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Texarkana panel approves $15,000 to support professional fishing tournament after venue shift
Summary
The Texarkana Advertising & Promotion Commission voted unanimously to grant $15,000 to the National Professional Fishing League after the event moved from Wright Patman Lake to Lake Millwood; promoter Paul Benson said the tournament fields 117 anglers and expected local economic impact of roughly $400,000 to the Texas side.
The Texarkana Advertising & Promotion Commission voted unanimously to award $15,000 to the National Professional Fishing League to help stage a professional bass tournament that relocated from Wright Patman Lake to Lake Millwood.
Paul Benson, who said he was representing the National Professional Fishing League, told the commission the move was prompted by unusually low water levels at Wright Patman and a concurrent city dredging project that made the original site unsafe. Benson said the tournament field for the week is 117 anglers and that first-place prize money is $100,000. He told commissioners that, while exact splits vary, the event typically generates “around $400,000” in economic activity on the Texas side and that the broader, two-state impact can be over $1.3 million when both sides of Texarkana are counted.
Benson said the weigh-ins will be held on the Arkansas side at Yarborough Landing but that the league works with both states to split the economic benefit across local hotels, restaurants and vendors. The promoter also described logistical constraints at Lake Millwood, including navigation hazards and an invasive-grass washdown requirement that affected where weigh-ins could be staged.
Commissioner Dotson moved to fund the league for $15,000; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll call vote of Mills: Yes, Holmes: Yes, Jewel: Yes, Dotson: Yes, Brewer: Yes.
The commission’s funding decision followed a brief series of technical questions from members about participant counts, estimated spectator numbers (Benson estimated peak public attendance at Spring Lake Park could reach several hundred to more than 1,000 on final weigh-in day) and the distribution of event payouts. Benson said the league will continue to alternate regional events and expects to return to the Texarkana area every few years, subject to lake conditions.
The commission did not impose additional conditions in the vote but recorded administrative follow-up to coordinate logistics and publicity on both sides of the state line.
