LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Luke Foli, 24, of Granger, Ind. out-fished 118 competitors Saturday to earn $4,244 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Hoosier Division event on the Ohio River.
Foli caught five bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces during the one-day event to top Larry Sisk of Evansville, Ind., who finished with a five-bass catch of 10-2 worth $2,122. Foli caught his limit, including a 4-pound, 14-ounce largemouth that earned him $590 as the Abu Garcia Big Bass in the Boater Division, by casting a Guido Bug and spinnerbait in Little Shoot Creek.
Sisk won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures.
Bill Lowen of Addyston, Ohio, took third place and collected $1,061 with five bass weighing 8-12. Mark Dove of North Vernon, Ind., placed fourth and earned $920 with four bass weighing 8-0, while Dewey Allen of Connersville, Ind., placed fifth and earned $849 with three bass weighing 7-10.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,122 went to Leonard Smith, 62, of Pershing, Ind., who topped 118 competitors with five bass weighing 7-0. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,061 went to Chris Wilkinson of Terre Haute, Ind., with three bass weighing 5-8, while Mike Fanthorp of Union, Ky., took third place and $531 with five bass weighing 5-4.
Jeff Tennell, 25, of Franklin, Ind., won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $295 with a 3-pound, 4-ounce bass that he caught off of a shallow-water stump on a black and blue jig with a black pork trailer.
On July 15, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit Monroe Lake for the fourth 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 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.