HENDERSON, N.C., (July 26,1999) David Wright of Lexington, North Carolina, took first place, $4705, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Piedmont Division qualifier held Sunday on Kerr Lake.
Wright brought in a five bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 4 ounces to top a field of 347 anglers competing for $19,217.50. Wright fished the Satterwhite area using a Texas-rigged green/pumpkin jig and a crankbait around drops to land his fish. Second place and $2352 went to Guy Siler of Rutledge, Tennessee, for five bass weighing 20-9. Silber fished mid lake, cranking in 17 feet of water. He used a Carolina-rigged Frenzy bait.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Ron Rousseau, Raleigh, NC, five bass, 18-7, $1381; (4) Spence Brunson, Salisbury, NC, five bass, 17-15, $885; (5) Mike Sustek, Purcellville, VA, five bass, 16-13, $839.
John Wolfe of Woodbridge, VA, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 8 pound, 13 ounce bass. Wolfe is also leading the Piedmont Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 8 pounds, 13 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 Millennium tournament.
Eddie Tinsley of LA Plata, MD, Gene Bledsoe of Grady, AR, won the Berkley Powerbait award a package of baits valued at $325 for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 9 pounds, 8 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.