave Lefebre and Darrel Robertson. Scattered amongst the big names in bass fishing were several anglers making there debut in the finals. Ott Defoe, Bryan Thrift and Aaron Hastings all made their first appearance on the final day weigh-in stage. 

Leander, TX, resident, Clark Wendlandt set the tone on Thursday with an early limit of more than 17 pounds. The home town favorite parlayed that big first day weight into a trip to the finals. Unfortunately, Clark never got back on the type of bite needed to win the $125,000.00 and finished the event in fourth with a final weight of 13-11.

Wendlants’ good friend and fellow ping pong enthusiast, Dave Lefebre led after the qualifying rounds, but he also struggled on the final two days. Dave weighed in just 4-11 on Sunday and ended the event in 7th. 

Aaron Hastings’ day three catch of 9-15 put him in first heading into the final day. The Maryland angler brought five more bass to the scales on Sunday and added 9-10 to his overall weight. With a total of 19 pounds, 9 ounces, Aaron won his first ever FLW Tour event.

One of just four anglers to bring a limit of bass to the scales each day of the competition, Bryan Thrift finished in second. His final two day total of 17 pounds, 15 ounces netted the young North Carolina pro more than $50,000.00 in cash and prizes.

Making his return to the FLW tournament scene, Ron Shuffield boated 7 fish in finals and finished with a combined weight of 13-8, good enough for 5th place.

Aaron on Top Again
Aaron Hastings made an off-season decision to change his fishing style. Moving from a run and gun type of angler to a more methodical approach paid huge dividends for Aaron in the first FLW Tour event of ’07. Focusing on one area and slowing working a jig and a drop-shot rig, Aaron put together a two day weight of 19-9 and earned his first tour level win. “The advice came from a neighbor and it was basically to slow down and stay focused,” Aaron said. “In tournament situations, the bass get a lot of pressure and patience becomes real important.”

Having experience on clear water lakes like Travis help Aaron key in on the types of structure the Texas fish were relating to. “They (docks) provide shade and that attracts the bait fish. Today, I had to get back in the docks and drop the bait right next to the walkways,” he said. 

Aaron’s primary baits for this week’s competition were a combination a Bite-Me jig with a homemade skirt; a tube jig made by Cabin Creek Bait Company; and a drop-shot rigged with a Robo worm in the appropriate Aaron Magic color. “Line size was critical this week,” Hastings said. “I used 6 and 8 pound Berkley Vanish. It made all the difference.”

Coming off a not so stellar ’06 season, Aaron feels he is on the right track now. “This (a win) was one of my primary goals. I would not have been happy with second place.” 

Hastings will be a guest on The BASS ZONE on XM Sports Nation this Sunday

Second for Thrift
Bryan Thrift is no stranger to the winner’s circle having won two events on the co-angler side. He has also won from the front of the boat, taking the title at the 2006 Stren Series Southeast Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. In his first year at the Tour level, Bryan is making his presence felt. Coming in on the last day of the Lake Travis event with biggest limit of the finals, Bryan narrowly missed out on another victory. His two-day total of 17 pounds, 15 ounces gave him a second place finish.

‘I was able to cull a small fish late in the day and that helped,” said the Shelby, North Carolina pro. “I’m tickled to death with the second place finish.”

Bryan threw ½ ounce football head jig and ½ ounce arkie style jig , both made by Shooter Lures, for all his keepers on Lake Travis. Fishing ledges the first half of the tournament, Bryan moved to the ever popular docks during the finals. “I had my best luck fishing around pontoon boats,” said the Chatter Bait pro. “I got a quality bite 3 or the 4 days. On Saturday, I just couldn’t get that one good fish in the boat.” 

Thrift won his first ever Stren Series event and almost pulled off the same feat here at Lake Travis. Needless to say he is excited about the next event. “We head to Tennessee next on the tour and Alabama for the Stren. Chatter-Bait just came out with a new Chatter frog and I can’t wait to use it at these next events.” 

Dowling Dialed In
Qualifying for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour through the Stren Series Central Division, Craig Dowling finished third in the first Tour event of 2007. Focusing primarily on boat docks, the Alabama pro weighed in 15 pounds and 5 ounces over the last two days.

“The first part of the tournament the fish were holding on the outside of the docks,” he said. “Today I had to get the bait up under them (docks) to get bit.” Craig utilized a Yamamoto Shad Shape worm threaded on a 1/16th ounce, homemade jig head to catch the majority of his fish. The jig head was tied to a 6 pound test fluorocarbon leader backed by braided line.

“I lost a couple of fish today,” the young pro revealed. “But, that’s what happens when you fish around docks. I’m happy with the way I executed and where I finished.” 

Final Top 10