Metcalf wins Wal-Mart TTT event on Toledo Bend

Pro Michael Metcalf of Center, Texas, caught five bass weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces to win the fourth and final regular-season Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail event, held June 7 on Toledo Bend. Metcalf finished first out of a field of 192 pros to claim his first TTT win. Angler: Michael Metcalf.

June 8, 2003 • MLF • Archives

MANY, La. – Pro Michael Metcalf of Center, Texas, caught five bass weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces to claim $10,000 plus a fully-rigged Ranger 519VS Comanche as the winner of the fourth and final regular-season Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail event, held Saturday on Toledo Bend. Metcalf finished first out of a field of 192 pros to claim his first TTT win.

Metcalf caught his tournament-winning bass using a Carolina rig with a Zoom Brush Hog and a crankbait. Metcalf has two prior tournament wins in the Cowboy Division of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League.

Rounding out the top five pros were Stan Burgay of Timpson, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, 13 ounces, $8,000 plus $6,000 bonus); Charles Reagan of Marquez, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, $6,000); Wayne Ebarb of Many (five bass, 18 pounds, 13 ounces, $4,300 plus $3,000 bonus); and Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas (five bass, 17 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,200 plus $2,000 Ranger bonus).

Bonuses are awarded to registered Ranger Boat owners who purchased their Ranger new from a Ranger dealer. Anglers must also fish out of a Ranger during the tournament to be eligible for the contingency.

Burgay earned a $5,000 bonus from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program. Guy Adams of Corpus Christi, Texas, earned a $500 gift certificate from Travis Boating Center for weighing in the heaviest bass of the tournament, a 9-pound, 13-ounce lunker. Travis Boating Center, one of the nation’s largest retailers of Ranger Boats, sponsors 2003 TTT big-bass awards.

Thomas Waggoner of Marshall, Texas, topped 190 co-anglers to score his first tournament victory and $4,000 cash. Waggoner caught four bass weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces using a Brush Hog.

Eddie Muniz of Pasadena, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 9 ounces, $3,000 plus $1,650 Ranger bonus); Toby Turner of Weatherford, Texas (five bass, 10 pounds, 7 ounces, $2,000 plus $1,200 Ranger bonus); John Jordan of Jasper, Texas (five bass, 9 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,000); and Mike Durham of Whitney, Texas (four bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces, $800) rounded out the top five co-anglers.

The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship Oct. 18-19 on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall, Texas. Keith Combs of Nolanville, Texas, ends the season ranked first in Pro Division points standings. He scored two top-10 finishes in 2002 and never finished lower than 27th. Billy Robbins Jr. of Navasota, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division in 2003 points standings thanks to four finishes inside the top 25, including a seventh-place effort on Sam Rayburn in April.