The Miss-Lou offers multiple venues for all types of fishing, and it also offers various bass clubs that help extend the opportunity to enjoy many of those venues to local anglers through various tournaments and events.

The Miss-Lou has five main bass clubs that often host tournaments and compete against each other, including the River Cities Bass Club, the Borderline Bass Club, the Dixie Bass Club, the Concordia Bass Club and the King Fishermen Bass Club. An additional group that is not necessarily local but takes part in some area tournaments is the Brookhaven Bass Club.

Each club is different in many ways, including the number of tournaments fished, rules for tournaments and membership size, but one thing members from every club try to qualify for is the Miss-Lou Top 10 Bass Classic.

In this tournament, the top 10 members from each area bass club will square off against each other in teams of two. The tournament is usually held in October.

Glen Foster of the Dixie Bass Club said along with competing in the top 10 tournament, his club also fishes 12 tournaments a year, one for each month. Of those, one is always out of town, and another is at night, usually in July.

“Besides the top 10, our second most popular tournament is the out-of-town tournament. Guys get to take a vacation to fish,” Foster said. “People really enjoy it.”

An additional contest that Dixie Bass Club hosts is a six-pound bass contest. In this competition, a dollar is placed in a growing pot each time a member fishes in a tournament. The first club member that catches a six-pound bass or larger, wins the pot. Currently, Foster said, the pot is now more than $900.

“That helps because you might be having a bad day on the lake, but you know you are one bite away from $900.”

Dixie Bass Club also has three members below the age of 16. They do not pay monthly dues, but they must fish with an adult member.

Foster said he joined a bass club when he was 16.

“Back then it was called the Miss-Lou Bass Masters,” he said. “My dad was very instrumental in me fishing with him.”

The main purpose of the Dixie Bass Club is to have fun, Foster said.

“One thing that makes a difference is we fish for fun. Some of our members are in three or four clubs, but in this one, we go out for fun,” Foster said. “We go out there for fun, sportsmanship and to have fun on the lake. Some clubs are more money oriented because of size, but we really do fish for fun.”

Carrol Ray Huff, who is a member of the River Cities and Borderline bass clubs, said River Cities also hosts a night tournament at the Natchez State Park in late July or early August called the Moon Light Hog Hunt.

“I try to schedule the tournament as close to a full moon as I can,” he said.

Huff said the River Cities Bass Club has an annual competition for angler of the year. He said an established point system keeps track of everyone in the club, and how they finished in the club’s 10 tournaments. At the end of the year, whoever has the most points wins the title.

In River Cities’ tournaments, guests are only allowed to fish for the big fish of the day. Huff said this keeps people who might know a certain lake very well from entering that particular tournament and winning all the prize money.

“The competition around here is pretty tough,” he said. “And not too many want to give up a hot spot.”