COLUMBUS, Miss. – Steve Hatch, a 44-year-old engineer from Long Beach, Miss., out-fished 100 competitors Saturday to earn $3,700 and 50 CITGO Challenge Points on the boater side of the Red Man Tournament Trail’s Mississippi Division event on the Columbus Pool.
Hatch caught five largemouth bass weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces during the one-day event to edge out Chuck Koski of Biloxi, Miss., who finished with a four-bass catch of 11-3 worth $1,850. Hatch fished a Brush Hog around logs and grass to catch his limit.
Gary Brown of Gautier, Miss., took third place and collected $925 with five bass weighing 9-11, and Bill Nance of Madison, Miss., placed fourth and earned $802 with five bass weighing 8-13.
Chris Stokes of Meridian, Miss., Tommy McKnight of Kosciusko, Miss., and Billy Doyle of Somerville, Tenn., finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with 8 pounds, 10 ounces of bass apiece. Stokes caught four bass while McKnight and Doyle caught five. Each man earned $637 for his catch.
Chris Glenn, 32, of Columbus, Miss., won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award in the Boater Division and collected $500 with a 5-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that he caught on a crankbait in the main river.
First place in the Co-Angler Division and $1,717 went to Austin Jones, 46, of St. Moorhead, Miss., who topped 90 competitors with five bass weighing 8-8. Second place in the Co-Angler Division and $858 went to Oliver Ellison II of Oakland, Tenn., with two bass weighing 6-10, while Michael Birr of Starkville, Miss., took third place and $429 with two bass weighing 6-0.
Birr, a 23-year-old fisheries biologist, also won the co-angler Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $225 with a 4-pound, 10-ounce largemouth that he caught while flipping a rattling tube jig in the river channel.
Ken O’Dell of Taylorsville, Miss., won the Berkley Power Bait award, a package of baits valued at $200, for the heaviest overall catch on Power Bait or Frenzy lures. He caught three bass weighing 4-9.
The boater with the most CITGO Challenge points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 30 – Oct. 1 on Lake Ferguson, 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.