PEORIA, Ariz. – Rik Ross, 33, of Phoenix, Ariz., out fished 57 competitors Saturday to earn $2,710 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Colorado River Division event on Lake Pleasant.
Ross caught five bass weighing 14 pounds, 2 ounces during the one-day event to edge out Mike Goodwin of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., who finished with a five-bass catch of 12-7 worth $1,355. Ross caught his limit, including a 4-pounder, slow rolling a purple spinnerbait on the upper end of the lake. Goodwin, however, won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures.
Gayle Janes of Palm Desert, Calif., took third place and collected $677 for five bass weighing 12-1. Tim Jacobs of Chandler, Ariz., placed fourth and earned $587 for four bass weighing 11-9, while John Murray of Phoenix, Ariz., placed fifth and earned $542 for five bass weighing 11-4.
Jacobs won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $285 for a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass that he caught near Sheriff’s Station on a Carolina-rigged do-nothing worm.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,355 went to Todd Herman, 36, of Gilbert, Ariz., who topped 57 competitors with five bass weighing 7-6. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $677 went to Ray Gilbreath of Scottsdale, Ariz., for four bass weighing 6-15, while Kirk Beardsley of Orange, Calif., took third place and $339 with four bass weighing 6-3.
Mike Harris, 51, of Riverside, Calif., won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $142 for a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught out of Castle Cove while flipping a worm.
On June 17, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Lake Mead for the fourth of five events in the Colorado River Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 23-24 on Lake Havasu, will be 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.
Red Man became the trail’s title sponsor in 1983.