FORT MADISON, Iowa – Rick Miller, 44, of Blue Grass, Iowa, out-fished 120 competitors on Lake Cooper this weekend to win a new Chevy Silverado and an Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX boat in the first of six Red Man Tournament Trail Regional Championships.
Miller caught five largemouth bass weighing 11 pounds, 4 ounces on the final day of the three-day tournament to claim top honors and a spot in the 2001 All-American Championship, which will be contested in May on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark.
On opening day of the regional, Miller caught five bass weighing 10-8, and on day two, he caught 12 pounds, 1 ounce of bass to qualify for the final round. Miller, a tool-and-dye maker by trade, caught the majority of his bass out of the current on Pool No. 18 using a pumpkinseed-colored tubebait.
Roger Fitzpatrick of Eldon, Mo., took second place and collected $5,000 with a final-round catch weighing 9-13. Terry Dillon of Plainfield, Ind., took third place and $2,500 with bass weighing 9-12. Ken Jones of Shelby, Ohio, placed fourth and earned $2,000 with bass weighing 9-3, while Dan Ferguson of Elwood, Neb., placed fifth and earned $1,500 with bass weighing 6-4.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and a new Evinrude-powered Ranger R81 boat went to Ron Haseker Jr., 31, of Louisville, Ky., who topped 120 competitors with a final-round catch of three largemouth bass weighing 7 pounds. Haseker caught 13 pounds, 7 ounces of bass during the first two days of competition using jigs, spinnerbaits and a homemade crankbait.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,500 went to Benjamin Passa of Holman, Wis., with a final-round catch weighing 6-14, while August Pflum of Fond du Lac, Wis., took third place and $1,250 with bass weighing 5-3. Dave Durbala of Fort Madison, Iowa, placed fourth and earned $1,000 with bass weighing 3-3, and Terry Hussey of Nickerson, Neb., placed fifth and collected $750 with bass weighing 2-3.
The top 30 boaters and top 30 co-anglers from the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Great Lakes, Hoosier, Michigan and Plains divisions competed in the Lake Cooper Regional.
Five regional championships will each advance eight boaters and co-anglers to the All-American. Four boaters and co-anglers will advance from a sixth regional, and the top three boaters and co-anglers in two Chevy Wild Card events will qualify for the All-American, yielding a field of 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers. The winning boater at the All-American will receive $100,000, and the winning co-angler will collect $50,000. Overall, more than $5.7 million could be awarded across 22 divisions nationwide during the 2000 Red Man season.
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.