OFFICIAL 2026 TRADER BILLS TEAM TRAIL RULES

OFFICIAL 2026 TRADER BILLS TEAM TRAIL RULES Header

1. TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR AUTHORITY: Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Director in his sole and absolute discretion. Each competitor agrees to report any rule violation to the Tournament Director immediately upon discovery of the violation. The violation of a tournament rule may result in weight loss, the loss of weight up to a specific time during the tournament day, total loss of weight for that particular day, the ineligibility to participate in future Trader Bills Team Trail events, or any other penalty deemed appropriate by the Tournament Director in her sole discretion. Protests must be made in writing within 10 minutes of the official closing of the scales at each tournament.

2. TOURNAMENT FORMAT:: The Trader Bills Team Trail is a team event where each contestant competes on a two man team. All rules apply per individual competitor on each team.

3. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY: Participation is open to current members of Trader Bills Team Trail who are qualified to fish in the 2026 Trader Bills Team Trail and are 7 years old and older; provided that a competitor under the age of 7 must have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the official entry form and written consent from a parent or legal guardian specifically permitting such contestant under the age of 18 to participate in the event. Any competitors under 18 must have a re partner that is 18 or older.

  • Trader Bills Team Trail is open to all anglers including professional anglers.
  • All Contestants must have a valid fishing license applicable to the tournament waters.
  • Entry fee is $200 per team, and $200 membership for the team.
  • In order to qualify for the Trader Bills Championship each team must pay an entry into all regular season events.
  • 3 polygraphs will be given at the end of each tournament. Polygraph participant selection will be done by tournament director.
  • The will be NO alternates allowed during the season. Teams can fish with one member only with the exception of an alternate being a minor under the age of 16 and principal member to have guardianship.

4. Tournament Scoring: Only teams that have checked in at the official check point before the official ending time of the tournament will be allowed to weigh their catch. If you do not check in on time your weight will be zeroed. Only largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth bass will be accepted. There will be a 5 fish limit per team on every lake. The official length limit will be the same length for all weighable fish for each lake. (ex: 14” for KY, 14” for largemouth). The length limit will be the lake limit for each lake we fish. It will be announced the week of the event. If a team presents a fish that is too small to measure- the fish will be released and the team will be penalized one pound for each fish that fails to measure.

5. All participating teams are required to have liability insurance as described by Arkansas Law.

6. COMPETITORS: The 2026 Trader Bills Team Trail is a team event. Only registered contestants may be on the boat during official practice and tournament days. If a contestant enters tournament waters during the official off-limits period (Monday prior to the Thursday before the event), such contestant shall be ineligible for that event.

7. INFORMATION: During the off-limits period, official practice, and competition days, other than using publicly available information (e.g., newspaper reports and internet reports) competitors cannot solicit, receive, or gather any information via phone, electronic devices, or any other means about locating or catching fish on tournament waters from non-competitors. All information must be accessed prior to the official off-limits period.

8. TOURNAMENT WATERS: Off-Limits: No Contestant may be on designated tournament waters for any reason during the official off-limits period, which runs consecutively from the Monday to the Friday before the event.

Official Practice Days: There are none.

9. SAFETY: Safe boating must always be observed. Each Contestant is required to wear a fastened (fully zipped and/or all clips fastened), U.S. Coast Guard approved, personal flotation device anytime the combustion engine is in operation from boat check until weigh-in. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver’s body any time the combustion engine is in operation. The driver must be seated in the driver’s seat anytime the combustion engine is engaged in gear. Tournament days may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion. Competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter in severe weather, at which time no fishing may occur.

10. PERMITTED FISHING METHODS: Only artificial lures may be used. Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however, each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast is attempted or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. Switching or sharing fish with other teams or individuals is a violation of these rules and will result in immediate disqualification. All bass must be caught alive, in a conventional, sporting manner. When sight fishing for bass, all fish must be hooked inside the mouth to be counted as a legal fish. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a Contestant leave the boat to land a fish, make the boat more accessible to fishing waters, or locate bass.

11. SPORTSMANSHIP AND CONDUCT: All Contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any mind-altering substance during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure;
  • Actions or words which reflect unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, and fair competition;
  • Chemical substance abuse or addiction;
  • Disqualification from Trader Bills Team Trail or other fishing organizations that resulted from explained or unexplained rule violations that result in a Contestant’s honesty, integrity, character, and qualifications for entry into a Trader Bills Team Trail event being questionable in the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion.

Upon review of the circumstances by Trader Bills Team Trail and the Tournament Director, the Tournament Director shall have the right to refuse any application, or to deny a confirmed application, by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application or disqualifying a Contestant. Trader Bills Team Trail reserves the right to place an official observer in a Contestant’s boat at any time during competition hours.

12. ASSISTANCE: During Competition days, Contestants may not receive fishing information from non-competitors or participate in the practice of “hole sitting.” The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited. In the event of an emergency situation, competitors should call 911 first and then notify the Tournament Director at (870-550-0379).

13. BOAT AND HORSEPOWER REGULATION: Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U.S. Coast Guard in such vessel. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate to conceal such limitations will be cause for disqualification from the tournament. No Contestant may have a platform, raised deck, or ladder which is higher than the gunnel of the boat. Standing on the fishing seats or outboard motor will not be allowed in Trader Bills Team Trail events. All boats must be propeller driven and must be equipped with wheel steering, no other steering device will be permitted. No air, jet drive, or surface drive boats will be permitted during official practice or competition days.

14. PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: Any legal fishing area accessible by boat and connected to the main body of water on tournament waters is the permitted fishing area. Areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” by state or federal officials are prohibited. Contestants may not fish within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position), or within 25 yards of a non-anchored competitor’s boat unless otherwise agreed upon by the other tournament angler. The act of moving bass from one area of the lake to another confined area of the same lake at any time, whether during official practice days or competition days, is not permitted.

15. ADDITIONAL OFF-LIMITS AREAS: Such areas will be established and announced at registration for each Trader Bills Team Trail event. Contestants may not fish inside the established “off-limits” area. Violation of the rule will result in immediate disqualification. Contestants’ boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event.

16. TRAILERING IS ALLOWED: The 2026 Trader Bills Team Trail will be a trailering event. You may launch your boat up to one hour before the designated start time. The official start time will be announced the week of the tournament. Electronics may be used for navigational purposes only before the official start time on competition days. No casting or fishing may occur until the official start time. Only water accessible and navigable to the main reservoir may be launched in. Contestants must use established boat ramps; no launching from banks, levees, causeways, or similar locations. Boat launches into areas of the reservoir which are not connected and accessible to the main reservoir by boat are not allowed.

A team may not trailer during the tournament day to a new area and then relaunch their boat. The only exception is for breakdowns and they must first communicate with the tournament director and have their livewells checked then rechecked when they launch again. There are no moving ramps for convenience. One you launch- you have launched for the day. You may return by boat or trailer to the weigh in.

17. SCORING: Will be determined by the pounds and ounces of each contestant’s catch during the tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, or Smallmouth Bass (collectively, “bass”) are accepted species. The limit will be FIVE (5) bass per contestant to be weighed in. A contestant may possess up to seven (7) scoreable bass in their livewell during the day, but they must cull before they enter the weigh-in area. The minimum official length limit for each event will be posted the week leading up to the tournament. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fails to measure the prescribed minimum length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and ONE (1) pound penalty to the weight of the remaining fish. No regurgitated forage or other foreign matter may be placed in bass. Any artificially weighed, preserved, or altered bass will be disqualified and that contestant will be subject to prosecution under federal and state laws. The Pro-Rule Measuring Board is the official measuring board of Trader Bills Team Trail. Bass will be measured with the mouth closed, tail compressed and swiped to achieve overall greatest length.

18. A. LIVEWELL LIMIT: A team may possess up to ten (10) fish in their livewell during the tournament day, but they must be culled down to 5 fish before you weigh in.

19. LIVE FISH: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of live well additives made by Sure-Life which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat are recommended. A ONE-HALF (1⁄2) pound penalty will be deducted for each dead bass presented for weigh-in. A dead fish will not be eligible for BIG Bass. Culling of dead bass is prohibited. One ONE dead fish per team. If you bring in two dead fish only 4 fish will be weighed, and the largest dead fish will not be weighed.

20. TIES: A tie for 1st and 2nd place in the 2026 Trader Bills Team Trail will be broken by a One (1) Hour Fish Off. All other ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place’s money.