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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Tony DeVolder (309) 235-4101
Gary Dollahon (918) 640-9084

FALCON LAKE, TEXAS (October 30, 2008) - Much in the same fashion as the shootout at the OK Corral, the best bass anglers from Texas and Oklahoma stood off for the last draw today in the 2008 BoatU.S. Angler Texas-Oklahoma Shootout. In the Ryder-Cup style event, individual teams were chosen at random to face off against one another in head-to-head competition.

Of the six points available today, Texas needed just three to seal the win. Four were to come from the boat-to-boat matchups, and then one each for the day's heaviest limit and the biggest bass. As in year's past, it again took the last day to decide the winners.

The first anglers to the scales were the Texas team of Clark Wendlandt and Cody Bird. They weighed a five bass limit of 23.85, saying they culled several times today but never got the big bites they felt they needed. The Oklahoma team of Tommy Biffle and Fred Roumbains knew the match would be close as they put their five fish on the scale. The Oklahoma duo's bag topped out at 23.08, and Texas claimed their first point of the day.

The second match marked the highly anticipated team captain showdown. Oklahomans Jeff Kriet and Derek Remitz were first to the scales with a weight of 24.54 pounds. Then to the surprise of the spectators at Beacon Lodge, the Texas team of Kelly Jordon and Todd Faircloth made their way to the stage with out a weigh-in bag. "We are conceding defeat in this match," said Jordon, while he congratulated Kriet and Remitz for beating them.

With the day's score tied at 1-1, and the title very much on the line, Oklahoma's Mike McClelland and John Sappington bagged their catch of the day and weighed in a big bass at 7.56 pounds, with a total weight of 27.61. Their opponents of the day were the Texas team of Mike Hawkes and Jason Reyes, who had success all week long. Today was no different as they made their way to the scales and weighed an identical big bass, also at 7.56 pounds, tying Oklahoma for the big bass point lead. However, the Texas pair did win their match, with a total weight of 31.22 pounds, giving Texas a 2-1 lead on the day.

With the title at stake, the last Texas team of Mark Pack and Wade Middleton crossed the stage, needing to top the big bass lead or beat Oklahoma's Kenyon Hill and Harmon Davis to clinch the victory and prevent Oklahoma from staging a come-from-behind win.

This was the first day that Pack and Middleton fished together, and it proved to be a good pairing as their fish topped the scales at 32.41 pounds, the biggest bag of the event. To remain alive, Oklahoma needed to claim two points, so the team of Kenyon Hill and Harmon Davis shook hands with weigh master Mike Hastings and put their fish on the scale. At 29.31 pounds, Hill and Davis could not top Pack and Middleton's incredible day on the water, and Texas claimed their third Shootout victory in 4 years.

"We were fishing against Oklahoma's MVP team this week and we knew we needed a big sack as Kenyon and Harmon had been catching big fish all week long," said Middleton. The team caught their fish on Lake Fork Tackle Hyper Worm and a Baby Ring Fry. Both baits were pulled behind a carolina rig.

"We were catching all our fish in 22 -30 feet of water around rock and brush," Pack said.

The BoatU.S. Angler Texas-Oklahoma Shootout will be featured in six one-half hour programs to be aired on FOX Sports National within the Fishing Texas television show at 10 a.m. Eastern on Sundays, beginning in February. Additional event coverage can be seen in special segments as part of the Americana Outdoors program that runs on the Versus network.

National sponsors of the Shootout include BoatU.S. Angler, TruckVault, Cabela's, Rapala's Fishing Frenzy, Aviva Fishin' Buddy, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Sebile, Beacon Lodge, Daiwa, Garmin, Power-Pole, Gemini, Wired2Fish.com, BassZone.com and Sperry Top-Sider.

Local businesses that have made the event possible are Zapata County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Beacon Lodge, Hawk Enterprises, Joe Chick A/C and Electric, Holiday Restaurant, D&D Marine, Consolidated-COSI, Zapata County News, IBC Bank, The Oaks at Falcon Estates and Falcon Lanes.

For daily standings of this year's Shootout, visit www.CarecoMultimedia.com.