BASS CLASSIC, 2: Working together for the win...details on 
Passport to Texas.

PTT from TPWD and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Lake Fork is the site of the first annual Toyota Texas Bass 
Classic, scheduled April 13 through 15. The organizers of 
this one million dollar tournament had to figure out how 
to work with the agency's restrictive management policy.

We manage that lake with a 16 to 24 inch slot limit. Which means 
fish between 16 and 24 inches must be released immediately. 
They can't be held in a live well or carried to a weigh-in. :11

Phil Durocher is Director if Inland Fisheries at Texas 
Parks and Wildlife.

We've been working with them and they've developed a format 
where they're going to actually weigh the fish on the boats as 
they catch them and release them on the spot. So, it will be the 
first time anywhere in the country that we've had a top-notch 
professional bass tournament on a lake with really restrictive 
length limits. :16

In addition, the professional anglers will work as four-
man teams.

Two of the anglers by draw are going to go out and fish the 
morning session. And then, they're going t get together with the 
other two anglers on that team, where they have a strategy 
session about what they need to do in the afternoon. And in the 
afternoon the other two anglers are going to go out, and fish 
based on the information and the patterns they discussed with 
the anglers that fished in the morning. You know, these anglers 
are not used to fishing in teams. So it's going to be interesting to 
see what happens. They're going to have to work together to win 
this event. It's reality fishing. :27

Get all the tournament details, and hear more of our 
interview with Phil Durocher, on passporttotexas.org. 

That's our show ... supported by the Sort Fish Restoration 
program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti