Ranger Boats Millennium Owners 2001 Tournament Information

Ranger Boats

2001 Ranger Boats Millennium Owners Tournament

Win A Million In The 3.6 Million Dollar

Mobile, Ala. (March 2, 2002)

Castrol’s Dudley Wins $700,000 in World’s Most Lucrative Bass Tournament
Ranger M1 offers record $3.64 million purse

Mobile, Ala. (March 2, 2002) — Team Castrol pro David Dudley, 26, from Manteo, N.C., earned a permanent spot in the record books Saturday with a historic $700,000 win in the Ranger M1 bass tournament on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. His five-bass catch weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces gave him the title by nearly 2 pounds over Team Fujifilm’s Randy Blaukat from Lamar, Mo.

Dudley won the world’s most lucrative freshwater fishing tournament by gambling on a new fishing spot that he had never fished prior to Saturday’s final round. The “promise land,” as Dudley referred to his winning hotspot following the weigh-in, was an isolated oxbow about 85 miles north of the launch site in Chocolotta Bay. He used a black, blue and purple jig with a Zoom blue sapphire chunk trailer to land his historic catch. In the qualifying rounds, Dudley fished an area about 70 miles north of the takeoff, but by the end of day three, he’d lost confidence in the location.

R20;I felt my water was fished out,” Dudley said. “I just didn’t have any more confidence in the area, so I took a gamble and it paid off. The moon really affected the tide Friday night. When I saw the water as high as it was at takeoff, I was bubbling with joy. I knew then that I could get into the oxbow.”

Dudley, who plans to use his winnings to build a church in Lynchburg, Va., survived Thursday’s cut from 150 to 20 pros in second place with a two-day, opening-round total of seven bass weighing 21 pounds, 9 ounces. He then advanced to Saturday’s final round in second place with a four-bass, 9-pound, 11-ounce catch Friday. Dudley’s final-round catch weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces was the heaviest five-bass limit of the tournament.

DudleyR17;s biggest tournament payday prior to the Ranger M1 was a second place showing at the 2001 Forrest Wood Open on Lake St. Clair worth $100,000. With is win Saturday, his career earnings now top the $1 million mark.

Rounding out the top-five pros are Blaukat (five bass, 14 pounds, $110,000); local favorite Jason Kilpatrick, Satsuma, Ala. (four bass, 8 pounds, 10 ounces, $62,000); Mark Rose, Marion, Ark. (two bass, 2 pounds, 5 ounces, $33,000); and Team Yamaha pro Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas (one bass, 1 pound, 12 ounces, $32,000).

Co-angler Tim Hurst, Oxford, Ala., won his division Friday and pocketed $170,000 with four bass weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces. The win didn’t come easily for Hurst, however, as runner-up David Millsaps, Woodstock, Ga., came within an ounce of the winning weight with a single bass. Millsaps’ huge 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth drew gasps from the crowd and other competitors as he placed it on the scale. That one bass earned him $62,000.

Hurst, a regular competitor in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, advanced to the final day of co-angler competition in fourth place with a two-day, opening-round total of five bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces. His biggest win prior to Friday was in 1996 when he won $2,871 in a BFL tournament on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake.

SaturdayR17;s final weigh-in was broadcast live to more than 84 million households as part of “FLW Outdoors” on the PAX TV network. Each week “FLW Outdoors” delivers the latest tournament news and live tournament coverage to the nation’s outdoor enthusiasts.

Anglers competing in the Ranger M1 represent the United States, Canada and Japan. Tournament sponsors include Wal-Mart, Ranger Boats, Chevy Trucks, Citgo, Conseco, EverStart Batteries, Faded Glory, Garmin Electronics, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Snickers, Yamaha Outboards and Plano.

2001 Ranger Boats Millennium Owners Tournament Qualifications: Bass World Sports Tournament Association will qualify 2 anglers and 2 co-anglers spots in the 2001 Ranger Boats Millennium Owners Tournament. Bass World Sports Ranger Cup Program will qualify 2 angler and 2 co-angler, by order of finish in BWSTA Ranger Cup Program provided all Ranger Millennium qualifications are met. Additional available entry spots will progress in order of finish for BWSTA Ranger Cup Program or call BWSTA for more information!

Ranger Boats' M1 Tournament
February 27 - March 2, 2002. Mobile, Alabama

On February 27 though March 2, 2002, the legacy continues… Ranger Boats will feature four days of competition with 200 Pro-Anglers and 200 Co-Anglers in the Ranger Boats M1 tournament in Mobile, Alabama. This tournament, reserved exclusively for Ranger boat owners, features the world's largest potential first place prize of $1 million cash and an incredible total payout up to $3.6 million!

The field for the M1 tournament will total 400 Ranger owners/anglers from across America. To earn the opportunity, Ranger owners will compete in a number of selected qualifying tournaments during 2001. A field of 200 anglers will qualify as Pro-Anglers and have the opportunity to compete for a guaranteed first place cash prize of $400,000 plus the lucrative prospect of collecting an additional $600,000 in sponsor cash bonuses. An equal number of finishers will qualify as Co-Anglers and compete for a guaranteed top prize of $150,000 cash and up to $100,000 in added first place bonuses winnings. In order to be eligible to compete in the Pro Division, an angler must be the original owner of a Ranger boat purchased from an authorized dealer. The Co-Angler Division will be open to any Ranger owner.

The Ranger M1 tournament will feature four days of competition with 200 Pro-Anglers and 200 Co-Anglers competing in three elimination rounds. The full field will compete for two days. On day three, the field will be cut to the top 20 Pro-Anglers and top 20 Co-Anglers who will start over at zero. Co-Angler competition will conclude at the end of day three and the top 10 Pro-Anglers will advance to the final round. The slates will once again be wiped clean as the top 10 finalists compete for fishing fame and fortune in the final round of competition. Entry fees for this lucrative tournament are $5,000 for the Pro-Angler and $2,500 for the C-Angler. All competitors have an opportunity to win a minimum total payback up to their entry fee, provided the sponsors' cash bonus prize qualifications have been met.

Ranger boat owners have traditionally enjoyed special status while consistently dominating America's toughest tournament trails. Now, thousands of Ranger owners will compete throughout the year, for an opportunity to reel in the largest first place catch on record…the $1 million Ranger Boat M1 Crown!

RANGER M1 SECTION
[ Registration Form ] - [ Qualifying Organizations ]

sponsor.jpg (7391 bytes)