Florida's Lake Toho will host the inaugural PAA Tour Team Challenge in January to begin the 2012 PAA Tournament Series season.
The Tour Team Challenge will take place Jan. 26-28 at Lakefront Park in Kissimmee. Teams must include one PAA Tour member, with the second team member being either an Advantage or Tour member.
The 2012 schedule is in the final stages of completion, with one site still to be finalized. Here's a look at the slate:
> Jan. 23-28 -- Lake Toho -- Kissimmee, Fla.
> May 7-12 -- Old Hickory Lake -- Gallatin, Tenn.
> July 23-28 -- Site TBA
> Sept. 10-15 -- Arkansas River -- Muskogee, Okla.
Each Tour-level member who participates in the Tour Team Challenge will receive points, based upon their order of finish, toward the PAA Angler of the Year (AOY) race. The AOY will be determined by the top three points finishes of the season’s four events.
"The board of directors recognizes we are all affected by the economic situation that confronts our country today,” PAA president Dave Mansue said. “In response to financial constraints for many of our anglers, the board decided to allow an angler to apply his best three of four event finishes toward the AOY standings.
"This will provide more opportunities for Angler of the Year and give anglers the ability make good, personal financial decisions on which tournaments to fish without affecting the AOY standings, which mean so much to our Tour-level members. We hope everyone will see that although the Tour Team Challenge will be fun and relaxed, there are some very good reasons why every Tour-level member should fish the event."
Entry fees for the Tour Team Challenge are $5,000 per team. Payouts will be announced soon.
