WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Carl Johnson, a 48-year-old carpenter from Highland Springs, Va., out-fished 198 competitors Saturday to earn $6,027 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Piedmont Division event on the Potomac River.
Johnson caught five largemouth bass weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces during the one-day event to top Tony Black of Manassas, Va., who finished with a five-bass catch of 19-1 worth $3,014. Johnson caught his limit, including a 5-pound, 5-ounce largemouth, on a Carolina-rigged lizard.
Chris Baldwin of Lexington, N.C., took third place and collected $1,507 with five bass weighing 18-4. Kelly Pratt of Williamsburg, Va., placed fourth and earned $1,306 with five bass weighing 17-7, while David Harp of Chapel Hill, N.C., placed fifth and earned $1206 with five bass weighing 17-1.
Black, a 32-year-old police officer, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $990 for a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass that he caught on a Carolina rig in 4 feet of water.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $3,014 went to Jerry Comperatore, 48, of Tarentum, Pa., who topped 198 competitors with five bass weighing 17-0. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,507 went to David Williams of Fredericksburg, Va., for five bass weighing 13-6, while Scott Amig of Hanover, Pa., took third place and $753 with five bass weighing 13-0.
Comperatore won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $495 with a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught out of stained water on a Berkley Power Bait.
J. T. Kinney, 25, of Frostburg, Md., won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures. He caught five bass weighing 13-0 flipping wood in Nangimory Creek.
On June 10, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Kerr Lake for the third of five events in the Piedmont 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 Kerr 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. Additional sponsors of the 2000 season are: Abu Garcia, BC Headache Powder, Black & Decker, Chevy Trucks, CITGO, Coleman, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Evinrude, Frenzy, Garmin, Poulan/Weed Eater, Power Bait, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Stren, Timex, U.S. Bank, Visa USA and Wrangler.
For complete results, visit www.redmantournamenttrail.com.