“We’ve grown considerably,” said tournament director Mike Hastings. “We consider 225 teams a full field for a tournament, so we are really excited. It’s great to see substantial growth like this.”

And, Hastings added, he expects another huge entry for the fourth and final qualifier Saturday on Lake Livingston.

The Texas Team Trail draws a big entry, in part because all the tournaments are nationally televised, with the programs also airing on a lot of local networks, so there is a tremendous amount of exposure.

“We guarantee a boat for first place in the qualifiers. That is a boat, motor, trailer and electronics, ready to fish. At the championship, two fully-rigged boats are guaranteed, one for first place and one for second place.”

The winning anglers at Lake Texoma will walk away with a brand-new Triton 18XS powered by an Evinrude 150 HO, valued at $27,500.There are also bonus awards for qualified owners from Ranger, Triton, Stratos and Evinrude,” he said.

“It’s all made possible by the sponsors and you can go to the website to see the complete list,” he said. “They are all important to us. Cabelas is our title sponsor and we also have tremendous support from Ranger, Triton and Stratos. Evinrude is also a major sponsor.”

Hastings said he expects there will be a lot of “shallow water junk fishing” in Saturday’s tournament because historically this time of year on Lake Livingston the fish are shallow and hit about anything.

“If there is something in the water flip a worm or a jig at it or drag a spinnerbait by it. It’s pretty straightforward shallow water fishing without exception this time of year.”

To fish the series each angler must pay a $30 membership fee, then each team pays a $250 entry fee to fish each tournament. The Texas Team Trail Anglers Advantage Program also allows each team, for an additional $100 entry, to compete in an additional payout bracket, with a $100 percent payback.

Anglers who pre-register online get an additional bonus – practice time. If they are registered online before midnight Thursday they are allowed to pre-fish on Friday. Anglers who register online or via phone prior to midnight Thursday will also be entered into a drawing for a Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor. In addition, anglers that opt to register online at www.texasteamtrail.com will be entered into a drawing for a Mustang Survival inflatable PFD.

Following the Lake Livingston the anglers will move on to the Championship June 7-8 on Toledo Bend Lake.

 

Texas Team Trail

Sat, May 3, 2014

Lake Livingston

Waterfront Lodge

www.texasteamtrail.com