CHATANOOGA, Tenn. – A B Battles of Southside, Alabama, took first place, $4391, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Bama Division qualifier held Sunday on Weiss Lake. Battles brought in a five bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 8 ounces to top a field of 316 anglers competing for $17,590.
Battles fished grass in the morning and deep ledges in 14 feet of water to catch his limit. He fished the Power House (lower lake) area with V&M lizards, Carolina-rigged. Second place and $2195 went to Matthew Herren of Trussville, Alabama, for four bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces. He fished the mid-lake area flipping a 3/8 ounce Rattleback jig in grass.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Dennis Barnes, Boaz, AL, five bass, 15-9, $1289; (4) Terry Tucker, Gadsden, AL, five bass, 14-10, $826; (5) Rick Duncan, Montgomery, AL, five bass, 14-3, $783. Larry Blount of Dothan, AL, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 5 pound, 13 ounce bass. Kim Carver of Milledgville, GA, is leading the Bama Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 6 pounds, 13 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.
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, US Bank-VISA, Powerbait, and Frenzy.