Big Bass Club Sherman Championship at the Sherman Reservoir

The Big Bass Club Sherman Championship unfolds on July 12, 2026, across 2,845 acres of central Nebraska water at Sherman Reservoir, five miles northeast of Loup City. Anglers of all ages and experience levels are welcome to compete for prizes across this singular landscape where loess canyons plunge into the reservoir’s five major bays, creating 77 miles of shoreline—second only to Lake McConaughy among Nebraska’s lakes. The day begins at dawn when competitors launch into waters known for walleye, crappie, white bass, channel catfish, and largemouth that patrol the flooded timber and submerged structure. Following the weigh-in ceremony, the celebration continues with live music, food trucks, artisan vendors, children’s activities, and a fireworks display that ignites the prairie sky after dark.

Sherman Reservoir owes its existence to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which completed the earthen dam in 1962 by impounding Oak Creek—a waterway that runs dry except after rain. The lake’s real lifeblood flows from the Middle Loup River, diverted eighteen miles northwest at Arcadia Dam and channeled into the reservoir where it backs into the loess canyons that give Sherman its distinctive maze of coves and inlets. The dam rises 134 feet and stretches 1,912 feet across a landscape first homesteaded in the 1870s by settlers who declared the Middle Loup Valley the “garden spot of the world.” Today the Farwell Irrigation District and Loup Basin Reclamation District operate the reservoir, which still provides water to 49,000 acres of surrounding farmland while hosting tournaments that draw anglers from across the Great Plains.

The surrounding 4,721 acres of public land frame this water in native prairie where pheasant, quail, white-tailed deer, and wild turkey thrive among cottonwood draws and upland grasses. Sherman County itself carries the name of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, who once commanded cavalry in Nebraska, and the county seat of Loup City has proclaimed itself the “Polish Capital of Nebraska” since Governor Jim Exon made it official in 1971. Descendants of Polish immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s still fill the pews at St. Josaphat’s Catholic Church, where stained glass windows salvaged from the original tornado-destroyed sanctuary commemorate family names like Kowalski and Skibinski—the same surnames you’ll find on tournament rosters and in the grandstands.

Trade Winds Marina anchors the north side of the dam with a full-service café serving lakeside burgers, cold beer, and all the tackle essentials, its pavilion offering panoramic views across the water where your catch may have just come from. In Loup City proper, the Loup City Diner on O Street dishes up home-style cooking—chicken fried steak, daily specials, and Sunday breakfast buffets that fuel anglers before they hit the water—while the Colony Bar & Grill offers evening fare in a family-friendly atmosphere with a game room to occupy young tournament fans. For provisions or a post-weigh-in meal with that Great Plains country sensibility, these establishments deliver the warmth that small-town Nebraska does best. Book your stay now on Lake.com and discover why this reservoir carved into the loess hills has become a treasured destination for anglers seeking both solitude and community on the water.