MANY, La. (June 9, 2003) - Pro Michael Metcalf of Center, Texas, caught five bass weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces to claim $10,000 plus a fully-rigged Ranger 519VS Comanche as the winner of the fourth and final regular-season Texas Tournament Trail bass fishing event on Toledo Bend. Metcalf finished first out of a field of 192 pros to claim his first TTT win.
Metcalf caught his tournament-winning bass using a Carolina rig with a Zoom Brush Hog and a crankbait. Metcalf has two prior tournament wins in the Cowboy Division of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League.
Rounding out the top five pros were Stan Burgay of Timpson, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, 13 ounces, $8,000 plus $6,000 bonus); Charles Reagan of Marquez, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, $6,000); Wayne Ebarb of Many (five bass, 18 pounds, 13 ounces, $4,300 plus $3,000 bonus); and Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas (five bass, 17 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,200 plus $2,000 Ranger bonus).
Bonuses are awarded to registered Ranger Boat owners who purchased their Ranger new from a Ranger dealer. Anglers must also fish out of a Ranger during the tournament to be eligible for the contingency.
Burgay earned a $5,000 bonus from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program. Guy Adams of Corpus Christi, Texas, earned a $500 gift certificate from Travis Boating Center for weighing in the heaviest bass of the tournament, a 9-pound, 13-ounce lunker. Travis Boating Center, one of the nation's largest retailers of Ranger Boats, sponsors 2003 TTT big-bass awards.
Thomas Waggoner of Marshall, Texas, topped 190 co-anglers to score his first tournament victory and $4,000 cash. Waggoner caught four bass weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces using a Brush Hog.
Eddie Muniz of Pasadena, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 9 ounces, $3,000 plus $1,650 Ranger bonus); Toby Turner of Weatherford, Texas (five bass, 10 pounds, 7 ounces, $2,000 plus $1,200 Ranger bonus); John Jordan of Jasper, Texas (five bass, 9 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,000); and Mike Durham of Whitney, Texas (four bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces, $800) rounded out the top five co-anglers.
The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship Oct. 18-19 on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall, Texas. Keith Combs of Nolanville, Texas, ends the season ranked first in Pro Division points standings. He scored two top-10 finishes in 2002 and never finished lower than 27th. Billy Robbins Jr. of Navasota, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division in 2003 points standings thanks to four finishes inside the top 25, including a seventh-place effort on Sam Rayburn in April.
The Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world's leading marketer of competitive fishing. FLW Outdoors also operates 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.
For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.
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.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.