The Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) is the fishing version of golf's Ryder Cup – only with a lot more captains.
The 160 professional anglers who'll fish in the inaugural TTBC this weekend at Texas' Lake Fork will be subject to competitive conditions that are much different than what they're accustomed to. They've been divided into 40 teams of four anglers each, and each individual will get only half the day to make their contributions to their squads' collective effort.
And half of them will have to do it from the back of the boat.
The tournament, which gets under way Friday, is the first-ever event sanctioned by re-formed Professional Anglers Association (PAA). The participants paid no entry fee, but will compete for a $1 million total purse – a quarter of which will go to the winning team.
Two members of each team will fish the morning session from the same boat, and the other two will fish the afternoon. Because of Fork's restrictive slot limit, an official judge will weigh each fish caught over 14 inches in the boat, then immediately return it to the water. An angler's best five fish will count toward the team's potential 20-fish daily total. Those five teams with the heaviest combined 2-day weight will advance to fish day 3.
An angler may keep one bass over 24 inches in the livewell, which will be weighed onstage. A new truck will be awarded to the angler who catches the biggest bass during the event. And if that bass breaks a state record, the angler will also receive $100,000 and a new boat.
While the individual big-bass award is something for anglers to consider, those in the field whom BassFan spoke with are clearly focused on team performance.
As an added complication, Fork isn't at its best. It snowed in East Texas as recently as last weekend, and the area has received considerable rainfall recently. That's resulted in water that's considerably darker than normal for mid-April.
The weather warmed up early this week, but another front that will bring thunderstorms and cause temperatures to drop back into winter-type numbers is expected to arrive as day 1 approaches.
And just like every spring, Fork has been worked over by recreational anglers seeking one or more of its trophies. Some who know the lake well suspect that the peak of the spawn has come and gone, and a lot of the big fish currently on the beds have been harassed to the point of lockjaw.
Fish that exceed the upper end of the trophy fishery's slot limit (24 inches) will be caught, but a bigger premium will be on having each team member catch a solid limit each day.
Before getting into more about the bite, here's some info about the lake itself.
BassFan Lake Profile
> Name: Lake Fork
> Type of Water: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment of the Sabine River
> Surface Acres: 27,690
> Primary structure/cover: Standing timber is abundant, but there's also some vegetation (hydrilla, milfoil, duckweed)
> Primary forage: Shad, crawfish
> Average depth: 25 feet
> Species: Largemouths
> Length limit: Slot – no fish between 16 and 24 inches may be kept
> Reputation: A widely famous trophy fishery that receives considerable pressure, especially during spring
> Weather: A mix of thunderstorms, clouds, wind and sun are forecast for the 3 tournament days, with high temperatures (60 to 74 degrees) on the chilly side for this time of year
> Water temperature: 60-65 degrees
> Water color/visibility: Heavily stained/1 to 2 1/2 feet
> Water level: About a foot below full pool
> Fish in: 0 to 20 feet
> Fish phase: Pre-spawn/spawn/post-spawn
> Primary patterns: Soft plastics (Senko-type baits in particular), sight-fishing, swimbaits, flipping, dropshots, Carolina rigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits
> Winning weight: 310 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 5 teams after 2 days): 150 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3 for Fork
> Biggest factor: Weather
> Biggest decisions: Whether to look for spawners or just go fishing
> Wildcard: Fish over the 24-inch slot
Volatile Conditions
Fork, which was impounded in 1980 and reached full pool 5 years later, kicks out the majority of the double-digit largemouths caught in Texas each year. But it's never hosted a major tournament due to its slot limit (fish measuring between 16 and 24 inches cannot be kept).
Terry Scroggins and his team have their eyes on a large school of offshore fish.
It's usually not much of a problem to catch fish in the slot at this time of year, but some anglers say the lake appears to be a little bit off kilter this spring – possibly because of the constantly changing weather.
"Usually you can take a stickbait or a soft jerkbait, and it's nothing to catch a dozen 3-pounders," said Bassmaster Elite Series rookie James Niggemeyer, a former Fork guide. "That's just not happening right now.
"Somebody'll get on the right deal, though, and just clean them up."
Sight-fishing will play a significant role, but just how substantial a part is hard to say at this point. It's a risky proposition because the split day makes time ultra-valuable, and too much of it spent looking or working on fish that may or may not bite could be costly.
"If you had the full day to fish, then sight-fishing would definitely be the way to go," said Terry Scroggins, captain of a team that includes Niggemeyer, Chris Daves and Frank Ippoliti. "But in a 4-hour deal where you have to catch 10, I don't know if you can do that.
"I've fished offshore a lot, and we've got one big school that's got at least enough fish to make the cut. If we can catch them, we'll do well. If not, then we'll probably struggle."
Limited Options
If this were a normal tournament, Larry Nixon knows exactly what he'd do each day. But since it's an irregular format and he'll be on the water only half the time, he'll be forced to do something else.
"What you have to do is come up with the pattern that'll catch the most fish during that particular 4-hour timeframe," he said. "What I'd like to do is take a big jig and just pound all that wood with it. I know I'd get some big bites doing that, but I doubt I'd get five in 4 hours."
He's the captain of a team that also includes Paul Elias, Randy Yarnall and Dalton Bobo. He wouldn't divulge the strategy they've devised thus far, but he was pretty well set on who would fish with whom.
"Randy's fishing a lot like I am (during practice), and Paul and Dalton are fishing a lot alike. We haven't had our final discussion yet, so I'm not 100% sure that's the way it's going to be. We'll have to have one more meeting."
Team-First Approach
Jay Yelas is enjoying his role as captain of a squad that features Randy Blaukat, Jimmy Mason and Shawn Hagler.
"I think it's a great format," he said. "It's something that's very challenging that we've never had before, and there's a lot of decision-making involved.
"As a captain, I'm kind of like a manager running a baseball game. I have to capitalize on what my guys do best. We need to find a way to catch 80 fish over a 3-day period to have a shot at winning."
He said his team might employ a variety of strategies.
"We have one pattern going in a little bit deeper water that seems to be producing numbers and some good fish too. Some of my teammates don't like sight-fishing, but I do like it, so we'll probably mix it up a little."
The shortened day will prevent Larry Nixon from fishing the way he'd like to.
Dean Rojas is another captain who's embraced the leadership position. His teammates are Yusuke Miyazaki, Elton Luce Jr. and Chuck Economou.
"You're responsible for three other guys, and on the whole that's exciting," he said. "We've all been working together and it's a real positive deal.
"There has to be some give and take from everybody, and there are going to be times when guys just have to swallow their pride."
Launch/Weigh-In Info
Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. (flight 1) and noon (flight 2) from the Sabine River Authority Headquarters (near the dam). Weigh-ins will take place at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the same location.
To see a daily schedule of events, click here.
Notable
> An official observer will be aboard each boat to weigh, measure and record each fish caught. The only fish brought to the weigh-ins will be those measuring 24 inches or more.
> The field will be cut to the top five teams for Sunday's final round. Those 20 anglers will all fish the entire day and can catch 10 fish (five in the morning and five in the afternoon) to count toward the team's total weight.
> Yelas said all of the sponsor-related stuff going on gives the tournament the feel of a PGA Tour event. "As far as onsite production, I've never seen anything like this. They've got skyboxes (for spectators) and all kinds of things. It's definitely something new for us."
> BassFan's list of who and what to watch for at this tournament will be published Friday morning.
Weather Forecast
Here's the Weather Channel's forecast for the tournament days. Note the predicted temperature drop for day 2.
> Fri, April 13 – Scattered T-Storms – 74°/48°
- Wind: From the SE at 16 mph
> Sat, April 14 – Partly Cloudy – 60°/41°
- Wind: From the W/NW at 14 mph
> Sun, April 15 – Sunny – 70°/46°
- Wind: From the S at 8 mph
