SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Buster Lilly of Bluff City, Tenn., out-fished 74 competitors Saturday to earn $3,069 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Choo Choo Division event on Douglas Lake.
Lilly caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces during the one-day event to top Tim Smiley of White Pine, Tenn., who finished with a five-bass catch of 17-14 worth $1,535. Lilly fished mid-lake bluffs and brush with a spinnerbait and buzzbait.
Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., took third place and collected $767 with five bass weighing 14-13. Roger Farmer of Dalton, Ga., placed fourth and earned $665 with five bass weighing 14-2, while Chad Baker of Piney Flats, Tenn., placed fifth and earned $614 with five bass weighing 14-1.
Farmer won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $370 with a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass that he caught out of grass in the north end of the lake using a buzzbait.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,535 went to Scott Beck of Birmingham, Ala., who topped 74 competitors with five bass weighing 16-11. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $767 went to Tommy Lively of Andersonville, Tenn., with five bass weighing 13-13, while Jason Bridwell of Kingsport, Tenn., took third place and $384 with five bass weighing 11-11.
Lively and fourth place finisher, Keith Lunsford of Bristol, Tenn., tied for the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award. Each man caught a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass worth $92.
The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 16-17 on Guntersville Lake, will be declared the Divisional Points Champion and awarded $1,000. The co-angler amassing the most points by the end of the season will receive $500.