Americana Outdoors E-Magazine - July 2024

Lake Fork and 13th place finish at Richland Chambers, to give the team a solid lead but not unsurmountable lead going into the 2024 TXTT Championship on Toledo Bend, and this is where fate decided to test the duo. Day 1 of the championship event saw them bring a five-bass limit worth 20-07 to the scales in their Rapala ‘Crush City’ bags. That limit had them sitting in 11th place overall but they had lost ground in the standings as the team at the start of the day Reynolds and Howell weighed in over 22 pounds and we’re sitting in 8th place setting up a shootout on Day-2 knowing that if Reynolds and Howell beat them again on day two they likely would win the Texas Team Trail team of the year title. “I don’t even know how to explain what happened the final morning of the championship,” explained Schott. “We were hooked up with a cameraman, were able to launch out to our spot, and thought this was the day where we didn’t have to think about much but ensuring we had a limit of fish to weigh-in again. But what happened next was a test…..” At around 9:45am the final day morning, tournament director Mike Hastings got a call from the team that during a fish landing, they had lost their boat keys to the lake. “It wasn’t that big of a fish, but a solid keeper we knew we needed. I swung the fish in and when it flopped in the bottom of the boat it knocked the keys directly into the lake,” said Schott. “ It was at that very moment I thought the world was going to see a grown man cry on camera.” “It was the opposite of lucky,” joked the Louisiana team angler Jim Smith. “I’ve never seen anything like it, I’ve never heard of anything like that happening, but it would happen to us, and on the final day- the most important day of our whole year.”

The team was able to locate a boat from a fellow angler and finish out their day after a restart by tournament officials. With only a few hours to finish out a limit the duo went fishing and when all the drama finished, and all the dust settled, the team brought in a limit worth 20-02, which gave them a total of 40-09 and put them in 11th place at the championship. That final day rally was enough to seal the deal and the team finished the season with a total of 1069 points. This helped them edge out a charging second place team of Mercury anglers Shane Howell & Jeff Reynolds who finished with 1052 points who fell in the standings on day two after only weighing in a limit of slightly more than 17 pounds. For the team of the year title, they took home a 2024 Ranger Z-518 boat. In addition, they will receive brand new Bass Pro Shops GuideWear suits, free entry fees into the 2025 Texas Team Trail, and free 2025 TXTT memberships. Just winning the 2024 Progressive Team of the Year title gave the team a payout of over $54,000 in cash and prizes! “The TXTT is probably the best team trail in Texas,” said the team. “We fish here because not only is there a boat for winning the Team of the Year, but also a boat given away at each event. No other trail does that for the entry fees.” 2nd place team of Shane Howell & Jeff Reynolds also received 2025 TXTT entry fees, 2025 TXTT memberships, Bass Pro Shops GuideWear, and $2,000 cash. Stay tuned for more information on the 2025 Texas Team Trail payout and other contingency programs to be announced soon for anglers fishing the TXTT. Full results can be found through the link here . Review of the Umarex Komplete Air Rifle