2008 TOURNAMENT RULES
AND REGULATIONS
1. RULES CHANGES: Rules may be changed by the board. Members must approach
the board with potential rules changes. Board may approve or reject proposed
rules changes. Rules will be enforced by the club officers. The decision of the
club officers will be final in all matters.
2.
PARTICIPANTS & ELIGIBILITY: Participants for the club tournaments must be paid up
member or a guest. The fee for the
tournaments will be $60.00 per boat. ($10.00 to club+$30.00 prize fund+$10.00
big fish+ $2.50 AOY prize+ $7.50 Classic pot) Members who have not paid their
dues will not be eligible for points. Guest are not eligible for points.
3. PRE TOURNAMENT PRACTICE: Practice can be held anytime before 12:00a.m. of the
tournament date.
No practice between safe light Saturday
morning and 1 :00 p.m. Sunday for away tournaments.
4. REGISTRATION:
A. TOURNAMENTS: Individuals will have until the
morning of the tournament before blastoff to enter and pay fees. Tournament fees
will be carried over to the next tournament if you miss a tournament, after
having paid that entry fee. Any monies collected on the morning of the
tournament will be in an envelope with the anglers name affixed on the front
.Any angler wishing to fish who has not previously signed up to fish, must
notify the tournament director, prior to tournament day or will not be permitted
to fish. Anglers may only fish the Bass N Fools tournament and will not be
allowed fish another tournament simultaneously with the Bass N Fools tournament.
Those anglers wishing to fish another tournament may do so, however those
anglers will not be allowed to fish the Bass N Fools tournament and will not be
eligible for points during that tournament. This does not include special events
or functions which mayor could benefit the club and it's membership. Any
exceptions to this rule will be approved with a majority vote by the membership.
B. LAUNCH POSITIONS:
Launch positions
will be determined by draw at the tournament directors discretion. The last boat
drawn will call out boat positions the day of the tournament.
C. FISHING ALONE: Anglers may fish alone but will
be responsible for entire fee.
D. VOIDED
E. VOIDED
F. LATE ENTRANTS: Any team requesting to fish after
the draw can pay at ramp at morning of tournament.
G. GUESTS: Members may bring a guest to any
tournament, but will be limited to 2 guest signups per year, per team ,
regardless of whether or not guest fishes event ( not including away events).
The same guest may only fish two tournaments in a single calendar year. All
guests must be approved by at least two board members, one of which must be the
tournament director, or the President of the club. Guests should be limited to
potential new members or family members wishing to fish a Bass N Fools
tournament. No guest will be approved to fish a tournament who is in bad
standing with the club. The Executive Committee has final decision on which
guests can or cannot fish, and the executive committee reserves the right to
deny a guests approval to fish a tournament.
5. SAFETY:
Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times by all tournament
competitors. Each competitor is required to have a coast guard approved life
preserver. These preservers must be worn while any gas engine is running after
the official start of the tournament and until the official end of the
tournament. All boats having 75hp or more must have a functional kill switch
attached while running. Warnings will be given by the tournament director. The
3rd infraction will cost a member 5 points in the standings and 5 points for
every infraction thereafter.
6. SPORTSMANSHIP: Competitors in
all club tournaments or functions are expected to follow high standards of
sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of these
fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification.
Drunkenness or use of any illegal drug by a competitor during the tournament
will not be tolerated and shall be cause for automatic disqualification. Maximum
courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially with regard to boating and
angling in the vicinity of non competitors who may be on tournament waters. Any
act of a competitor which reflects unfavorably upon the clubs efforts to promote
fisheries conservation, clean waters and courtesy, shall be reason for immediate
disqualification.
7.
TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT: Only artificial lures are permitted. No live bait or
prepared bait will be permitted with the exception of pork rinds, etc... Only
one rod and reel may be used at a time. No fly rods are permitted. Use of air
boats are prohibited. Use of anything other than ROD AND REEL to catch fish is
prohibited. Trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited, except with the use
of electric trolling motors.
8.
BOAT AND MOTOR:
Gas or electric motors may be used for maneuvering. Any competitor may rent a
boat and motor. Such rental will be the sole responsibility of the competitor.
All competitors are responsible for their own transportation to and from the
tournament sites.
9. BOAT OPERATION AND EXPENSE: In view of the large expense involved in operating and
maintaining a fishing boat, it is the obligation of the team to share half the
expense for the competition day. (i.e. gas & oil). All sharing of expenses
shall be decided between the parties involved.
10. TOURNAMENT WATERS: The official tournament waters are all bodies of water
reachable from the launch point without removing the boat from the water or
having to ford natural or manmade banks. Special off limit areas may be
announced prior to the tournament by the tournament director.
11. OFFICIAL CHECKPOINT: There shall be
only one official checkpoint in the morning and one official check-in at the
close of the tournament. This point will be designated by the tournament
director.
A. In case of an emergency causing the competitor to
return early and leaving the tournament area, notification must be given
verbally to a member, or a note left on one of the members vehicles.
B. Failure to comply with "paragraph A" above will result
in the following;
1.
First
time--loss of 10 points in club standings
2.
Second
time--may face disciplinary action.
C. Any competitors who are late for the official start of
the tournament must check in with another member fishing the tournament before
wetting a line, or leave a note on one of the members vehicles at time of
arrival.
12. QUALIFICATIONS & SCORING: Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye, Sunshine, Small
Mouth and Peacock(limited to 2), will be weighed. The limit will be combined
total of the listed fish above. No more than 5 fish per team. will be permitted
to be weighed, unless the state limit is less than 5, in which case the state
limit will prevail. All competitors are bound by the prevailing state statues
and regulations in which they fish. At no time will a competitor have in his
possession more than the limits described above. Tournament officials will
conduct checks for violations of this provision and in the event a competitor
has more then the above described limits in his possession, shall cull the
largest bass first, down to the limit described above. Only bass described under
rule 12 which measure 12 inches or more in length(with mouth closed and tail
fanned on a "golden rule" board shall be weighed in). Any competitor who
presents for weigh in any fish which fails to measure 12 inches will be
disqualified and will not receive any tournament points. Tournament director can
pre measure fish on request before weigh in. Dead fish brought to the scales
will be penalized .25 lbs per dead fish. Tournament standing, auxiliary awards
and final winners for monthly competition shall be determined by the sum of the
points for total weight of catch.
Points for catch will be as follows: 50
points for 1 st, 49 for 2nd, 48 for 3rd, etc with a minimum/cutoff of 15 points
for catching a 12" fish.
Teams who weigh in no fish will be
awarded 5 points for their participation. There will be a limit of two trophy
fish for each individual per year. The trophy size will be at the discretion of
the tournament director and executive committee based on an individual basis.
The club will keep records of all trophy fish. Two tournaments will be dropped
each year with the points being awarded to the best 10 tournaments. Tournament
director may declare special size limits for specific venues if required by
law.
13. TIME:
Time will be from safe daylight until 3:00p.m; except for (1)tournament per year
which may have P.M. hours. Any
competitor arriving after 3:00p.m. will be penalized one(1) pound per minute
from the catch. After fifteen(15) minutes, the catch will be disqualified. Safe
light will be determined by the tournament director. Weigh in times can be
changed by the tournament director with a majority vote of the participants. The
weigh in time for the away tournaments is 3:00p.m. on Saturday and 3:00 p.m. on
Sunday. In case of a breakdown, catch can be transferred to another boat, with
one man accompanying the catch while his partner stays with the disabled boat.
If fishing alone, fish may be transferred to another boat for weigh-in.
14. TIES:
In case of ties, awards will be split.
Points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc...will be awarded equally with both anglers getting
50 points for 1st, etc.etc.etc... In case of a tie in the year end top 10 teams,
which will determine the competitors for the Bass N' Classic, a 10th place tie
will be broken by comparing the total weight caught for the entire year of the
two tied teams, with the largest weight being used as the deciding factor for
the 10th place team.
15. PAIRING OF CONTESTANTS: Each competitor
will arrange his/her own transportation. Tournament Officials will have no
responsibility for finding missing partners, it is suggested that a minimum of
30 minutes is required for preparation prior to blast-off.
16. INSPECTIONS: None of the
above stated rules shall prohibit a properly designated tournament official from
approaching or boarding any competitor's boat at any time.
17. PROTEST:
There are two opportunities to protest. The first is prior to the morning
blast-off for violations before the star1 of the tournament. The second will be
before the official results are announced at weigh-in. If there are no protests;
once the awards are made, the results are official. All protests will be settled
by the officers within 48 hours of the protest.
18. MONTHLY PRIZE MONEY: From the $60.00 per team,
payout will be as follows:
$10.00 goes to the club
$30.00 will be split between prize pool as listed
below.
$2.50 for AOY pot
$7.50 for Classic pot.
$10.00 for big fish. 1st getting 70%, 2nd getting
30%
Prizes will be paid in cash at the monthly meeting.
All division of prizes to be between the parties
involved.
|
# of
Teams |
|
Places
Paid |
|
% of Prize
Pool |
|
25 + |
|
Normal 5 |
|
40%, 25% ,20%,10%,
5% |
|
20-24 |
|
4 |
|
42%, 26%, 21% , 11% |
|
15-19 |
|
3 |
|
46 %, 30 % , 24% |
|
10-14 |
|
2 |
|
60 % , 40 % |
|
Less then 10 |
|
1 |
|
100% |
19. YEAR END AWARDS: Trophies will be awarded for "Team of the year," 1st
runner up, 2nd runner up and top 10, based on year end total points. Also, a
trophy will be awarded for the largest bass caught during the 12 month period. A
$12.00 big fish pot will be awarded to the largest bass for the year.
20. BASS N' CLASSIC: The year end
classic will be determined by the top 10 members with the highest point total at
the end of the year. Location of the classic will be determined by the top 10
qualifiers. The classic purse will consist of remaining monies after all
expenses are paid. The CLASSIC winner will receive a trophy in addition to cash
awards. Any ties for the year end BASS N' CLASSIC will be decided by the
tournament director, by comparing the total weight caught for the year by each
of the tied teams, with the tenth place being awarded to the angler with the
heaviest weight between the two teams that are tied. Number of eligible entries
for Classic may be changed due to size of
membership.
A. Classic Payout (based on $5,000
purse)
1st.-$1,500;
2nd-$800.00;3rd-$650.00;4th-$500.00;5th-$400.00;6th-$275.00;7th-$250.00;8th-$225.00;9th-$200.00;10th-$200.00
21. TOURNAMENTS: The tournament sites will be determined
by the membership by the December meeting. The dates of the tournaments will be
determined by the tournament director. Sunday is the designated day for the one
day tournaments except for pm events, which will be held on Saturday. Tournament
sites may be changed by the Executive Committee due to water levels, weather
conditions, safety issues or any other situation which pose a hazard to the
club. The Executive Committee must vote and majority rules to change a
tournament site.
22. TOURNAMENT SITE RESTRICTIONS: Tournaments will not be held more than three times at the
same site in one year. Note: all bodies of the water north of Okee-tantie
(Lake Okeechobee) will be considered an away
tournament.
23. FEE
EXCEPTIONS :
1. Waive $ 30.00 Yearly Dues for all
board members.
2. Waive $ 30.00 Yearly Dues for all
members with 10 or more years of consecutive
membership.
3. Waive Tournament Fees for Team of the
Year.
24. Points for
volunteers : All members who volunteer
and participate in the preparation , running , or promotion of Club Open
Tournaments will receive 5 BONUS points , awarded at the discretion of the
board. ( talking about is not considered promotion
)
25. Donations
for Open Events : All members are
responsible for securing a donation of products ,gift certificates, or something
in the minimum amount or value of $20 per Club Open
Event.
26. Start
Position for Tournament Director : Tournament Director will always draw boat # 1 except in
Classic.
27.TEAM FORMAT
A. Teams must be
comprised of Bass’n Fools members in good standing.
B. Partner
changes not allowed after 8th tournament of the
year.
C. Teams are
allowed (1) partner change for year; if more than (1) change is required then
points will start from that point at zero.
D. If team
splits, member who stays with the club will keep points. If both members stay
points will be split evenly. However, members must declare their intention to
continue participating by the next meeting. Participation will be judged by
fishing a minimum of 2 of the next 3 scheduled tournaments. Failure to
participate will cause points at time of split to be given to the member still
participating.
E. Members
fishing alone may form a team up to the 8th tournament of the
year.
F. All changes in
teams, partners, and division of points must be approved by
board.
