LANSING, Iowa, (August 9,1999) Eric Mihalovic of Holeman, Wisconsin, took first place, $3193, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Great Lakes Division qualifier held Sunday on the Mississippi River. Mihalovic brought in five bass weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces to top a field of 205 anglers competing for $11,762.50.
Mihalovic caught his fish in Pool #9 using a spinnerbait in weeds. Second place and $1597 went to Tom Monsoor of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, for a five bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 4 ounces. Monsoor used spinnerbaits and grubs in weeds, fishing in Pool #9.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Chris Cox, Appleton, WI, five bass, 14-8, $937; (4) Marty Clauson, Montello, WI, five bass, 14-6, $600; (5) (tie) Jeff Risbeck, Norwalk, IA, and Kurt Kahl, Freeport, IL, five bass, 13-12, $538.
Winner Eric Mihalovic won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 5 pound, 5 ounce bass. Ronald Marovets of Monona, Iowa, is leading the Great Lakes Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 7 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.
Chris Cox of Appleton, WI, won the Berkley Powerbait award a package of baits valued at $325 for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 14 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.