Every
fisherman that is a boater wishing to participate in
a Bay Area Bassmaster sanctioned event must provide proof
of current boaters liability insurance with no less than $300,000.00
in coverage.
Tournament Guidelines
1. The following rules shall apply to all regular tournaments
conducted by Bay Area Bassmasters, except for special tournaments
as deemed by the Tournament Committee.
2. By participating in any tournament conducted by Bay Area Bassmasters,
it is understood that the following tournament rules have been
read, agreed on, and shall be adhered to.
3. Interpretation and enforcement of these rules shall be left
to the sole discretion of the Tournament Director. Members of
the tournament committee present at the event may be consulted
if deemed necessary by the Tournament Director.
4. Protests
A. Protests of violations of the tournament rules may be made
to the Tournament Director or a member of the Tournament Committee
at any time during the tournament or weigh in, but must be made
within 15 minutes of the final fish being weighed. Protests made
more than 15 minutes after last fish weighed in will not be considered.
B. A formal protest shall require a $25.00 deposit or agreement
to forfeit 75 club points, which will be refunded should
the protest be upheld. In the event the protest is found
not valid
or overturned, money or points shall be forfeited and applied
to the Club’s General Fund.
5. The decision of the Tournament Director and/or Tournament
Committee shall be final in all matters.
6. Any member who receives a prize may be subject to a polygraph
test and shall forfeit any prize or points for refusal. Further,
each member entitled to compensation from a tournament shall
not consume any drugs or alcohol within 15 minutes of weigh in
and a check has been issued.
7. Checks will be issued 15 minutes after final weigh in. Once
a check is issued, the tournament is officially over and no protests
or changes may be made.
8. These rules are steadfast and not open for discussion
at regular club meetings unless all conditions are followed
under “Changes
to Rules”.
Team
Trail:
1. Teams will consist of only 2 members.
2. Should a team dissolve or separate, and both members wish
to remain members of the club, team points shall be split
evenly and awarded to each member.
3. Should a member of a team be absent from a tournament, an
alternate will be allowed to fish for that team, providing the
alternate is a paid member of the club.
4. Once a member, any member may fish as an alternate, and
may fish for any team in the club. While designated an alternate,
the
alternate member
is not
allowed
to accumulate
any club points.
5. No Alternate who joins the club after October 15th will be
allowed to fish in the Club Classic.
6. During meetings and votes, each club member present will be
recognized as an individual and allowed their own voice and vote.
Teams are a term used only for tournaments.
7. Any two different full time team members that choose to
fish together must split Team Angler of the Year (TAOY) points.
The exception is if a full time team member chooses to fish
with a designated full time alternate the points would go to
the full time team member. A full time alternate is defined
as a member not designated to any team. A full time team member
is defined as a listed member of a team.
Safety:
1. Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times. A violation
of state or local boating laws as well as any conservation laws
resulting in a written citation shall result in disqualification
from the event.
2. Each angler is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life
vest at all times the combustible engine is running, beginning
when boats are called and launched in the morning, and ending
once the teams chip has been placed on the board.
3. Tournament hours shall be safe light (Discretion of Tournament
Director) to 3:00 P.M., unless approved by the tournament committee
and a weigh in time stated at the pretournament meeting.
4. Each boat must be properly registered and have all required
Coast Guard safety equipment. In addition, it must have a functional
livewell space, properly aerated to adequately maintain a live
limit of all fish caught during the tournament.
5. Navigation lights must be used at the start of each tournament
and remain on until the shoreline, on the opposite side of the
lakes becomes easily visible.
6. Keeping in mind children may be present, the use of drugs
or alcohol is not allowed during tournament hours or during the
weigh in.
7. Kill switches must used in all boats in the adult club, and
must be used in all boats over 40hp in the adult child tournament.
8. Stick or Tiller steered boats over 40hp are strictly prohibited.
9. As a non-profit group, it is up to the desecration of the
boat owner as to the amount of insurance carried, as long
as he meets the clubs minimum policy requirement of $300,000.00.
Bay Area Bassmasters does not provide insurance, and is not
responsible
for any accident
or injury incurred during a tournament.
Tackle and Equipment:
1. Only Casting, Spinning, or Spincasting rods (Not exceeding
8’ in length) may be used. Any other type of rod or
reel is prohibited. Numerous rods may be rigged and ready
to use,
but only one rod per person is permitted to be in use at
any one time.
2. Only artificial lures may be used. No live or prepared baits
may be used with the exception of commercial pork rinds.
3. All fish must be caught live and in a sporting manor. Anyone
found guilty of snatching or snagging visible fish will be disqualified.
4. When fishing for bedding fish. Fish must be hooked inside
the mouth to be a legal fish.
5. Gaffs to land fish are strictly prohibited. Every attempt
shall be made to land a fish in a manner that will not harm the
fish and allow for a live release. The use of a landing net is
allowed to boat a fish.
Tournament Rules
1. Team entry fees shall be $50.00 per team and an optional
$10.00 for the Big Bass Pot (Strickly a side bet and not mandatory
to fish).
2. No boat shall fish within 50 yards of another boat who is
anchored and with the trolling motor up.
3. No trolling is allowed.
4. No leaving the boat for any reason unless it is a dire emergency.
5. Fishing is only allowed in waters accessible to all fishermen
6. Sequence of boat launch shall be conducted by a draw at the
meeting prior to each tournament. Teams not present at the meeting
will be launched, following those in attendance at the meeting,
in order their entry fees are received.
7. Withdrawals from the tournament must be made to the secretary
by 9:00 PM on the Thursday before the tournament or forfeit their
entry fees.
8. Each team will be issued a chip according to boat launch
number. This chip must be posted on the tournament board, located
at
the weigh-in site at the time of weigh-in. Any boat leaving
early and not posting chip will be disqualified and will not
receive
tournament points. Teams leaving early may elect to pass
their chip to another team to be posted at weigh-in, and will
still
receive tournament points. This rule is for the safe return
of each and every member of the club.
9.
Any team who can not make a scheduled meeting to pre-pay prior to a tournament,
must notify the club secretary, president, or tournament director,
by no later than 9:00 pm Thursday before the tournament. If
this if followed, then we will accept the payment of your entry
fee at the ramp the day of the tournament. No exceptions to
this rule will be allowed.
10. Minimum fish size will be 12" and no limit on oversize fish if exemptions are issued. If exemptions were not given the minimum size limit shall be 14" and
Florida size limits will apply. If you are late and do not
get the exemption certificate you must obey Florida law size
limits for that lake. Only one courtesy measurement will be
allowed per team. You must ask for the courtesy before your
fish are in the weigh basket.
11. The Board of Directors reserves the right to refuse membership to anyone.
Point System:
2 point systems have been implemented into the club.
1.
Team Anglers of the Year
Team Anglers of the Year points will be awarded based on team
participation, and placement in each tournament they fish. Point
system is as follows; 60 points for 1st place, 59 points for
2nd, 58 points for 3rd, and so forth on down the rest of the
places in decreasing increments of one point per position. Teams
weighing in the largest bass of the tournament (Big Bass) will
receive and an additional point. Lastly, All teams participating,
irregardless if they present fish at weigh-in will receive
4 participation points.
2. Sportsman
of the Year (Designated to acknowledge the most dedicated club member)
Sportsman of the Year points is awarded to each member of the club for participation
in every club sanctioned event.
A. Every meeting shall award the member present with 10
points.
B. Children’s events and meetings shall earn 10 points
each.
C. Volunteering in a club approved activity such as a club
kids event or a Fish and Wildlife event that
is broken down into shifts, members shall be awarded 5 points
per shift, with a maximum allowable of 10 points per day. “Hopefully
this does not deter you from volunteering for an additional shift
if 3 are in place”.
Penalty Points:
1. Every attempt shall be made to keep each and every fish
caught, living and releasable. Each legal fish presented
at the scales,
as a dead fish, deemed dead by the Tournament Director,
shall access a penalty of .25 lbs.
2. Late Penalty: any team who does not have their chip
placed on the board at weigh in shall be considered late
and will be
accessed a 1-lb. penalty for each minute they are late.
After 15 minutes, the team will be disqualified.
3. All fish will be checked on a "Golden Rule". If a short fish is
brought to the scales and you did not ask for a "courtesy" measure
your team will be pentalized and will lose the weight of not only the short fish
but also lose the weight of your largest fish being weighed in.
Ties:
1. In the event of a tie for first place, 1st tiebreaker will
be number of fish, 2nd tiebreaker will be weight of big fish.
Any place thereafter shall be number of fish. If still a tie
points for that position and next consecutive position shall
be combined and split evenly as well as any monies.
2. Ties for Big Fish shall split the money.
Off
Limits:
All tournament waters are off limits entirely
from sundown on the Friday before the tournament untill safe
day light on Saturday of the tournament.
Payback:
The payback shall be as follows, 80% payback for tournament.
20% shall go to the Classic Fund.
Classic:
To qualify for the Club Classic, at least one member of the
team must fish seven (7) of the ten (10) tournaments.
Sportsmanship:
1. The focus of this club is to promote tournament fishing. Children
may be present and it is of the utmost importance that each and
every member of the club retains sportsman like conduct. Failure
to do so may result in disqualification.
Changes to the Rules
1. Changes to the rules can only be made by the tournament committee
at a regularly scheduled meeting and by a majority vote of
those members present.
2. Any active member of the club may make suggested changes.
However, a suggested change must be made in writing at least
one month prior to the next tournament committee meeting. The
suggested rule change will then be brought up in the next regular
club meeting and any member of the club may make a statement
regarding the rule change.
3. The Tournament Committee will take a vote on the suggested
change at their next scheduled meeting, and the decision of the
tournament committee shall be final.
Should
any discrepancy arise not covered in the above rules, Bay Area
Bassmasters retain the right to revert to the suggested rules
of the BASS National Federation Tournament Rules
Updated
01/04/2008 for 2008 Season
