Lake Texoma to host Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail event

Third event of TTT season to begin April 30

DENISON, Texas – The $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Lay’s will make its third regular-season stop April 30-May 1 on Lake Texoma near Denison. Hosted by the Denison Area Chamber of Commerce, the tournament will feature as many as 400 of Texas’ finest pros and co-anglers casting for their share of as much as $205,500 in cash and prizes.

“Lake Texoma is an odd fishery because it offers such variety for anglers with different styles of fishing,” said Dean Gilbert, Jr. of Sherman. “On the lower end near the dam, you have real clear water with bluffs and rocky banks, but on the other end of the lake near the Wichita River, you have more stained water and shallow brush suited to spinnerbait anglers.” While some anglers will target largemouths, an angler who finds a good population of smallmouths might catch the bigger limits.

“There are some hefty smallmouths in here, and while 12- to 13-pound limits of largemouths will usually win money in tournaments, guys will occasionally surprise you with 16- to 18-pound limits of big smallies,” he said. Gilbert expects about 28-30 pounds to win the tournament.

The bass will be finishing up the spawn and moving to postspawn areas at tournament time. Anglers will snare bass on a variety of different techniques and lures. The lake is about three feet low, but it is fishing really well according to Gilbert.

Anglers take off at 6:30 each morning from Highport Marina in Pottsboro. Saturday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m., and Sunday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 Hwy 75 North in Denison beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.

The winning pro can earn as much as $65,000, which includes a Ranger 519 VX powered by a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Garmin electronics and EverStart batteries plus $30,000 cash. Ranger will also award $5,000 to the highest-finishing pro in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and Yamaha will kick in an additional $2,500 if the Ranger Cup winner’s boat is powered by a Yamaha Outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro an additional $1,000 if the winner uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit. All told, the winning pro could earn as much as $73,500 if all contingency guidelines are met.

The TTT’s final regular-season stop will be May 21-22 on Toledo Bend Reservoir near Many, La. 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. 15-16 on Lake Conroe near Conroe. The winning pro at the championship can earn as much as $71,000 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.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.

For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse this Web site or call (270) 252-1000.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.