LAKEPORT, Calif., (June 6,1999) – James Reese of Ukiah, California, took first place, $1904, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Western Division qualifier held Sunday on the Clear Lake. Reese brought in a five bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 6 ounces to top a field of 100 anglers competing for $6250.
Reese used a worm and june bug in lagoons and narrows to catch his fish. He fished for bedding bass. Second place and $952 went to Bernie Gaunt of W. Sacramento, California, for five bass weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces. Gaunt fished the north end of the lake in reeds with a puple/chartreuse frog and worm.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Mark Tyler, Pleasanton, CA, five bass, 18-3, $559; (4) Mark Mendez, San Jose, CA, five bass, 17-3, $358; (5) Keith Clow, Clearlake Oaks, CA, five bass, 16-14, $339.
Charles Bean of Fremont, CA, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 15 ounce bass. James Soden of Oakley, CA, is leading the Western Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces. 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.
Phil Mitsueda of Redding, CA, won the Berkley Powerbait award – a package of baits valued at $325 – for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 16 pounds, 6 ounces.
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.