FROM STAFF REPORTS

One local angler will have the opportunity to pursue his dream on the highest stage. Maplesville native Randall Carter will be participating in the inaugural Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship Dec. 10-13 at DeGray Lake in Bismark, Ark., which is two bass tournaments in one, offering two highly prized titles.

“It means the world,” he said. “The best in the nation are here. It’s a dream come true.”

In the first segment of the unique, four-day tournament, two-angler teams from various B.A.S.S.-sanctioned team trails across the country will vie to become the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Champions, a title that includes the first-place prize of a Nitro Z7 bass boat/Mercury Optimax 150 Pro XS outboard rig valued at $26,995 as well as the Livingston Leader Award of $500. The team champions will also receive a travelling trophy to take back to the team trail they represented.

Members of the Top 3 finishers in the team competition advance to the final two rounds of the tournament and will fish individually for the final qualifying spot in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic to be held Feb. 20-22 on Lake Hartwell out of Greenville, S.C.

Competitors in the Classic rounds will fish from six identically rigged Skeeter FX20 bass boats powered by Yamaha. In addition to the Classic berth, the winner will receive a Skeeter FX20/Yamaha250 outboard rig valued at $85,360, which he or she will run in the Classic.

The opportunity to go on to the Classic was one that Carter said he cherished.

“There’s no higher (tournament) he said. “For a team, there’s no higher stage that this one.”

Thirty-eight independent tournament trails were eligible to send teams to the championship. Stewart said each trail was required to hold a minimum of four tournaments throughout the year to become sanctioned by B.A.S.S. and to be eligible for the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship.

To be able to fish the lake as well as possible, Carter said he and teammate Rickie Knight of Selma have been doing their homework.

“It takes a lot of money and a lot of time,” he said. “(We’ve) got to cover it on the surface to the bottom, every square inch. I feel like we’ve done that.

The team championship daily weigh-ins will be held at the DeGray Lake Resort State Park Lodge and Convention Center. Visit Bassmaster.com for a list of the sanctioned trails and other information about attending the championship.