EUFAULA, Okla., (July 19,1999) Mike Shadowens of Kiefer, Oklahoma, took first place, $3994, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Okie Division qualifier held Sunday on Lake Eufaula. Shadowens brought in a five bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces to top a field of 280 anglers competing for $15,700.
Shadowens fished the Deep Fork Arm, flipping a black and chartreuse Strike King Gitzit to land his winning limit. Second place and $1992 went to Trent Tolbert of Muskogee, Oklahoma, for his five bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces. He fished a black buzz bait and a white Strike King tube lure in Eufaula Cove.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Russ Gregory, Oklahoma City, OK, five bass, 13-1, $1172; (4) Larry Owens, McAlester, OK, five bass, 12-6, $751; (5) Bill Stewart, Moore, OK, five bass, 12-4, $712.
Tim Barlow of Broken arrow, OK, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 5 pound, 5 ounce bass. Ken Keirsey of Owasso, OK, is leading the Okie Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 11 pounds, 11 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 Millennium tournament.
Billy Rawson of Pevely, MO, won the berkley Powerbait award a package of baits valued at $325 for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 10 pounds, 9 ounces.
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.