Two ounces separate third, fourth and fifth
CANNELTON, Ind. – Loyd McEntire of Indianapolis earned $5,002 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points Saturday for winning the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Hoosier Division event on the Ohio River.
McEntire caught five largemouth bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces during the one-day event to edge out Bill Lowen of Addyston, Ohio, who finished with a five-bass catch of 10-15 worth $2,501. McEntire caught his limit on a plastic worm near Tanner’s Creek. Lowen, however, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award and $765 in the Boater Division with a 5-pound, 2-ounce smallmouth he caught on a green crankbait.
Ronnie Smith of Walton, Ky., took third place and collected $1,251 with five bass weighing 10-8. Terry Dillon of Plainfield, Ind., placed fourth and earned $1,084 with five bass weighing 10-7, while Frank McClain of Scottsburg, Ind., placed fifth and earned $1,001 with four bass weighing 10-6.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,455 went to Zeb Slayton of Fairborn, Ohio, with five largemouth bass weighing 11-0. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,228 went to Jeff Tennell of Franklin, Ind., for three bass weighing 8-4, while Rod Yoder of West LaFayette, Ind., took third place and $614 with four bass weighing 7-4.
Tennell won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $367 with a 5-pound, 3-ounce largemouth he caught off of a shallow stump on a Berkley Power worm.
Kelly Hook of New Albany, Ind., 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 9-12.
Overall, 455 bass weighing 719 pound were caught during the tournament, including 24 five-bass limits.
On June 24, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Tanner’s Creek on the Ohio River for the third of five events in the Hoosier Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 9-10 on out of Rocky Point Marina on the Ohio River, 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.