MOUNT IDA, Ark. – Dicky Newberry of Houston out-fished 120 competitors on Lake Ouachita this weekend to win a new Chevy Silverado and an Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX boat in the fifth of six Red Man Tournament Trail Regional Championships.
Newberry caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces on the final day of the three-day tournament to claim top honors and a spot in the 2001 All-American Championship, which will be contested in May on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark.
During the two-day opening round, Newberry caught 33 pounds, 14 ounce of bass to qualify for the final round. He caught the majority of his bass using a 1-ounce black and blue colored jig.
Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, took second place and collected $5,000 with a final-round catch of five bass weighing 15-5. Ray Scheicle of Cookson, Okla., took third place and $2,500 with five bass weighing 14-1. Jim Carnell of Muskogee, Okla., placed fourth and earned $2,000 with five bass weighing 12-11, while Mike Castillo of Nacogdoches, Texas, placed fifth and earned $1,500 with two bass weighing 6-11.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and a new Evinrude-powered Ranger R81 boat went to Don Hill of Muskogee, who topped 120 competitors with a final-round catch of three bass weighing 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Hill caught 13 pounds of bass during the first two days of competition using a green-pumpkin colored jig.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,500 went to Shane Batton of Jackson, Miss., with a final-round catch of three bass weighing 8-13, while Ken Murphy of Meridian, Miss., took third place and $1,250 with three bass weighing 7-10. Scott Bailey of Longview, Texas, placed fourth and earned $1,000 with three bass weighing 7-7, and Billy Joe Boley of Dover, Ark., placed fifth and collected $750 with three bass weighing 4-13.
The top 30 boaters and top 30 co-anglers from the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Cowboy, Mississippi, Okie and Ozark divisions qualified to compete in the Lake Ouachita Regional.
Five regional championships will each advance eight boaters and co-anglers to the All-American. Four boaters and co-anglers will advance from a sixth regional, and the top three boaters and co-anglers in two Chevy Wild Card events will qualify for the All-American, yielding a field of 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers. The winning boater at the All-American will receive $100,000, and the winning co-angler will collect $50,000. Overall, more than $5.7 million could be awarded across 22 divisions nationwide during the 2000 Red Man season.
Red Man became the trail’s title sponsor in 1983. Wal-Mart recently announced that it has assumed title sponsorship of the tournament series for 2001 and will rename it the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League.
The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission and Mt. Ida Area Chamber of Commerce were local hosts for the Lake Ouachita Regional.