WAGONER, Okla., (August 16,1999) Jim Carnell, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, took first place, $3561, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Okie Division qualifier held Sunday on Fort Gibson Lake. Carnell brought in five bass weighing 18 pounds, 0 ounces to top a field of 240 anglers competing for $13599.99.
Carnell fished the lower lake area using Lucky Strike worms around points. Second place and $1781 went to Bill Stewart of Moore, Oklahoma, for five bass weighing 17 pounds, 0 ounces. Stewart fished in the mid lake area. He fished in ledges using a Bill Norman DD22 in 10-12 feet of water Carolina rig.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Walter Andries, Coweta, OK, five bass, 15„5, $1045; (4) Bill Copher, Fort Smith, AR, five bass, 15-4, $670; (5) Jeremy Whittiker, Muskogee, OK, five bass, 14-9, $635.
Billy Mitchell also won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 4 ounce bass. Ken Keirsey of Owasso, OK, is leading the Okie Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 11 pounds, 11 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.
Billy Mitchell also 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, 14 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.