2026 Official Rules

It's every angler's responsibility to know the rules. Rules are enforced and unchanged for all Ozark Mountain Team Trail Events (herein after referred to as OMTT). Interpretation and enforcement of rules is exclusive to Tournament Directors and are not subject to appeal. Protest must be submitted to Tournament Director in writing prior to closing of scales. All protests stand up unless a witness disagrees, where final decisions are made by tournament director. Anglers being protested may not be witnesses. Once anglers have been protested and notified, protested anglers may not protest the team that protested them. Protested anglers must both take a lie detector test or disqualification will occur. All Anglers must have a current fishing license in the state waters fished and failure results in disqualification. Cheating is not tolerated. Trailering of Boats is Prohibited unless approved by Tournament Officials. FISHING ALONE IS NOT ALLOWED! (see Rule 24).

Participation in OMTT events by entry invitation only. Boaters must be 18 years of age or older. Non-Boaters must be 10 years of age or older & with a family member until 16. OMTT reserves the right to refuse any entries. See Rule 29.

Each team allowed 1 alternate and 1 buy in to qualify for the Championship. Buy In must pay ($320) before take-off. Alternates pay a ($20) membership fee. No alternates in Championship. See Rule 24 for more information.

After first tournament fished, if team decides to split and get a new partner for remainder of season, the team decides who boater is. If team can't decide who boater is, OMTT officials use angler listed as boater on entry form. Boaters assume points and the non-boater starts with show points only at next tournament. The boater is not allowed an alternate for remainder of season, and non-boater will be allowed one alternate for remainder of season. Buy in rule still applies for both.

Membership ($50) per angler per year. Entry fee ($320) includes Big Bass. Completed signed entry forms and entry fees must be paid in full by Wednesday prior to tournament fishing. LATE FEE ($25) for entering Friday at Registration. ($50) for entering Saturday at Ramp. Deposits ($50) are Non-Refundable and hold take-off position for a tournament. ($200) deposit holds take-off positions for all four tournaments in a season.

Registration must be received and paid in full by Wednesday prior to tournament. Registration ($25 Late Fee) Friday before tournament 4–6 pm. Registration ($50 Late Fee) Saturday morning at Ramp. Official Entry Form/Registration printed at www.ozarkmountainteamtrail.com. Boat numbers are determined by date and time of registration. Boat Numbers will be posted Online, Facebook and at OMTT Trailer.

Boat Liability Insurance ($100,000 minimum) required of all anglers in OMTT Tournaments. Recommend higher than minimum for all OMTT tournaments.

During OMTT regular season, there are no off-limit days.

Tournament times listed on Entry Form and/or stated at Official Registration. Tournament Director reserves right to change tournament times on tournament days. Anglers must know and observe the official tournament times. During tournament days, tournament anglers may not procure the service of guides or local experts, participate in the practice of "hole sitting", follow a non-competitor's boat to fishing locations, use cell/mobile communication devices to communicate fishing locations or information during tournament times, fish in designated off-limit areas given in the pre-take-off announcements. Cell Phone use for emergency only. No wake zones & No fishing zones must be observed. Breaking Rules results in disqualification.

Safe Boating is always demanded by all Anglers. Each angler is required to wear a U.S. Coastguard approved personal flotation device fully strapped, snapped, or zipped anytime the combustion engine is moving boat during tournament times. The tournament period begins when you receive your boat paddle and ends when you turn the boat paddle in. Violators of this rule will be disqualified. All boats must be equipped with an engine shut-off device securely attached to the boat operator when the combustion engine is running during tournament days. At the discretion of the Tournament Director, tournament times may be delayed, shortened, postponed, or cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions. When forecasted weather exceeds the minimums for small craft advisories on the body of water, the tournament director may delay, postpone, reschedule, or cancel the tournament. Scales may open early due to incoming weather conditions.

All anglers are required to follow the highest degree of sportsmanship, conservation, care, and courtesy. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the boat, used by competitors during tournament times, or on tournament stage. No drugs (other than those purchased over the counter or prescribed by a physician) shall be used by any competitor during tournament times. Respect everyone on the water and call tournament director immediately if problems arise.

All boats must meet B.I.A., Coast Guard and HP requirements; Boats with stick steering, house boats, barges or other cumbersome crafts are not allowed at the Tournament Director's discretion. All boats must be equipped with an ignition "kill switch" device. All boats required to have aerated live well adequate to maintain alive, a limit catch of bass. Running lights must be on and operational at take-off.

Only artificial bait or lures may be used. Pork style trailer allowed. No live bait and No baiting fishing areas are allowed. All bass must be caught alive on rod and reel and only one line allowed in water per angler. If an angler breaks line while setting the hook or retrieving a fish, they are allowed to secure the visible line and land the fish. Trolling, as a method of fishing, is not allowed. Underwater cameras are not allowed during tournament times. Dip nets allowed to assist in landing fish. Snagging bass off spawning beds is prohibited and all bass visibly caught off spawning beds must be hooked inside the mouth. Purposely snagging Bass with forward facing sonar is not allowed. Umbrella Rig & Multiple Bait Rules, see Rule 27.

Fishing tournament waters is permitted anywhere Except: knowingly fishing within approximately (50 yards) of a commercial/public gas pump, fishing within approximately (50 yards) of another competitor's boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position (with the trolling motor in or out of the water), unless that competitor allows any and all tournament boats the right to fish within 50 yard radius claimed by him; fishing within any area designated by state or federal agencies as a "no fishing" area; fishing within the buoyed areas of the take-off cove. Other specific off limits addressed at the pre-takeoff meeting on water. Corps of Engineer Lakes in the White River chain have specific off limits in and around "Concession Areas" (Marinas) and Commercial docks. Anglers ticketed in non-permitted fishing areas will be disqualified.

Anglers may not depart boats to make fishing waters more accessible. Anglers must land fish from inside the boat. Anglers must leave and return to the official checkpoint by boat. Anglers may not depart boats unless emergency arises. In such an emergency, one or both anglers may get into another boat operated by other competitors or a rescue boat. It is the responsibility of anglers to keep fish separated and in water during transport to the tournament weigh-in site. Anglers must notify a tournament director by call or text before or when time allows.

Pre-take-off announcements start approximately 10 minutes prior to take-off. 25 boats per flight and 10 minutes between flights. Boats take off in order of entry by flights. Failure to respond to the call of your boat number can result in the loss of take-off position. No boat allowed to leave the take-off area until boat number is called. Idle by inspection conducted during take-off. Boat operator is asked to show "kill switch" attached to life jacket and boat, live wells open and anglers are given a numbered boat paddle. No boat leaves the take-off with a faulty "kill switch". Running lights must be on and working at take-off. Failure to comply may result in loss of take-off position.

Check-in same area as take-off. All boats identify themselves at check-in site by boat paddle given at take-off. Failure to receive morning boat inspection or turn in your boat number/paddle at the check point will result in disqualification. It is Angler responsibility to control your boat at check-in, not OMTT staff. Please do not approach scales until your weigh in time to stop crowding at tanks.

Largemouth, Kentucky (spotted), Smallmouth and Meanmouth (Red Eye) Bass are counted. Five Fish per team may be weighed in at each event. Fish must be weighed on OMTT scales in an OMTT bag. The official length limit for bass will be determined by Tournament Director and announced at pre-take-off meeting. Bass to be measured on a flat board with mouth closed and tail of the fish must touch or sweep the legal length line to qualify. Bass presented for weigh-in which fails to measure the official length will not be counted and will cause a 1.00-pound penalty for each such bass presented to be deducted from the anglers' total score. For each legal dead bass presented to weigh-in official, the anglers shall be penalized 0.50 pounds to be deducted from their daily score. Tournament Officials have sole authority for accessing penalty points. A bass weighed for big bass must be alive. At no time during tournament period shall a contestant possess more than a 5-fish limit (except during culling) or weigh in more than a five fish limit.

Culling process must start immediately after 6th catch. Teams may not cull a dead fish. Anglers may put fish #6 in the live well while making cull. Anglers may not possess more than 5 fish in Livewell after Culling.

Anglers not at designated check-in site by their official time will be penalized one pound for each minute late up to a maximum of ten minutes (ten pounds). Penalized weight will be deducted from the team's total weight. If the maximum of ten minutes is exceeded, anglers will forfeit all weight for that day's competition.

Standard package Nitro Z18 Boat Certificate guaranteed first place prize at each regular season tournament. Payback is based on 100, 150 and 200 boats at 25, 30 and 35 places. Entry Fees paid back (90%), and Big Bass paid back (100%). Big Bass to top 3 places in a 50/30/20 split. If ties occur, places are combined and the prize money is divided equally between the tied spots. Trophy position shall be determined by entry position/boat number on ties. Tournament Director has the right to change payback spots as needed. Cash and Prizes paid back at well over (100%) at each tournament.

Draw prizes awarded at the Championship!

Teams must Fish 3 of 4 tournaments (which can include 1 alternate and 1 buy in) to be eligible for Anglers of Year, OMTT Championship and Bass Master Team Championship. Point system used to determine AOY. Championship entry fee money paid back (100%). Nitro Z20XL Boat Certificate to first place. Top 100 in angler of year points automatically qualify for championship and any team that fishes all 4 tournaments. No Alternates allowed in Championship. No fishing alone, see Rule 24. Off limits and official practice days T.B.A. Ties for first place at Championship, broken by the heaviest one-day bag. Ties for big bass splits winnings. All other regular season rules apply during tournament time.

Is applied to a Championship or Regular Season team. If one member of a team cannot fish due to extraordinary circumstances, boater may get an observer that must be approved by an OMTT official. Observer is in the boat with the angler during tournament hours for safety reasons only. The observer is not allowed to fish, give out information or assist the angler in any way except in an emergency. OMTT reserves the right to enforce this rule. OMTT reserves the right to allow a boater to fish alone if observer can't be found for championship only.

OMTT teams/members are eligible to qualify for the BASSMASTER Team Championship and One angler's chance to qualify for the BASSMASTER CLASSIC. See B.A.S.S. rules for eligibility. Teams are chosen in order of current year OMTT AOY points. If a team chooses not to participate, that team will be replaced by next team in AOY points. If one member of a team chooses not to participate, the remaining member has the right to find a replacement approved by OMTT tournament director.

Lie detector test given at each OMTT event. By his or her signature on entry form and/or participation in any OMTT tournament event, anglers agree to submit to any or all quality assurance tests. Refusal to submit to any or all tests will result in immediate disqualification and possible ban from future OMTT events. If anglers fail lie detector tests, the angler's weight shall be 0.00 pounds and they lose all winnings. None of the OMTT rules prohibit an Official from approaching, observing, or boarding any competitor's boat during tournament competition periods. If an angler fails a test, further discipline will be up to the tournament officials.

During tournament time, one artificial lure with hooks may be attached to a line. One lure is defined as a single manmade lure designed to catch one fish at a time. Umbrella rigs with 4 or more wires with multiple hooks extending around and below the main hook are not allowed. OMTT Approved multiple arm bait: no more than four wires, each 6 inches or less, extending off the main body/head/joint of the lure. No wires are allowed below the main bait with the hook. Hook must run on bottom of rig. Only one Spinner Blade or one Soft Plastic per wire with (no hooks) may be used on the 3 additional wires above the main bait with the hook. OMTT officials have the sole authority to determine whether a lure is approved. If you are not sure, get it approved by a tournament director prior to tournament. Teasers with (no hooks) are allowed on topwater baits or fluke style baits!

Teams catching No fish in an OMTT regular season tournament only receive show points toward angler of the year points for that event.

Anyone born after January 1, 1984, must complete and pass a Boater Safety Education course before operating any motorized vessel at OMTT tournaments. Certification must be approved by NASBLA. Out-of-state boating safety certifications are recognized. OMTT recommends all boaters get certified! Call Scott Berry @ 417-861-2983 with questions!