PICKWICK DAM, Tenn. – Terry Bates of Greenville, Miss., out-fished 118 competitors Saturday to earn $4,244 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail Mississippi Division event on Pickwick Lake.
Bates caught five bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces during the one-day event to edge out Richard Kee of Somerville, Tenn., who finished with a five-bass catch of 12-7 worth $2,122. Bates caught his limit, including a 4-pound, 1-ounce bass around shallow stumps in the Yellow and Indian Creeks. He also won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures.
Birch Bankston of Columbia, Miss., took third place and collected $1,061 for five bass weighing 12-6. Hank Perkins of Collinsville, Miss., placed fourth and earned $920 for five bass weighing 12-3, while Mitch Black of Jackson, Miss., placed fifth and earned $849 for five bass weighing 11-14.
Dennis Kirby of Memphis, Tenn., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $590 for a 5-pound, 6-ounce largemouth that he caught slow rolling a spinnerbait.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,032 went to Richard White of Guntown, Miss., who topped 113 competitors with five bass weighing 10-5. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,016 went to Joel Ross of Brandon, Miss., for five bass weighing 9-12, while Shane Batton of Jackson, Miss., took third place and $508 with five bass weighing 7-12.
Chuck Jones of Jackson, Tenn., won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $282 for a 4-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught casting a 3/8-ounce Strike King jig.
On April 15, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Ross Barnett Reservoir for the third of five events in the Mississippi Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 30-Oct. 1 on Lake Ferguson, is declared the Divisional Points Champion and awarded $1,000. The co-angler amassing the most points by the end of the season receives $500.
Operation Bass was founded in 1979 on the principle that working anglers should be able to fish competitively without interfering with jobs and family. The trail’s championship event, the Red Man All-American, awards $100,000 to the winning boater and $50,000 to the winning co-angler. The highest placing CITGO Divisional Points Champion at the All-American receives $10,000 in the Boater Division and $2,500 in the Co-Angler Division. Overall, more than $5.7 million could be awarded in 2000 based on full fields in each of the series’ 119 events nationwide.