Keith Combs of Huntington set a professional bass fishing three-day record weighing in 110 pounds to win the 2014 Toyota Texas Bass Classic. His 15-fish stringer included this 10-4. Combs will be on the lake in May for the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest. (Steve Knight/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

When the idea for a professional bass tournament on Lake Fork first came up the goal was to one day have the lake host a BASS event. Come early May that dream will be fulfilled as the Bassmaster Elite fishermen comes to Northeast Texas for the $1 million Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest.

The idea for a pro tournament on Fork began more than a decade ago with Kelly Jordon, who was at the time guiding on Fork, and continues today fishing the Elite circuit. The idea had support from other pros that had fished or heard of the 27,000-acre lakes reputation.

The problem was working around the lake’s 16- to 24-inch slot limit, something that undoubtedly would limit the number of fish brought to the weigh-in stage.

At the time, the weigh-in was all about the show of fish for the big tournament circuits like B.A.S.S. Crowds came to see the top anglers holding big fish, and if none over the slot were caught, it would be a black eye for the tournament and fishermen.

So Jordon, who lives on Lake Palestine, approached Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Professional Anglers Association about putting on a tournament with a twist.

It would be catch-and-release with fishermen getting credit for every catch while still being allowed to bring an over-the-slot fish to weigh-in. To keep everything fair, a spotter would accompany each boat to weigh and measure the catch.

In 2007 the first Texas Toyota Bass Classic was held. It was a four-man team event with two team members fishing together in the morning and the other two in the afternoon.

The three-day event attracted the biggest names in bass fishing. The team of Terry Scroggins, Chris Davis, Frank Ippolito and Lake Fork’s James Niggemeyer won the tournament’s $250,000 first-place prize.

A return event was immediately announced for 2008. That tournament was won by a team that included Jordon, Lake Fork guide and tournament pro Lance Vick along with David Walker and David Smith.

Other than bad weather, which quickly became a tradition for the tournament, it looked like nothing could slow the event down — nothing except a move to Lake Conroe.

The tournament would continue to move around the state until returning to Fork in 2014. By then, it had morphed away from the team event to an individual, five-fish competition, but had remained a catch-and-release tournament.

After winning the 2011 and 2013 tournaments on Lake Conroe, Texas fisherman Keith Combs won the 2014 TTBC with a professional record-setting 15-fish total of 110 pounds.

The tournament was held one more time on Fork in 2015, won by B.A.S.S. angler Brent Ehrler with 89-12.

The TTBC and, more recently Major League Fishing, has shown catch-and-release bass tournaments can be popular with launch to weigh-in video coverage.

After 2015, the tournament — or at least its footprint — was on the road to Lake Ray Roberts in 2016 and then Sam Rayburn in 2017. The big change for those events was that it was no longer a PAA event. It was taken over by B.A.S.S. and renamed the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest, but still retained the catch-and-release format.

And now Jordon’s vision has been completed with a true pro tournament headed to Lake Fork.

“I think it is very awesome. It has always been a dream to have a big tournament like a Bassmaster,” Jordon said recently between practice rounds for an Elite Series event on the St. Lawrence River in New York. “The TTBC was always a big event, but the marriage of TPWD and B.A.S.S. is like all the cows came home and is really neat. It is pretty awesome to showcase Fork and the great fisheries in Texas.”

The tournament is scheduled for May 2-6, which can be late in the spawning cycle. Jordon thinks it comes at a time the pros are going to be able to catch fish from the shoreline out to deep water and on just about any type bait.

The fisherman personally likes May because the spawn-fishing crowds have started to wind down. He also things next spring could be good timing for big bass on the lake, which has produced 260 bass 13 pounds and larger for TPWD’s Toyota ShareLunker program and two state records.

“I am excited about coming up there this next year, because this year was a banner year for big fish on Fork. The reason that is we are seven years out from the drought. I told everyone at boat shows last spring they had better be ready. I think next year is going to be even better,” Jordon said.

He goes as far to suggest Combs’ 110 pounds could be in danger.