$1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail to begin season on Lake Amistad
DEL RIO, Texas – For the third straight year, the $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Lay’s will begin its season on Lake Amistad with a tournament presented by Yamaha. The event will take place Feb. 7-8, and its two-day format marks a change for 2004 from one-day regular-season tournaments to two-day events.
The tournament will feature as many as 200 pros and 200 co-anglers vying for their share of the $205,000 purse, based on full fields. The winning pro can earn as much as $10,000 cash plus a 519 VS Ranger boat valued at $35,000, 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.
Anglers will take off each morning at 7 from Lake Amistad Marina in Del Rio. Saturday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday’s weigh-in will take place at the Wal-Mart store located at 2410 Dodson St. in Del Rio beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend takeoffs and weigh-ins.
“The water is a lot higher,” said David Gregg, a TTT angler who has finished in the top 12 in each of the trail’s past two Amistad visits. “I don’t expect to see all of the grass we saw in previous years, but it may make fishing conditions even better. I wouldn’t be surprised if a 30-pound limit was caught.”
According to Gregg, anglers who use crankbaits to target prespawn females in isolated grass beds are likely to do well.
The TTT’s second stop will be March 6-7 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, followed by an event April 24-25 on Lake Texoma in Sherman. The 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.
For more information about the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse this Web site. 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.