This article is sponsored by AFTCO
Springfield, Mo (March 31st, 2025) – The third stop of the 2025 Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Texas Team Trail presented by Progressive was dominated by anglers fishing shallow and targeting fish still holding to a late pre-spawn to spawn pattern. Many of the 314 anglers that competed in Saturday’s tournament said they saw a lot of fish relating to beds before the official off-limits period, and during the official practice on Friday. However, crazy weather and lots of rain on Friday changed a lot of conditions for the anglers on Saturday.
1st Place: Tom Redington & Chad McClendon – 27-10
Tom Redington, a former FLW Tour angler, was stepping in for his brother Dave who was attending a wedding on Saturday. Fishing with Chad McClendon, the Texas duo related to shallow water areas on Toledo Bend Reservoir deploying a swim jig and a glidebait to catch their fish. The anglers commented, “….normally we are doing what most other anglers are doing- relying heavily on Garmin electronics to catch fish. But uniquely enough this time of year, you can easily get away with just fishing shallow and staying true to your strengths and catching a lot of fish”.
Tom, who is a member of the Garmin prostaff team, did note that the Garmin Quickdraw mapping function did come in handy throughout their tournament once they figured out in practice the precise depth ranges the fish were relating to. “With the help of that mapping system, it really helped us stay in the range we needed to focus on. But one thing we did notice today, after the storms the fish did move up with the rising water in our area.”
A Berkley F19 Swim Jig tipped with a 4’ Berkley Powerbait Drip Minnow was the primary weapon that helped Tom and Chad catch between 15-20 keepers during their tournament day. “Once we did get our limit with the swimjig, one change we made was throwing the glidebait which accounted for a few key bites, including one big cull later in the day”, said Berkley Pro-Angler Tom Redington. The glidebait of choice for the team was the Berkley Nessie 9. This is a unique glidebait because it is a soft plastic bait and does not break the bank for anglers.
Redington & McClendon caught every fish on Saturday using the Fenwick World Class Series rods and Abu Garcia Revo reels.
“I just want to thank my brother [Dave] for letting me step in and fish this event for him. TXTT has the unique opportunity to allow an alternate angler compete for a team throughout the year, which helps balancing life and work. But now that I have won one, I want to come back and fish them all next year to get a chance at the high end Team of the Year payouts”, concluded Redington.
For the win, the team took home a 2025 Ranger Z-518 boat package, Angler Advantage side pot payout, and the $200 T-H Marine Atlas Jack Plate contingency bonus which brought their winning total to $66,745 in cash and prizes for the weekend.
2nd Place: Cole Moore & Cody Pitt – 27-00
Coming just a few ounces short of the victory, Cole Moore & Cody Pitt fished both deep and shallow throughout the day on Toledo Bend to weigh-in a five-bass limit worth 27-00. The local Many, LA team reported catching 12-15 keepers throughout their tournament using a wide variety of baits.
“Crankbaits, Worms, Squarebills, A-Rig, Jigs; heck they came on everything today”, said Cole. “This is that time of year you can do whatever you want to catch em. Today we did use Garmin LiveScope a little bit, but primarily we just went fishing”.
The primary bigger bites came on an Alabama Rig and a Football Jig the team stated. Being locals to the area really paid off for them, and utilizing history of the lake, even through the changing weather, they were never not around them throughout their day of fishing.
“We want to give a special thank you to Kevin at Shimano for the awesome partnership on rods & reels, even in team tournaments like this it really means a lot to have his support from a known brand in the industry”.
In closing the team wanted to give a shout-out to friends, family, and relatives who are always supportive and were even present at the weigh-in at Cypress Bend Park.
For their 2nd Place finish, they collected $6,871.00 that also included the optional Angler’s Advantage side pot.
3rd Place: Lee Brown & Ike Stephens – 26-06
Rounding out the Top-3 at Toledo Bend, and fishing their first TXTT event ever, was another local team that fished shallow to do their damage and concentrated on catching the quality bites rather than chasing numbers.
Fishing mostly cleaner water, the team used a Carolina Rig, Jig, and a EverGreen Jackhammer chatterbait to catch a five-bass limit of 26-06 which brought them home a check worth $4,137.00
“Jackhammer, Jigs, and a Carolina Rig all day”, reported Stephens. “It may sound old school compared to how a lot of anglers are catching them these days. But Toledo holds out as still an ‘old school’ lake and this tournament was positioned perfect where a guy doesn’t necessarily have to have forward-facing sonar to go out and catch ‘em”.
The team wanted to give a special ‘Thank You’ to their wives for letting them out of the house so much on the weekends to go fishing.
“This is a really neat trail, and seems to be gaining a lot of popularity throughout Texas because of the payouts and incentives to fish. We had a great time and hope to be back.”
Power-Pole Big Bass: Ben Burns & Ian Nash – 8-14
Going into Event #3 on Toledo Bend as a Top-5 team in Progressive Team of the Year points, college anglers Ben Burns & Ian Nash caught the biggest fish of the tournament. Weighing 8-14 they finished 5th Place with a total weight of 23-14 and take home a Power-Pole Pro Series II shallow water anchor system.
Garmin Contingency Bonus: Jeff Reynolds & Shane Howell – $1,000
Finishing 12th Place, the 2024 Progressive Team of the Year Runner-Ups Jeff Reynolds & Shane Howell took home both Garmin Contingency Bonuses equaling $1,000. This comprises of the highest finishing team running exclusive Garmin graphs, and the highest finishing team who has a Garmin trolling motor. Jeff and Shane were the highest finishing team in both categories and were eligible for both contingency payouts.
It is interesting to note, because of their 2nd Place finish in 2024 Progressive Team of the Year points, Jeff and Shane are fishing on free entry fees in 2025. Part of many exciting TXTT Progressive Team of the Year payouts.
Ranger Cup Contingency Bonus: Jason Bonds & Haydan Marshall – $500
Ranger Boats owner Jason Bonds & Haydan Marshall took home a $500 Ranger Cup Contingency Check for owning a 2025 Ranger Z-520R.
Final Notes:
# of Teams Fished: 156
# of Five-Bass limits weighed in: 83
Total amount of Cash & Prizes awarded: $105,152