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The 2018 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be held on Lake Travis near Jonestown, Texas, May 17-20. Brandon Palaniuk, pictured above, won the first Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in May 2017. 

                                                                                                                                     Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The inaugural Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was held in May on one of the best-known and most popular tournament fisheries in the United States: Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Lufkin, Texas.

The 2018 edition of the $1 million Elite Series event will take place May 17-20 on a lake that B.A.S.S. has never visited before — Lake Travis near Jonestown, Texas — Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO, announced today.

“In its 50-year history, B.A.S.S. has held events on Sam Rayburn 31 times, but we’ve never had a professional-level bass tournament on Lake Travis,” Akin said. “It’s doubtful that many of our Elite Series anglers have ever fished the lake, and that’s bound to make for an exciting competition for the anglers and their fans.”

A picturesque, clear, highland reservoir on the Colorado River, Travis is popular among recreational boaters and watersport enthusiasts in the Austin area, and it also possesses a burgeoning bass fishery that anglers across the country are beginning to discover, according to Dave Terre, Texas’ chief of Inland Fisheries Management and Research.

“Lake Travis caught a bunch of new water in 2015 that inundated thousands of acres of brush habitat, resulting in a significant expansion of its bass population,” Terre explained. “TPWD responded by stocking over 750,000 Florida bass to enhance fishing quality. Lake Travis has since become a top destination for Texas bass anglers. We are excited to showcase this lake to a nationwide audience.”

“With 110 of the best bass anglers on the planet converging on Lake Travis, the millions of fishing fans who watch our live coverage of the event or read about it later will appreciate why this lake is considered the ‘crown jewel’ of the Colorado,” Akin added.

The event, which is covered in real time on Bassmaster LIVE programming on Bassmaster.com and WatchESPN and in a special episode of The Bassmasters television program to be aired later on ESPN2 and ESPN3, also will focus the national spotlight on the catch-weigh-release tournament format pioneered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) in the Toyota Texas Bass Classic.

Each Elite angler will be accompanied by a “judge” who will verify that the angler’s bass are weighed on a set of extremely accurate handheld scales. Weights of the five heaviest bass each day will go into each angler’s creel, and the heaviest four-day catch earns the $100,000 first-place award as well as a guaranteed invitation to the 2019 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Anglers also will be able to bring in their heaviest bass of the day, if it’s longer than a predetermined minimum, to show off to the weigh-in crowd. Fish weighed in at Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown, Texas, will be returned to the lake and released alive. The heaviest bass of the tournament is worth a new Toyota Tundra pick-up with an estimated value of $50,000. The lake record is a 14.2-pound largemouth caught in 1993, but Travis is known more for its quantity of good-size bass than for producing giants like that one.

“We’re excited to continue to showcase Texas’ Parks and Wildlife through one of the largest competitive fishing events in the country,” said Brent Hillyer, vice president marketing for Gulf States Toyota. “The Texas-built* Tundra’s power and capabilities for the outdoors makes it the ideal truck to be awarded to the winner of the heaviest catch in the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest.”

Terre pointed out that more than $2.75 million has been generated for fisheries projects through Texas Fest and its predecessor, Toyota Texas Bass Classic, since 2007. Proceeds benefit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s youth fishing and urban outreach programs, including the Neighborhood Fishin’ Program, which brings fishing to families at 18 community park lakes in 11 urban areas, and the Texas Division of the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, which seeks to interest youth in grades K-12 in fishing.

Texas Fest has already become known as a must-attend event for fishing families. On Friday and Saturday at the Jones Brothers Park expo site, a “Get Hooked on Fishing” interactive children’s program will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering casting lessons, a fishing pond and chances to mingle with their fishing heroes. Fan Appreciation Day is Saturday, May 19, and will feature Bassmaster University fishing seminars taught by Elite Series anglers, as well as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Adventures displays and activities.

“The City of Jonestown welcomes the Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament to Jones Brothers Park on the scenic North Shore of Lake Travis. We look forward to showcasing our spacious park with three boat ramps that is a popular site for anglers year-round,” said Ron Wilde, City Administrator. Wilde noted that the 32-acre park was built in 1985, has 2,100 feet of shoreline and connects to other city parks by a scenic walking trail.

Another highlight of the Lake Travis event will be the Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team tournament, which pairs the 12 top high school anglers in the country with Elite anglers for a one-day fun-fishing competition on a nearby lake.

Idaho angler Brandon Palaniuk won the 2017 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest on Sam Rayburn. It provided a springboard for a dream season that culminated in his winning the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.

(*Assembled in Texas with U.S. and globally sourced parts.)

(Note: For broadcast purposes, b-roll is available for use at vimeo.com/user8912815/review/240863990/2c435cef42 with the password TBTF18.)

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Series presented by Magellan Outdoors, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

Austraiian angler Dean Silvester made the trip over to fish the 2017 Bassmaster Nation Championship on Lake Hartwell. He made a definite impact finishing in 7th place with 29-08 lbs just over 3lbs shy of a Bassmaster Classic berth.Here is Dean’s recap of the event.

                                                                                                                                   Photo: Gettys Brannon

I was loaned a Skeeter/Yamaha boat from Palmetto Marine a day prior to the event, the boat was running Lowrance Gen 2 units and I was able to run the un-encrypted C-Map chart for the lake prior to the practice days.

From research on the web I had decided on some areas I would start in and then formulate a plan from there. I managed a few fish and slowly started to pattern these fish, not to say my pattern was the best but for me it was something that I could replicate across the lake. I had read that schooling fish and bait would be a big deal and as simple as it sounds if you didn’t have bait around you visually then you didn’t catch many fish. I used the map to find humps and long running points towards the backs of bays and creek entries, any that had bait or schooling fish around them would be easy enough to catch fish from.

In the practice we had cloudy weather and windy days, the bigger fish responded best to quickly retrieved jerkbaits and chrome topwaters. I was able to fill a small limit easily on several locations using drop shot however I knew I would only rely on these smaller fish if I was struggling for a limit.

First day of the tournament and the weather had changed completely and most of the fish from the area I had found them in practice had moved on, either ate all the bait or the bait had moved further up the creeks. So again I simply started with my C-Map chart and practically practiced in the first day of the tournament trying to relocate some fish, with the calm sunny days in the event the fish were much less active and would only respond to my chrome topwater first thing in the morning.

I noticed the bass chasing herring under the surface and all that could be seen was a small bow wave ripple on the surface. I modified a translucent topwater lure to weight it slightly below the surface, when walked slowly back it would create a similar ripple to the shad and would call up fish from the tops of trees and outside of humps and ridges that I was fishing. I managed 20-30 fish a day on this technique and lost a few that had swiped at the lure or not quite committed to it. If I saw some fish on the Lowrance unit and did not have a limit yet I would quickly fill my bag on drop shot knowing I will fish better with a full limit. I also noticed that catching the fish on drop shot would get the fish fired up and i could catch a few on topwater as well before they went back down.

Topwater

Rod: Quantum Tour PT 705C

Reel: Quantum Smoke HD

Line: Sunline 40lb braid

Leader: Sunline 20lb Monofilament

Lure: 100mm Chrome Sammy, 130mm Translucent stickbait

Drop Shot

Rod: Quantum SMS744XF

Reel: Quantum Smoke Speed freak 40

Line: Sunline FC Sniper 7LB

Lure: Roboworm drop shot

Dean’s Video Recap