LENOIR CITY, Tenn., (July 12,1999) Troy Redwine of Crosville, Tennessee, took first place, $2671, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Choo Choo Division qualifier held Sunday on Ft. Loudoun.
Redwine brought in a five bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces to top a field of 158 anglers competing for $9295.
Redwne fished the mid lake of Loudoun with a black jig and a white spinnerbait. He caught most of his fish around banks. Second place and $1335 went to Kevin Powers of Unicoi, Tennessee, for his five bass weighing 12 pounds, 4 ounces. He fished the Concord area using a white buzz bait and green tube lure in pockets.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Rufus Johnson, Strawberry Plains, TN, four bass, 11-13, $784; (4)Tim Martin, Jr., Greenback, TN, five bass, 11-12, $502; (5) Jimmy Flanagan, Kingston, TN, three bass, 11-1, $476.
Dwayne Hagler of Spring City, TN, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 6 ounce bass. Tim Martin, Jr., of Greenback, TN, is leading the Choo Choo Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 3 pounds, 3 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.