(Pickwick Lake November 12 & 13,1999)   Hossier, 
                             LBL, Plains, and Bulldog divisions of Red Man fished
                             Pickwick Lake in Alabama in order to qualify for the
                             All American. The lake is known for its giant
                             smallmouth, but due to low lake levels and no
                             current, the brownies did not bite very well. Which
                             worked out very well for me, I had made up my mind
                             to only go after shallow largemouth's. I knew I
                             couldn't compete with the big smallies, but I figured
                             they wouldn't bite, and I didn't want to count on
                             them. No one in the top 8 caught small mouths. The
                             weather was beautiful, and I spent both practice
                             days fishing shallow cuts and a long rip rap areas. I
                             really didn't catch very many keepers in practice and
                             no big fish, but I thought the rip rap had good potential.

                             It turns out that I was right about the rip rap, the first
                             day it was a little windy and I caught a limit that
                             weighed 10-8, that put me in second place, the leader
                             had 10-9. I was eagerly anticipating the second day,
                             I thought I could win it because I had located big fish
                             on a bend in the rip rap. I should have weighed in 15
                             pounds the first day, but I lost three big fish, two on
                             my crankbait and one on a tube.

                             The second day started with a 3-hour fog delay,
                             which was bad for me because I had all of my big
                             bites before 10:00 the first day. I finally got to my
                             spot  about 10:15 after a 60 mile boat ride.
                              I was crushed to find a boat on my spot, and
                             was devastated when I saw him net two nice
                             keepers. It was apparent that he was going to stay
                             there so I left and went to another spot, I just
                             covered a lot of water with my gray back D-Bait 
                             and ended up catching three that weighed 4-7. 

                             Wal-Mart was the site for the final nerve wracking
                             weigh-in. I kept dropping places until finally, I ended
                             up in 7th place and qualified for the All American.
                             Danny Johnston from Missouri won the new Chevy
                             truck and Ranger boat. He caught his fish across the
                             flat in the back of Bear creek on a crankbait. Jason
                             Roberts, from Indiana, came in second. He caught
                             his fish fishing boat docks with jigs. Brit Cone
                             from Benton Kentucky, finished 3rd, he caught
                             his fish fishing small cuts with mill foil, he used
                             mainly spinnerbaits. Ray Barga from Gilbertsville
                             Kentucky finished 4th. Ray caught all of his fish on
                             the D-Bait and I don't know where he fished. Kelly
                             Hook from New Albany Indiana, finished 5th and I
                             don't know how or where he caught his fish. Jerry
                             McClure from Covington Georgia, finished 6th, I
                             finished 7th, and Dennis Berhorst, from Missouri,
                             rounded out the top eight. 

                             Several local Ranger Anglers placed well in the
                             tournament. Mark Dove finished 14th, Chris Meyers
                             finished 17th, and Craig Mills finished 18th.

                             The All American is May the 8th in Hot Springs
                             Arkansas, and I am looking forward to bringing home
                             the gold for Dixie Marine.  Article by Gary Dees