LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Jim Jard, 57, of Dolan Springs, Ariz., out-fished 52 competitors Saturday to earn $2,472 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Colorado River Division event on Lake Mead.
Jard caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces during the one-day event to top Craig McCoy of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., who finished with a five-bass catch of 12-8 worth $1,236. Jard caught his limit, including a 3-pound, 15-ounce bass that earned him $260 as the Abu Garcia big Bass in the Boater Division, fishing a jig around shallow bushes.
Taylor Hutchings of Phoenix took third place and collected $618 with five bass weighing 12-1. Cameron Karber of Phoenix placed fourth and earned $536 with five bass weighing 11-3, while Bobby Horn of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., placed fifth and earned $494 with five bass weighing 10-10.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,236 went to Robert Maddox, a 39-year-old private investigator from Henderson, Nev., who topped 52 competitors with five bass weighing 10-4. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $618 went to Karen Gibbs of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., with five bass weighing 10-1, while J.J. Gibbs of Lake Havasu City took third place and $309 with five bass weighing 9-2.
Red Man rookie Tyler Brinks, a 17-year-old student from Henderson, won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $130 with a 3-pound, 6-ounce bass that he caught out of the lower basin on a Texas-rigged worm.
Darius Arberry, 31, of Las Vegas, 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 9-13.
The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 23-24 on Lake Havasu, 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.