GROVE, Okla, (May 17,1999) – Terry Eskew of Grove, Oklahoma, took first place, $2569, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Ozark Division qualifier held Sunday on Grand Lake. Eskew brought in a five bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 2 ounces to top a field of 152 anglers competing for $8980.
Eskew fished the mid-lake area of Grand using a 10 inch Berkley Powerbait worm in motor oil color to catch his fish. He was flipping bushes. Eskew was the Berkley Powerbait award winner for catching the heaviest weight of the tournament using a powerbait or Frenzy worm. He received a prize package of baits valued at $325.
Second place and $1285 went to Joel Baker of Talala, Oklahoma, for his five bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces. Baker caught his fish in 6 feet of water using a Norman crankbait and a Storm Wiggle Wart.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Steve Dowty, Caremore, OK, five bass, 17-0, $754; (4) Dan Lovins, St. Charles, MO, five bass, 15-6, $483; (5) John Diffee, Owasso, Ok, five bass, 13-14, $458 David Barnett of Ava, MO, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 14 ounce bass. Donnie Cox of Battlefield, MI, is leading the Ozark Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces. The Ranger boat owner who catches the largest bass in each Red Man division over the course of the season, will qualify to enter the Ranger M1 Millenium tournament.
Red Man Ozark Division
At the completion of the six Red Man qualifying events, the top 30 anglers, determined on a basis of pounds and points, will move onto Regional Championship competition. There they will compete against the top 30 fishermen from three other divisions for a Dream Rig consisting of a Chevy truck and a full-rigged Ranger bass boat powered by an Evinrude or Johnson outboard (only two divisions compete in the Western Regional for a
fully-rigged Ranger bass boat) and a spot in the Red Man All-American in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 8-13, 2000, where the winner will receive $100,000.
The rookie advancing farthest along the Red Man Trail will win the Old Milwaukee NA Rookie-of-the-Year Award. All Red Man tournaments are catch and release events. Operation Bass historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate throughout the
tournament season.
Sponsors of the 1999 Red Man Tournament Trail include: Evinrude Outboards, Evinrude Electrics, CITGO Petroleum, Ranger Boats, Humminbird Fishfinders, Stren Fishing Lines, Abu Garcia Rods and Reels, Chevy Trucks, ENERGIZER Marine Batteries, Old Milwaukee NA, Black & Decker, David Seeds, Coleman Products, Land O’Lakes, BC Powder, Eveready, Wheaties, Chex Mix, Hamburger Helper, Wrangler, Powerbait, and Frenzy.