CEDAR BLUFF, Ala. – Tim Norris, 32, of Anniston, Ala., out-fished 101 competitors Saturday to earn $3,737 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Choo Choo Division event on Weiss Lake.
Norris caught five largemouth bass weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce during the one-day event to top Paul Redwine of Crab Orchard, Tenn., who finished with a five-bass catch of 14-4 worth $1,869. Norris caught his limit, including a 5 pound, 8 ounce largemouth that earned him $505 as the Abu Garcia Big Bass in the Boater Division, under clear skies by casting a jig to riprap in Spring and Cowen Creeks.
Don Privette of Stevenson, Ala., took third place and collected $934 with five bass weighing 13-14. Rufus Johnson of Strawberry Plains, Tenn., placed fourth and earned $810 with five bass weighing 13-6, while Roger Farmer of Dalton, Ga., placed fifth and earned $685 with five bass weighing 13-0.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,869 went to Mark Pirkle, 45, of Cleveland, Tenn., who topped 100 competitors with five largemouth bass weighing 13-9. He also won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $250 with a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught while flipping a homemade jig in the Coosa River.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $934 went to Alex Knox of Wise, Va., for five bass weighing 12-12, while Gerald Hall of Silver Creek, Ga., took third place and $467 with five bass weighing 12-1.
Michael Hearn of Paris, Ky., 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 three bass weighing 4-12.
On June 24, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Douglas Lake for the fourth of five events in the Choo Choo Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 16-17 on Guntersville 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.