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Bassmaster Elite Series Travels to Texas
for First Visit to Bountiful Falcon Lake

The Lone Star Shootout presented by Longhorn marks the first time BASS has visited Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas. The mainstream reservoir on the Rio Grande River has a surface area of 83,654 acres, and anglers consider it a fishery capable of record-breaking weights.

Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., coming off his third career Bassmaster Elite Series victory March 16 at the Citrus Slam on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, believes that Falcon Lake will be one of the most productive locations BASS has visited in its 40-year history.

"I'm really excited to go to Falcon. It ranks with (Mexico's) El Salto," VanDam said of Falcon, which he visited in last fall. "We are going to knock their lights out. Steve Kennedy's record is in real trouble there."

Kennedy holds the BASS tournament record for heaviest total four-day weight with a catch of 122 pounds, 14 ounces, caught in March 2007 at California's Clear Lake.

"The big factor at Falcon is the wind," VanDam said. "The wind blows a lot in Texas. If we get a couple days where the wind blows 30 mph during competition, it's going to make it hard for guys to move around and hard to fish — if we hit stable weather there, the all-time record's going to go down."

All the action from the April 3-6 Lone Star Shootout can be viewed on The Bassmasters on ESPN2 at 9 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 12.

Daily launches Thursday through Sunday will be at 8 a.m. CT at the Zapata County public boat ramp at Lake Falcon Park, half a mile south of Veleno Bridge/U.S. Hwy 83 on County Road. Daily weigh-ins at the park begin at 4 p.m.

Activities at the Lone Star Shootout begin at 1 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday. The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce will sponsor the "Taste of South Texas Cook-Off," set to begin Saturday, April 5, at 1 p.m. Sunday's activities include dueling mariachi bands at 3 p.m., as well as the live taping of Hooked Up, hosted by ESPN Outdoors personalities Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona. The show, which airs on Bassmaster.com on Sunday, April 6, at 4:30 p.m. ET, will preview Sunday's final weigh-in. Live, streaming video of the Lone Star Shootout's daily weigh-ins begins at 4:30 p.m. ET at Bassmaster.com.

Fans can meet the Elite Series pros at Angler Alley presented by OPTIMA Batteries on Wednesday, April 2, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. CT at the Zapata County Community Center, 601 U.S. Hwy 83. They can also interact with the Elite pros during Bassmaster University's "Ask the Experts" session, set for Saturday, April 5, at 4 p.m. at Lake Falcon Park.

Local sponsors of the Lone Star Shootout are Zapata County Chamber of Commerce & County of Zapata.

[oucorry]

Wish I was going down there. I've really heard some good things about this lake!!

Hey G-Bass have you ever fished Falcon?