SHERMAN, Texas – As many as 400 anglers are expected to descend upon Lake Texoma April 24-25 for the third of four regular-season events on the $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, which is presented by Lay’s. The tournament, which is hosted by the Sherman, Texas, Department of Tourism, will pay out as much as $205,500 in cash and prizes based on full fields.
EverStart Series pro Lendell Martin Jr. of Nacogdoches expects the Texoma event to be a pitching and flipping tournament. “There are other ways to catch fish, but flipping or pitching with a jig or tube is more than likely how it’s going to be won,” Martin said. “Lake Texoma is full of quality bass, and it has a tremendous amount of shoreline cover such as laydowns, willows and buck brush. If the lake is up like it usually is this time of year, that’s where the fish are going to be.”
Martin also expects several anglers to head south for the 3- to 5-pound largemouths that tend to lurk there, and he named Yamamoto grubs and tubes as well as the Suspending Series Rogue in a clown color pattern as the lures most likely to produce quality strikes.
Highport Marina, which is located at 120 Texoma Harbor Drive in Pottsboro, will host daily takeoffs at 6:30 a.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m., and Sunday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 E. Highway 82 in Sherman beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
As many as 200 Pro Division anglers will be looking to earn as much as $10,000 cash plus a 519 VS Ranger boat valued at $35,000 as the winner, and if he is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he is eligible to earn another $20,000 cash from Ranger for a total prize package worth $65,000. Ranger will also award $5,000 to the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if the winning pro uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit. As many as 200 co-anglers will also compete for a top co-angler award worth as much as $34,000 in cash and prizes, including a 195 Ranger if contingency guidelines are met.
The TTT’s regular season will come to a close May 22-23 with an event on Lake Travis near Jonestown. The top 50 pros and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the $195,000 Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship Oct. 16-17 on Lake O’ the Pines near Longview. The winning pro at the championship can earn as much as $70,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger boat.
In TTT competition, 200 points are awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 for third, and so on. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points. These points determine angler standings. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers comprise a full field.
For more information about the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors is the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors tournament trails include the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com’s sponsor page.