Jim Severson Wins Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tours Tournament of Champions at Cragun's

St. Paul, Minn., September 22, 2002 - Jim Severson of Hudson, Wisconsin finished two days of fishing on Gull Lake in Brainerd to take first place at the Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tours 2002 Tournament of Champions.

The top 82 anglers on the Tour, 41 professionals and 41 co-anglers competed in the two-day event, which paid out nearly $90,000 in cash and prizes. In the Tours unique format pro-anglers were paired with co-anglers as they fished for eight hours each day to bring in the eight largest bass to the weigh-in site at Craguns Resort and Conference Center.

During his two days on Gull Lake, Severson had a catch totaling 42.09 pounds and took home the grand prize of a 518VX Ranger Boat powered by a 200HP Yamaha motor. The top co-angler was Brent Seehusen who earned a 175VS Ranger Boat powered by a 115HP Yamaha. Taking second place at the Tournament of Champions was the Tours 2002 Angler of the Year, Brad Leifermann of Andover, Minn., with a total weight for the two days of 40.3 pounds. Michael Picha of New Prague, Minn., finished third with a weight of 38.54 pounds. Finishing second on the co-angler side of the event was Todd Bissett of St. Cloud, Minn. Jeff Zierman of Mayer, Minn., was the 3rd place co-angler at the Tournament of Champions.

This was the last stop on the Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour for 2002. Recapping the events of the year: At Red Wing on the Mississippi River the Pro/Am team of Earl C. Sharpe III and Brian Ager came out on top. At Grand Rapids Rick Jansen and Kevin Stephens earned top honors while fishing the waters of Pokegama Lake. July brought the Tour to the Alexandria chain of lakes where pro-angler Brain Blaeser and co-angler Rick Hill ended the day on top. Following the Alexandria stop Duane Anderson and John Kimmes won the Lake Vermilion leg of the series. The Tours last qualifying event of the year brought a full field of anglers to Winona where the team of Brian Brecka and Chuck Fields tamed the mighty Mississippi to bring in the days largest catch.

Multiple top 15 finishes helped Brad Leifermann of Andover, Minnesota land the distinction of Angler of the Year. Leifermann earned 448 of the possible 500 points to finish in the top spot. Seth Feider also used multiple top fifteen finishes to capture the top spot as the 2002 Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour Co-Angler of the Year.

The Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour incorporates an innovative live release system that assures the safety of every fish weighed. The bass brought to the weigh-in stage are kept in good health by spending very little time out of freshly circulated, oxygen rich, water. After being weighed the bass will be distributed back to multiple locations throughout the lake. This dispersion of fish helps provide future recreational anglers the thrill of catching them again and again. For more information contact the Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour at (651) 251-2264.