LITTLE ROCK, Ark., (May 23,1999) – Jamie Jones of Benton, Arkansas, took first place, $2327, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Arkie Division qualifier held Sunday on Lake Degray. Jones brought in a five bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces to top a field of 132 anglers competing for $7930.
Jones fished the main lake, using a Stan Sloan, black/blue jig with a Zoom trailer around points in 30 feet of water to catch his fish. Second place went to Jim Gill of Stuttgart, Arkansas, for his 5 bass that weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces. Gill fished the Arley More area around wind blown points.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) David Ashcroft, Bismarck, AR, four bass, 12-1, $683; (4) Kelly Coble, Conway, AR, five bass, 10-5, $438; (5) Lance Perticone, Texarkana, TX, five bass, 9-15, $415. Winner Jamie Jones also won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 5 pound, 8 ounce bass. Jimmy Mize of Ben Lemond, AR, is leading the Arkie Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass
weighing 6 pounds.
The Ranger boat owner who catches the largest bass in each Red Man division over the course of the season, will qualify to enter the Ranger M1 Millenium tournament. David Ashcroft of Bismarck, AR, won the Berkley Powerbait award – a package of baits valued at $325 – for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 12 pounds, 1 ounce.
At the completion of the six Red Man qualifying events, the top 30 anglers, determined on a basis of pounds and points, will move onto Regional Championship competition. There they will compete against the top 30 fishermen from three other divisions for a Dream Rig consisting of a Chevy truck and a full-rigged Ranger bass boat powered by an Evinrude or Johnson outboard (only two divisions compete in the Western Regional for a
fully-rigged Ranger bass boat) and a spot in the Red Man All-American in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 8-13, 2000, where the winner will receive $100,000. The rookie advancing farthest along the Red Man Trail will win the Old Milwaukee NA Rookie-of-the-Year Award.
All Red Man tournaments are catch and release events. Operation Bass historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate throughout the tournament season.
Sponsors of the 1999 Red Man Tournament Trail include: Evinrude Outboards, Evinrude Electrics, CITGO Petroleum, Ranger Boats, Humminbird Fishfinders, Stren Fishing Lines, Abu Garcia Rods and Reels, Chevy Trucks, ENERGIZER Marine Batteries, Old Milwaukee NA, Black & Decker, David Seeds, Coleman Products, Land O’Lakes, BC Powder, Eveready, Wheaties, Chex Mix, Hamburger Helper, Wrangler, US Bank-VISA, Powerbait, and Frenzy.