The 2026 Showdown ran on October 24. Next year’s date, registration, and rules will be posted here when registration opens.

An inshore tournament on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, run by Brown Water Banter. Sheepshead is the main event.

Payouts

Division	1st	2nd	3rd
Sheepshead	$2,000	$900	$700
Speckled Trout	$500	$200	—
Redfish	$500	$200	—
Flounder	$500	$200	—

Rules

• All state and federal laws apply.
• If fishing from a vessel, everyone aboard over 12 years old must be registered in the tournament.
• Anyone fishing from a vessel must launch from and return to a Mississippi launch or harbor. Fishing from land or pier, the fish must be caught in Mississippi.
• All participants must be registered before the end of the captain’s meeting, except kids 12 and under in the free kids’ event.
• An angler must be registered in the main sheepshead event to enter any other division.
• Fishing may begin at 12:01 AM on October 24, 2026.
• Scales are open 4:00 to 5:00 PM. You must be in line when the scales close to be eligible.
• At no time may two boats touch.
• Heaviest fish wins. A tie goes to whichever fish was weighed in first.
• All fish must be in acceptable, edible condition, well handled and properly iced. No frozen, gaffed, gigged, shot, or mutilated fish.
• All fish must be caught on rod and reel.
• All fish are subject to random gutting and inspection. Refusing inspection disqualifies the fish.
• All fish must meet the State of Mississippi minimum length requirement.
• Anglers may weigh one fish per category.
• Redfish division is the heaviest redfish measuring 30 inches or shorter, using the tail pinch and swipe method.
• Kids division — 12 and under, sheepshead only, no registration required. First place takes the kids’ belt, and first through tenth place each receive a medal.
• Children 12 and under may fish the free kids’ event or a registered event — not both.
• The tournament may keep any fish entered for display.
• Any winner may be contested for cheating by another registered angler. Contests must be in writing and given to a tournament director before the scales close.
• A contested winner must take a polygraph within 72 hours. Failing or refusing it forfeits the win and carries a lifetime ban from future tournaments. The contesting party pays for the polygraph, in full, when the written contest is submitted.
• Prizes may be held up to 7 days.
• If no legal fish is weighed in a category, that prize money rolls into next year’s pot.
• Participants enter at their own risk. The tournament committee, sponsors, and volunteers are not liable for loss, damage, negligence, harm, or injury to anyone for any reason.
• Violating tournament rules or any state or federal law may disqualify you from this and future tournaments.
• The tournament committee — Jared Seymour, Joey Cates, and the official weighmaster — may reject or disqualify any fish or angler at its discretion, and may alter any rule as it deems necessary. Its decision is final.
• A final list of rules will be given at the captain’s meeting.

---

Brown Water Bash

The Brown Water Bash, formerly the Bay Rat Bash, is a bay tournament — fishing is inside Biloxi Bay. It targets the fish most Coast anglers actually catch, across four inshore divisions. The name changed in 2026; the tournament did not.

The 2026 Bash ran on April 18. Next year’s date, registration, and rules will be posted here when registration opens.

Payouts

Division	1st	2nd
Hardhead Catfish	$1,000	$500
Black Drum	$400	$100
White Trout	$400	$100
Gafftop Catfish	$400	$100