I was wondering how competitive the striper tournament on texoma is. I have never fished in a tournament before, and I was thinking about entering. Me and a buddy of mine always catch a decent stringer of stipers when we go out, but we never seem to catch anything bigger than five pounds. I wanted to know if we had a decent shot at winning anything, we might go even if we know we will finish last, just seems like fun.

I'm not sure if you are talking about the TSA tourney or not, but if you are the one in april is at Tawakoni. The next one at Texoma is in june http://www.texasstriper.com/index.htm . Tawakoni is a great lake you should try to make it to that one, if the lake will have enough water

The TSA tournaments are a blast. Everyone has a good time, even if they don't weigh fish. For the most part, 80% of the teams that fished Texoma in January weighed fish, and it was our largest turnout in a few years - 27 boats.

Yes, you have a shot at placing with a couple of 5 lb fish, though it's going to take more in April to win. The fun of it is not knowing if you're going to catch fish larger than that to weigh!

The camraderie is really good and you can pick up quite a bit from other anglers the night before the tourney, and at the weigh-in and typical fish fry that takes place after the weigh-in.

I haven't fished a TFF striper tourney only because previous obligations prevented that, but plan to try this year. I would suspect the same fun, fishing, and "after party" takes place since alot of folks have typically camped over at the main tourney site.

Check out the TSA at www.texasstriper.com!

Russb,

About all I can add is that fishing striper tournaments has made several us better fisherman due to the level of competition and the advice we've gotten from the other more experienced contestants. That advice comes along not just at the tournaments, but from the friendships that get made along the way and the advice you get from those people as you try to improve your 'game'. Often, fishing for big fish requires different techniques than you would usually use for a 'fun fishing' day on the lake. The fastest way to learn those techniques is to spend some time around the pros that use them at tournments.

As for me, when I started fishing with these guys, I was on record as saying that I was 'no striper fisherman'. Like you, I had occasionaly been on a few striper trips, but striper fishing was way down on my skill list. After two years of fishing tournaments, my skill level has improved to 'struggling striper fisherman'.

Come on out and fish a couple of tournaments. You might win, or you might blank, but either way you will have a chance to meet some good people, have some fun, and improve your skills. There is no shame at the weigh in, even the 'pros' struggle sometimes.

April 29th is the TFF tourney on Texoma. They are a blast to fish and what I would call
"silent competitve" . While of course the guys are competitive but in a previous TFF tourney Mark and I not only supplied bait to a few other teams but also let one tie up to us while we were catching fish. In another TFF tourney a couple years ago not only did we tow in a broken down competitor but we let them fish out of my boat the rest of the tourney..and I put the other team on the Big fish of the tourney Whats that tell ya ??? No other tourney would you ever see stuff like that happen
Usually the campground the night before is a great party with many of the guys camping out.
The TFF tournies are more about comraderie and fun !!
You'll meet alot of Great guys fron the TFF !!

Russ, The TFF tournament is a lot of fun. Plenty of people willing to help you out. The fish in April are usually spread all over the lake and can be caught on a lot of different techniques. And to answer your question, just about anyone can win it.