Due to its popularity and potential for high payouts, the Texas Team Trail is drawing anglers from surrounding states. The winning team made the long drive from Arizona to compete in the event. The anglers ran seven miles from the launch and fought high winds in a creek arm, flipping soft baits around brushy trees.
“We only had one fishing spot that we thought we could catch a few fish in,” said Lippincott. “So that one spot is where we spent our entire day.”
Despite only bringing four fish to the weigh-in, the 11.04 lunker bass landed by the anglers helped them top a field of nearly 200 teams and added an additional $985 for winning the Big Bass Award. Overall, the anglers took home over $33,000 for their efforts.
“We couldn’t believe that we had four fish for over 30 pounds,” said Lippincott. “The Texas Team Trail is a great circuit and well worth the time to drive all the way from Arizona. We can’t wait for the next event on Belton Lake.”
Tim Coyle, of Wichita, Kan., and Mark Ladd, of Greenwood, Ark., weighed a total of 26.33 pounds to take home the $4,925 second-place prize. The anglers added $1,287 in Angler’s Advantage cash.
Third-place finishers Jeremy Lambert and Keith Bryan, both of Decatur, Texas, fought through a dead battery to bring 26.03 pounds to the scales. The anglers fished jigs on the south end of the lake and reported losing a 10-pound fish. The team’s winnings totaled over $4,000.
The Lake Ray Roberts event was the second of four 2013 qualifying events that guarantee a fully-rigged, 18-foot tournament-equipped bass boat package as first place prize – in this case a Stratos 189VLO with an Evinrude 150 HO package, valued at $30,000.
The next stop for the Texas Team Trail is Belton Lake on May 4. Competitors who register for the Belton Lake event by midnight of Thursday, May 2, will be allowed to pre-fish on Friday, May 3, and entered into a drawing for a free Power Pole shallow water anchor system.