GROVE, Okla. – Jim Sumerall, 57, of Mannford, Okla., out-fished 85 competitors Saturday to earn $3,367 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Plains Division event on Grand Lake.
Sumerall caught five largemouth bass weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces during the one-day event to top Paul Smith of Copan, Okla., who finished with a five-bass catch of 17-10 worth $1,684. Sumerall caught his limit on a Carolina-rigged, green-pumpkin colored brush hog.
Clinton Milbourn of El Dorado, Kan., took third place and collected $842 with five bass weighing 16-3. Tommy Junkins of Joplin, Mo., placed fourth and earned $730 with five bass weighing 16-2, while Larry Egidy of Warsaw, Mo., placed fifth and earned $674 with five bass weighing 16-0.
Jerome Weiberg, 33, of St. Thomas, Mo., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $425 for a 5-pound, 6-ounce largemouth that he caught flipping a green and gold tube jig in the Elk River.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,684 went to Byron White, 35, of Topeka, Kan., who topped 85 competitors with four bass weighing 10-14. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $842 went to Dan Johnson of Kansas City, Kan., with five bass weighing 10-10, while Jerry Conway of Ellisville, Mo., took third place and $421 with four bass weighing 9-11.
Ronnie Michael of Tiff City, Mo., won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $212 with a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass he on a Carolina-rigged, green-pumpkin colored tub jig.
Wayne Diffee, 45, of Oakhurst, Okla., won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures in either division. He caught five bass weighing 14 pounds.
On June 3, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Mark Twain Lake for the fourth of five events in the Plains Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 9-10 on Lake Truman, 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.