CEDAR BLUFF, Ala. – Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala., out-fished 186 competitors Saturday to earn $5,753 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Bama Division event on Lake Weiss.
Tucker caught five largemouth bass weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces during the one-day event to top Greg Gaston of Thomasville, Ga., who finished with a five-bass catch of 17-11 worth $2,876. Tucker caught his limit, including a 5-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that earned him an additional $930 as the Abu Garcia Big Bass in the Boater Division, flipping to stumps and trees in the upper end of the lake with a black and red tube jig.
Trip Weldon of Wetumpka, Ala., took third place and collected $1,438 for five bass weighing 17-4. Chris Ingram of Eclectic, Ala., placed fourth and earned $1,247 for five bass weighing 16-14, while Ricky Smith of Anniston, Ala., placed fifth and earned $1,151 for five bass weighing 15-9.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,876 went to Fred Hill of Gibsonville, N.C., who topped 186 competitors with five bass weighing 12-13. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,438 went to Drew Berry of Douglasville, Ga., for five bass weighing 11-14, while Michael Jones of Trinity, Ala., took third place and $719 with four bass weighing 11-6.
Randy Smith of Carrollton, Ga., won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $465 for a 5-pound, 12-ounce largemouth he caught on a copper blade spinnerbait in Cawon Creek.
Overall, 514 bass weighing 944 pounds, 15 ounces were caught during the tournament, including 35 five-bass limits.
On June 17, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Guntersville Lake for the third of five events in the Bama Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 23-24 on Neely Henry Lake, will be declared the Divisional Points Champion and awarded $1,000. The co-angler amassing the most points by the end of the season will receive $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.