BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – Ishama Monroe, 26, of Brentwood, Calif., endured windy conditions on Lake Mohave this weekend to top 55 competitors and win an Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX boat in the sixth and final 2000 Red Man Tournament Trail Regional Championship.
Monroe caught three bass weighing 9 pounds 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, Monroe caught five bass weighing 10-5, and on day two, he caught 3 pounds, 15 ounces of bass to qualify for the final round. Monroe caught the majority of his bass near Cottonwood while cranking a fat free shad and pitching a Big Polly jig. On one cast, he simultaneously caught two bass.
David Gliebe, 58, of Stockton, Calif., took second place and collected $3,500 with a final-round catch of three bass weighing 8-4. Tim Klinger, 27, of Boulder City, Nev., took third place and $2,000 with two bass weighing 3-13. Craig McCoy, 36, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., placed fourth and earned $1,500 with one bass weighing 2-1.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and a new Evinrude-powered Ranger R81 boat went to Billy Dehart, 28, of Bay Point, Calif, who topped 55 competitors with a final-round catch of one bass weighing 1 pound. Dehart caught 6 pounds, 10 ounces of bass during the first two days of competition using jigs near Cottonwood.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,750 went to Kirk Beardsley, 42, of Orange, Calif. Beardsley, like the remainder of the co-angler field, failed to catch a bass during the final round. He finished second, however, based on his two-day, opening-round catch weighing 8-14. Robert Maddox, 39, of Henderson, Nev., took third place and $1,000 with a two-day total catch weighing 7-9. Gary Wilson, 43, of Tracy, Calif., placed fourth and earned $750 with a two-day total catch weighing 7-7.
The top 30 boaters and top 30 co-anglers from the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Colorado River and Western divisions competed in the Lake Mohave Regional.
Five regional championships each advanced eight boaters and co-anglers to the All-American. The top four boaters and co-anglers advanced to the All-American from the Lake Mohave Regional, and the top three boaters and co-anglers in two Chevy Wild Card events qualified for the All-American. Fifty boaters and 50 co-anglers comprise the All-American field. 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.