SHELBYVILLE, Ill. – Joe Verbeck, 63, of O’Fallon, Ill., out-fished 105 competitors Saturday to earn $3,885 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Illini Division event on Lake Shelbyville.
Verbeck caught five largemouth bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces during the one-day event to top Larry Bailey of Beecher, Ill., who finished with a five-bass catch of 13-9 worth $1,943. Verbeck caught his limit using black and blue jigs around bushes.
Don Dust of Assumption, Ill., took third place and collected $971 with five bass weighing 11-1. Mark Jordan of Kevil, Ky., and Curt Erpenbach of Metropolis, Ill., tied for fourth place, earning $809 each with four bass weighing 10-8, while Brent Sporleder of Fisher, Ill., placed sixth and earned $647 with four bass weighing 10-3.
Jordan, a 41-year-old fireman, 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 Wright, 48, of Aviston, Ill., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $525 with a 5-pound, 14-ounce largemouth that he caught on a 1/2-ounce jig while fishing points and ledges near Eagle Creek.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,906 went to Rusty Reinoehl, a 19-year-old college student from Robinson, Ill., who topped 103 competitors with three largemouth bass weighing 8-12. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $953 went to Bryan Thrasher of Monticello, Ill., with two bass weighing 6-5, while Dennis Burk of Washington, Ill., took third place and $476 with one bass weighing 5-12. Burk also won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $257.
On Aug. 12, the Red Man Tournament Trail will visit the Illinois River for the fourth of five events in the Illini Division. The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 23-24 on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, 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. Wal-Mart recently announced that it has assumed title sponsorship of the tournament series for 2001 and will rename it the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League.