With the completion of the 2025 Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Texas Team Trail presented by Progressive regular all eyes in Texas bass fishing world have switched over to the Progressive Team of the Year (TOY) race as well as the TXTT Championship on Sam Rayburn in June.

Going into the last regular season event, it was the young Texas team of Ben Burns & Ian Nash who had a narrow lead on top of some very elite bass fishing teams with long history in the state and if they could hold onto the lead. Not only did they hold onto the lead but after a second-place finish at the Belton Lake event, the duo extended their lead to sixty-five points over the second-place team of Wilson and Wells Jr.

With a combined 975 points, Burns & Nash have not finished below 12th place all season and have cashed a check in every 2025 TXTT event. Even more interesting, their lowest finish of the season came at the first event back in the first event on Sam Rayburn and they have only done better at every event as the season has gone on. They have recorded the following finishes: 10th at Lake Texoma, 5th at Toledo Bend, and most recently 2nd at Belton Lake. In total, they have cashed checks amounting to $13,333.00 and now have their eyes at taking home the 2025 Progressive Team of the Year title which comes with a 2026 Ranger Z-520 boat package valued at $86,540.00. And remember…these anglers are still in college.

“This year has been full of many blessings and great opportunities,” said SFA college angler Ben Burns. “Ian and I have put in the work, and we feel like we’ve made good decisions on the water to put ourselves in this position, but don’t think for a minute we are sleeping easy at night; look at who we have behind us.”

While Burns & Nash have a pretty substantial lead over the second-place team of Kris Wilson & Thomas Wells Jr., the rest of the Top-10 teams currently in 2025 TOY points have incredible history in the state of Texas, and particularly on Sam Rayburn Reservoir- the site of the 2025 TXTT Championship coming up on June 7th-8th. With a lot of prizes on the line for teams finishing in the top 10 of the Team of the Year standings there is still a lot on the line for the teams that are in the chase.

Looking at other notable teams in the Top 10 of 2025 TXTT TOY points, here is a breakdown of who is chasing down Burns & Nash:

· Brian Schott & Jim Smith, 2024 Progressive TXTT Team of the Year

· Jason Bonds & Haydan Marshall, 2024 TXTT Event #2 Sam Rayburn champions

· Shane Howell & Jeff Reynolds, 2024 TOY Runner-Up

· Clayton Boulware & Chris McCall, 10th Place, 2025 TXTT Event #1 – Sam Rayburn

“We are really looking forward to getting to Sam Rayburn for the championship this season,” said Burns. “Our plan is to go there and live there fishing as much as we can to seal the deal.”

Ian went on to also comment about the opportunity at winning the 2025 TXTT TOY title, “TXTT really stepped it up this year with the Team of the Year boat prize. I mean a Ranger Z-520, that is a real boat. A boat that we could potentially be fishing out of next season, and on top of that with the TXTT TOY package, we would also be fishing for free next season. There is a lot to think about with a boat like that and also still being a college student, but it is a rich man’s fortune and finishing this deal isn’t going to be easy…….but we want it, bad.”

Ian went on to say he wanted to thank 6th Sense Fishing, Falcon Rods, Mom & Dad, and his girlfriend (Linnea). Additionally, Ben wanted to give a shout-out and ‘thank you’ to his parents.

The 2025 TXTT Championship is the next event on the schedule. This is the final event of the 2025 season and where the 2025 TXTT Championship winner and 2025 Progressive Team of the Year will be crowned. Over $150,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded. This includes a 2025 Nitro Z-18 boat package to the championship winner and a 2025 Ranger Z-520 boat package going to the 2025 Progressive Team of the Year. Numerous other contingency prizes will also be available to the Top 75 teams in points who have qualified for the event.

About Texas Team Trail

Texas Team Trail is a part of the Outdoor TeamWorks family of fishing tournaments. The OTW brand offers a wide range of fishing events from professional tournaments to grassroots fishing derbies. All events are supported by some of the top companies in the nation and include on-site activation and activities, as well as extensive media support. For additional live updates and information, follow TXTT on Facebook and Instagram

2025 Proud Sponsors

Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Progressive, Nitro Boats, Ranger Boats, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Aftco, Garmin, Power-Pole, TH Marine, Sunline, Gamakatsu, VMC, Rapala ‘Crush City”, Gemini G2, BeatDown Outdoors