ROSEVILLE, Mich., (September 13,1999) Steve Clapper of Lima, Ohio, took first place, $2220 plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Michigan Division qualifier held Sunday on the Detroit River. Clapper brought in five bass weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces to top a field of 123 anglers competing for $7457.
Clapper fished the Canadian side of Lake Erie for his fish. He used green tube lures on breaklines in 12-18 feet of water. Second place and $1110 went to Brian Hensley of Edwardsburg, Michigan, for five bass weighing 19-2. Hensley fished St. Clair and the Detroit River fishing tubes in rocks and weeds.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3)Doug Rummelt, Jenison, MI, five bass, 17-4, $652; (4) Rob Mcmurray, Troy, MI, five bass, 17-13, $418; (5) Benny Cheung, Ann Arbor, MI, five bass, 16-11, $396.
Doug Rummelt of Jenison, MI, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 7 ounce bass.
Bob Suci of Grand Blanc, MI, Jimmy Mize of Ben Lomond, AR, is leading the Michingan Arkie Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 5 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. 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.