LAGRANGE, Calif., (Sept. 20, 1999) LeRoy Bertolero of El Macero, Calif., took first place, $1,434 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Western Division qualifier held Sunday on Don Pedro. Bertolero brought in four bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces to top a field of 60 anglers competing for $4,097.
Bertolero fished up river around willows and reeds using a black and coral topwater bait and ox blood worm. Second place and $717 went to Frank Souza of Hayward, Calif., for four bass weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Souza worked a 4 inch worm along banks in north end of Don Pedro.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Bernie Gaunt, West Sacramento, Calif., three bass, 5-1, $421; (4) Anthony Franceschi, Oakley, Calif., three bass, 4-11, $270; and (5) Charles Bean, Fremont, Calif., three bass, 4-7, $255.
Steve Sepulveda of Modesto, Calif., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 4 pound bass. James Soden of Oakley, Calif., is leading the Western Division Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 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. Bruce Harris of Oakdale, Calif. John Ross of Caulfield, Mo., 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.