LaGrange, Ga., (August 16, 1999) Tom Gehling of Cumming, Georgia, took first place, $2820, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Bulldog Division qualifier held Sunday on West Point Lake. Gehling brought in five bass weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces to top a field of 173 anglers competing for $10,082.50.
Gehling fished shallow stumps using a Luker Lurener Luker, and buzz baits and jigs. Second place and $1410 went to Rodney Jones of Athens, Georgia, for four bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces. Jones fished up river around ledges using a Carolina rigged 8 inch June bug to catch his fish.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Lynn Callahan, Lafayette, AL, five bass, 11-15, $828; (4) Ronnie Ray, Phoenix City, AL three bass, 8-7, 530; (5) Ralph Mixon, Bonaire, GA, two bass, 8-5, $503.
Ralph Mixon of Bonaire, GA, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 7 pound, 3 ounce bass. Mixon is also leading the Bulldog Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 7 pounds, 3 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.
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.