Wolak takes FLW win at Lake Champlain

Wake Forest pro pockets $125,000.

Courtesy of FLW

Wake Forest pro Dave Wolak earned $125,000 by winning the FLW stop at Lake Champlain this past weekend.

Wake Forest’s David Wolak clinched his first FLW win Sunday (Sept. 18) during the Tour stop on Lake Champlain, where he put together a four-day weight of 81 pounds.

The win earned the pro $125,000.

“The key for me this week was being able to make the proper adjustments,” Wolak said. “I fished in rain and cold and wind, and was able to adapt correctly for every situation.”

Wolak’s final-day sack weighed 19 pounds, 7 ounces, and contained four largemouth and one smallmouth. His primary bait was a ½-ounce Fin-tech Title Shot Jig for the largemouth and a ¼-ounce Title Shot Jig for the smallmouth.

Wolak previously had come close to an FLW title on Lake Champlain, finishing second there in 2007 and fifth in 2010.

Wolak said that previous experience on the lake was vital to his win.

“On Thursday and Friday when we had the cold, wind and rain grass was gold,” he said. “Yesterday (Sept. 17) and today I looked for clean hard bottom.

“I covered a lot of water using my history and experience on this lake to make wise decisions. I was very fortunate, and was able to capitalize on my past failures this week.”

Moving water was another key.

“The lake is still pretty high, so I looked for areas that had moving water, especially when I was targeting smallmouth,” Wolak said. “One of the great things about this lake is that it replenishes itself; if you catch one fish in an area go back because the fish will go back.”

The catch gave him the win by a solid 6-pound, 4-ounce margin over pro Gary Yamamoto of Palestine, Texas, who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 74-12 and earned $31,329.
 
Wolak opened the tournament Thursday (Sept. 15) in second place with five bass weighing 22-8. On Friday, he added another five bass weighing 19-4 to maintain second place. He then caught five bass weighing 19-13 on Saturday to make the crucial top-10 cut in first place.

On Sunday he sealed his victory with a 19-7 stringer that included one kicker largemouth that weighed over 5-pounds.
 
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:

• Gary Yamamoto (Texas) – 74-12, $31,329
• Daryl Biron (Connecticut) – 72-15, $26,829
• Glenn Browne (Florida) – 72-6, $22,329
• Wesley Strader (Tennessee) – 70-3, $17,829
• Scott Canterbury (Alabama) – 70-2, $15,129
• Brian Bylotas (Pennsylvania) – 69-8, $14,229
• Bryan Schmitt (Maryland) – 68-15, $13,329
• Kyle Mabrey (Alabama) – 64-9, $12,429
• J. Todd Tucker (Georgia) – 62-11, $11,529