Outdoors Briefs

Outdoors Briefs Subhead Johnston/Reneau reel in TTT Championship win Matt Williams Tue, 06/18/2024 - 22:47 Image

• Tim Reneau (left) and Stephen Johnston with their final day limit of 30-03 pounds that iced the Team Trail Championship win on Toledo Bend. (Courtesy Photo) COURTESY PHOTO / MATT WILLIAMS

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Outdoors Writer

Awealth of fishing history on Toledo Bend paid off for Stephen Johnston of Hemphill and Tim Reneau of Richland Springs in the Texas Team Trail Championship held June 8-9 on the Texas/Louisiana border lake. The two-man team put together an offshore milk run, and they found it teeming donkeys.

Johnson/Reneau won the event with a two-day total of 57-11 pounds on 10 bass. They weighed the thirdplace limit of 27-08 in the opening round before slamming door with 3003 pounds on the final day, easily topping the second-place weight of 5112 caught by Colby Miller and Cole Moore. The winners earned a new Nitro Z-18 and cash valued at $44,663, plus a $10,000 Vexus bonus.

“It was our time,” Johnston said. “It feels good anytime you can go out and catch 30 pounds. To do it in a tournament like this — that’s pretty special.”

The winners keyed on offshore structure and hit nearly two dozen spots using a chartreuse/blue Sixth Sense 300DD crank bait. They also did some damage targeting outside grasslines in 11-14 feet of water using a 1 ounce prototype jig from Reneau Tackle. Johnston said the jig features a special line-thru head design that improves hook-ups and keeps fish buttoned.

Lost key and AOY titles

The Texas Team Trail year-end championship on Toledo Bend brought to a close the 2024 Progressive Team of the Year race. Brian Schott of Longview and Jim Smith of Lake Charles, La., won it 1,069 points after five events.

Schott/Smith finished 11th at T-Bend, but not before fishing through a wild turn of events on the morning of Day 2 that could have cost them the title.

With one fish in the livewell at 9 a.m., Schott hooked a three pounder. Then something bizarre happened. The fish came off the hook and landed in the driver’s cockpit as Schott swung it into the boat. Smith managed to grab the fish, but not before it flounced and knocked the outboard engine key out of the ignition and into the lake.

With no way to crank the engine, and 20 miles from take-off, the anglers were restricted to fishing with their trolling motor until about 12:30 p.m. That’s when tournament director Mike Hastings authorized them to finish the day from a borrowed boat.

With roughly 90 minutes to fish and no waypoints to pinpoint their sweet spots, Schott/Smith fleshed out their limit to secure the title with plenty of room to spare.

“It was a pretty wild day — definitely one of the most bizarre deals I’ve ever been involved in,” Schott said. “I’m glad it all worked out.”

Schott/Smith won a new Ranger Z518 bass boat matched with Mercury 150 outboard.

Gunn, 8.81 wins Skeeter Owners

Bernard Gunn of Farmersville weighed in a 8.81 pounder to top a field of more than 1,700 anglers in the 2024 Skeeter Owners big bass tournament held June 8 at Lake Fork. He won a fully rigged Skeeter FXR21 bass boat.

The biggest fish under the 16-24 inch slot was a 2.91 pounder weighed by Monty Sewell of Taylor, Ark. Sewell won a new Yamaha UTV.

The tournament produced six bass over the slot limit, including four in the eight-pound class and two seven pounders.