KILLEEN, Texas – The top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail will descend upon Lake Belton near Killeen, Texas, Oct. 19-20 for its two-day, $195,000 championship presented by Pepsi and Frito-Lay.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed award of $50,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger 518 DVX bass boat powered by Yamaha or Evinrude, plus $20,000 cash if he is a qualified Ranger Boat owner. The top co-angler will collect $35,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger 195 bass boat powered by Yamaha or Evinrude, plus $5,000 cash if he is a qualified Ranger Boat owner.
Jerrel Pringle of Spring, Texas, leads all TTT pro anglers with 728 points earned in four regular-season tournaments. Pringle’s best finish in 2002 was a ninth-place effort on Lake Texoma near Pottsboro, Texas, in April. Robert Pirtle of Tyler, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division with 722 points. His best finish was a ninth-place showing at the season opener on Lake Amistad near Del Rio, Texas, in February. Every angler who receives weight credit in a qualifying tournament earns points.
Championship anglers will take off from Temple Lake Park in Belton, Texas, and will weigh in at approximately 3 p.m. each day at the Wal-Mart store located at 1400 Lowes Blvd. in Killeen. A full field of 50 pros and 50 co-anglers will compete both days with the combined weight determining the winner in each division.
Stan Burgay of Timpson, Texas, won $50,000 in cash and prizes at the 2001 Texas Tournament Trail Championship on Toledo Bend Reservoir near Hemphill, Texas. He will defend his title in 2002, entering the tournament as the No. 12 seed.
Directed by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, the Texas Tournament Trail’s format is designed to accommodate anglers of various skill levels. Pros supply boats and control boat movement while co-anglers fish from the back of the boats. Each person is fishing independently and competing against anglers in his own division.
Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament circuits include the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative bass-fishing series; the EverStart Series, known as the pathway to the FLW Tour; the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League designed for weekend anglers; and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit, the world’s most lucrative walleye-fishing series.
To view a complete list of TTT championship qualifiers, click on this link.