ALEXANDER CITY, Ala., (Oct. 4, 1999) – Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala., took first place, $3,162 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Bama Division qualifier held Sunday on Lake Martin. Tucker brought in five bass weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces to top a field of 203 anglers competing for $11,657.
Tucker fished isolated cover along banks and sandbars in the upper end of Lake Martin using a crankbait. He also landed a 6 pound, 6 ounce bass to win the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000.
Second place and $1,581 went to Rickie Knight of Selma, Ala., for five bass weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Knight caught his limit casting to cover around the Wind Creek area.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Chris Ingram, Eclectic, Ala., five bass, 8-14, $928; (4) William Hodo, Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 8-8, $595; and (5) Thomas Southern, Sylacauga, Ala., five bass, 8-6, $564.
Kim Carver of Milledgeville, Ga., won the Berkley Powerbait award – a package of baits valued at $325 – for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 3 pounds. Additionally, Carver is leading the Bama Division Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 6 pounds, 13 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.