HENDERSON, N.C., (Oct. 25, 1999) – Frank Davis of Mascot, Tenn., won the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Eastern Chevy Wild Card Regional Bass Championship Saturday on Kerr Lake with a two-day catch of eight bass weighing 21 pounds. The victory earns Davis a berth in the prestigious Red Man All-American Bass Championship May 8-13, 2000, on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark., where he’ll take a shot at winning the $100,000 first place award.
During the first day of competition, Davis hauled in five bass weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces to finish in second place. On day two, he threw a chartreuse spinnerbait around shallow points in the Dan River to catch three more bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces – a heavy enough total to finish atop the field of 249 anglers.
Also qualifying for the Red Man All-American are second and third place finishers, Rodney Bell of Salisbury, N.C., and Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C. Bell finished with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 12 ounces, and Thomas finished with 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
Anglers from 22 states comprising 11 Red Man Tournament Trail divisions were eligible to participate in the Eastern Chevy Wild Card Regional – the first of two wild card tournaments presented by Chevy Trucks this season. The second regional, featuring anglers from 26 central and western states, is scheduled for Nov. 19-20, 1999, on the Ohio River in Paducah, Ky. Three anglers will also advance to the Red Man All-American from that event.
The field for each Chevy Wild Card is comprised of Red Man Tournament Trail anglers who compete in all six regular qualifying tournaments within a division but do not qualify for regular regional championship competition.
“Qualifying for the Red Man All-American is one of the most difficult challenges a tournament bass angler can face,” says Brian Sayner, vice president of communications for Operation Bass, the nation’s leading bass fishing organization. “They must remain consistent on different lakes, in different weather and water conditions, and against a field of up to 400 high-caliber anglers.”
The Red Man Tournament Trail is comprised of 22 divisions, each having six one-day, weekend qualifying events. By season’s end, an angler must place in one of the top 30 spots per division, based on a system of points and pounds, to qualify for a regional championship. Five regional championships bring together the top 30 anglers from four divisions (120 anglers per regional) for two days of competition, with the top eight finishers from each regional (40 total) advancing to the Red Man All-American. A sixth (western) regional pits the top 30 anglers from the Colorado River and Western divisions against one another, with the top four finishers advancing to the All-American.
Founded 20 years ago on the principle that working anglers should be able to fish competitively without interfering with jobs and family, the Red Man Tournament Trail has grown into the nation’s largest competitive bass fishing series. All Red Man tournaments are catch and release events, and Operation Bass historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate throughout the tournament season.
Sponsors of the 1999 Red Man Tournament Trail are: 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.