BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – Mike Gough, 54, of Gainesville, Fla., out-fished 115 competitors on Lake Seminole this weekend to win a new Chevy Silverado and an Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX boat in the fourth of six Red Man Tournament Trail Regional Championships.
Gough caught three bass weighing 10 pounds, 13 ounces on the final day of the three-day tournament to claim top honors and a spot in the 2001 All-American Championship, which will be contested in May on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark.
On opening day of the regional, Gough caught five bass weighing 14-13, and on day two he caught 10 pounds, 5 ounceS of bass to qualify for the final round. Gough caught the majority of his bass by flipping a green jig.
Gerry Williams of Winter Garden, Fla., took second place and collected $5,000 with a final-round catch of five bass weighing 9-5. Edward Gettys of Stevenson, Ala., took third place and $2,500 with five bass weighing 8-8. Allan Cagle of Winter Haven, Fla., placed fourth and earned $2,000 with two bass weighing 8-5, while Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala., placed fifth and earned $1,500 with three bass weighing 4-7.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and a new Evinrude-powered Ranger R81 boat went to Anthony Brown, 35, of Kittrell, N.C., who topped 116 competitors with a final-round catch of five bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces. Brown caught 16 pounds of bass during the first two days of competition using a gold shiner-colored lipless crankbait.
Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $2,500 went to Jerry Comperatore of Tarentum, Pa., with a final-round catch of one bass weighing 4-11, while Charlie Antetomaso of Merritt Island, Fla., took third place and $1,250 with two bass weighing 3-5. Kenneth Bucy of Murray, Ky., placed fourth and earned $1,000 with one bass weighing 2-10, and Gregory Selby of Hanover, Pa., placed fifth and collected $750 with one bass weighing 2-0.
The top 30 boaters and top 30 co-anglers from the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Bama, Gator, Piedmont and LBL divisions qualified to compete in the Lake Seminole Regional.
Five regional championships will each advance eight boaters and co-anglers to the All-American. Four boaters and co-anglers will advance from a sixth regional, and the top three boaters and co-anglers in two Chevy Wild Card events will qualify for the All-American, yielding a field of 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers. The winning boater at the All-American will receive $100,000, and the winning co-angler will collect $50,000. Overall, more than $5.7 million could be awarded across 22 divisions nationwide during the 2000 Red Man season.
Red Man became the trail’s title sponsor in 1983. Wal-Mart recently announced that it has assumed title sponsorship of the tournament series for 2001 and will rename it the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League.
Jack Wingates Lunker Lodge was the local host for the Lake Seminole Regional.