Sam Rayburn Reservoir to host Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail event
Second stop of season runs March 11-12
JASPER, Texas – The $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia will make its second regular-season stop March 11-12 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, Texas. The tournament will feature as many as 400 of Texas’ finest pros and co-anglers casting for their share of as much as $220,500 in cash and prizes based on full fields.
If a recent Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event, held on Sam Rayburn the first weekend in March, is any indication, anglers should expect a good tournament. The winner of that BFL event, Phil Hennigan of Center, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 15 ounces. One of his bass pushed the 9-pound mark and earned him the big-bass award in the Boater Division. Hennigan got his bites throwing a ReAction Lures U-99 jerkbait.
Anglers take off at 6:30 a.m. each morning from Umphrey Family Pavilion in Jasper. 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 800 W. Gibson in Jasper beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
The winning pro can earn as much as $70,000, which includes a Ranger 519 VX powered by a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. If the winning angler meets the Ranger contingency guidelines then he or she will win an additional $20,000 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. All told, the winning pro could earn as much as $77,500 if all contingency guidelines are met.
The TTT’s next stop will be April 1-2 on Cedar Creek Reservoir near Gun Barrel City, Texas, followed by an event May 6-7 on Lake Texoma near Denison, Texas. The top 50 pros and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the $210,000 Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship Nov. 11-12 on Lake Stillhouse near Killeen, Texas. The winning pro at the championship can earn as much as $75,000 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 nine other national tournament circuits offering a combined $36.9 million in awards through 241 events in 2006. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com 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.