RUSSELLVILLE, Ark., (Oct. 4, 1999) – Bill Yates of Ozark, Ark., took first place, $2,804 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Arkie Division qualifier held Sunday on Lake Dardanelle. Yates brought in five bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces to top a field of 170 anglers competing for $9,872.
Yates caught his limit fishing laydowns in muddy creeks with a white and chartreuse spinnerbait. He concentrated his efforts around Shoal Bay.
Second place and $1,402 went to Greg Hackney of Oak Ridge, La., for four bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Hackney caught his bass flippen wood along the middle of the lake.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Kelly Coble, Conway, Ark., five bass, 12-2, $823; (4) Wayne Crumpton, Royal, Ark., four bass, 11-3, $527; and (5) Keith Green, Arkadelphia, Ark., four bass, 10-13, $500. Coble also won the Berkley Powerbait award – a package of baits valued at $325 – for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures.
Edward Waits of Pine Bluff, Ark., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 6 pound, 10 ounce bass. Jimmy Mize of Ben Lomond, Ark., is leading the Arkie Division Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 6 pounds. 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.
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 fully-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, Ark., 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.