There is a pretty cool and affordable bass tournament that doesn’t really have a name on Lake Texoma. It leaves out of Juniper Point west every Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. sharp from the first Tuesday after the spring time change until sometime in October. These anglers haul in more bass during the spring months. 

During pleasant weather, some ladies and I are on our Texoma beach, painting, every Tuesday evening. We began noticing that we could set our watches by this same group of anglers, obviously setting off on a tournament every Tuesday. There are tons of bass tournaments on Lake Texoma. But something seemed different about this tournament.

And it is different. Many tourneys on Lake Texoma have $100 to $200 entry fees. Rickey Ramsey and Scott Evans of Dexter officiate over this one. Other anglers come from as far away as 100 miles. What first caught our attention, of course, were the boats. Yes, many boat owners on Texoma display impressive motors and are top dogs of the boating world. 

The main difference is that this tourney has a $40 entry fee, per boat, not per person. This tourney started as a way to spend time with a lot of good friends and procure bragging rights. Some of the $40 fee is saved back for the end of season championship tournament. If an angler enters 10 regular tourneys, he or she can enter the end of the season championship. Of course, it depends on how many anglers enter as to how big the purse is. 

Several of the regular anglers in this tourney have superb 225 and 250 hp Mercury or Yamaha motors on Triton, Skeeter, and Phoenix models. Maybe we are easily impressed, but we see more kayaks, pleasure boats, and yachts than high-powered fishing boats off of our beach. So, we began guessing how fast these motors could run.

This tourney began 30 years ago on Moss Lake, a small lake in western Cooke County, Texas. Then they moved to Lake Texoma for their 2019 season. There was a change in the bass fishing regulations in length on Moss Lake. So, over to the nice double boat ramp at Juniper Point West they moved. They all line up in the no-wake buoy zone before 6:00 p.m. 

The entry fee for the championship is much higher. This is an open tournament to anyone who has not been banned from another tourney anywhere. The biggest fish caught in this tourney’s 30 year history was 7-lbs on Lake Texoma and Scott Ford caught a 12-pounder on Moss Lake. They go after black bass, Kentucky (spotted) bass, and smallmouth bass, and there is a five-fish limit. 

Weigh-in is at 9:00 p.m., sharp. Anglers who enter the tourney have to be inside the no-wake zone buoys buy 9:00 p.m. to weigh-in. The There is a 0.50 lb. penalty for each dead fish presented at the weigh in. Last night, we saw one boat coming in that did not make it. First, we see the high hp boats speeding out to far away fishing hotspots. Then the slower boats follow, and they spread out all over the lake. 

One angler, Rickey Morris, who has been entering for three or four years, sports a 250 hp Mercury motor on his Triton and runs up to Catfish Bay, near the US 70 Roosevelt Bridge and a long way from Juniper Point. The 225-250 hp motors run in the 70s mph range. Rickey Ramsey reports that right now, the bass fishing on Lake Texoma is tough. It is usually pretty darn hot out on the water this time of year. The average number of anglers entering this tourney each week is about 16, give or take a few. 

We enjoy watching this tourney take off on the second beach east of Juniper Point West every Tuesday, and at about 8:30 p.m., we start looking for the boats that passed by us to be coming in. While we are at our picnic table, someone always says, “Well. it’s six o’clock”, and we count the boats that pass by our beach so we can count them and see which boat is too late for the weigh-in when they return. 

One may think our group is easily entertained, but this tourney has now become part of our Art’s Fellowship experience. That’s the name of our painting party. None of us want to mess with maintaining a motor boat any more. But we have come to expect this tourney to entertain us, and we hope it does not move to another boat ramp. Thanks, guys!