BAY CITY, Mich., – Neil Vanbiezen, a 27-year-old welder from Portage, Mich., out-fished 68 competitors Saturday to earn $3,002 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Michigan Division event on Saginaw Bay.
Vanbiezen caught five smallmouth bass weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces on a green pumpkin tube jig while fishing rocks and weeds. His catch edged out Jason Graham, 28, of Coleman, Mich., who caught five largemouth bass weighing 15-8 worth $1,501. Graham also won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures.
John Sparkman of Taylor, Mich., took third place and collected $750 with five bass weighing 14-1. Alexander Nowyorkas Jr. of Burton, Mich., placed fourth and earned $651 with five bass weighing 13-15, while Ken Jones of Shelby, Ohio, placed fifth and earned $600 with five bass weighing 13-1.
Dennis Jones, 57, of Hebron, Mich., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $340 with a 4-pound, 6-ounce smallmouth that he caught on a jerkbait while fishing a weed bed in 4 feet of water.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,501 went to Phillip Conley, a 50-year-old electrician from Westland, Mich., who topped 68 competitors with five smallmouth bass weighing 17-1. Conley also won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $170 with a 4-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth that he caught on a black tube bait while fishing rock humps near Charity Island.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $750 went to Bill Dodge of Laingsburg, Mich., with five bass weighing 14-8, while Peter Merckx of Westland, Mich., took third place and $375 with four bass weighing 10-4.
On July 29, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit the Detroit River for the third of five events in the Michigan Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 16-17 on the Detroit 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.