TOURNAMENT RULES

INTERPRETATION: The Tournament Rules are subject to interpretation only by the Tournament Officials. The Tournament Director’s decision shall be final.
ELIGIBILITY: Participation in the tournament is open to anglers 16 years old or more and younger anglers if partnered with an adult.
ENTRY FEES: The entry fee is $100 per tournament per team, which includes big fish. 90% tournament payback and 100% big fish payback. $5 from each entry will go into the classic fund to be paid to the 1st and/or 2nd place teams at the classic.
TEAMS: Teams will register themselves as a team at the first tournament of the year they fish together. That team will accrue points in any tournament as long as at least one member of that team fishes in the tournament under the registered team name. A team member may fish by himself using the team name, but will pay the full ENTRY FEE or he may fish with a substitute as long as it is approved by the Tournament Director. The registered team must fish in at least 3 of the 4 qualifying tournaments to gain entry to the Classic Tournament. If both members of a team fish in a tournament, they must fish together in order for their points to count towards the Points Championship.
REGISTRATION: Register the morning of the tournament.
SPORTSMANSHIP: Participants shall observe high standards of ethics, sportsmanship, and personal conduct. They shall obey all of the laws and the authorities having jurisdiction in the tournament area. They shall keep themselves informed and aware of the rules, laws, and conditions applicable to the tournament. No alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in competition boats during competition hours. Competitors shall yield to inspection by Tournament Officials at any time during the tournament.
TOURNAMENT WATERS: Tournament waters shall be defined as public waters which are accessible by boat from the tournament headquarters. All fishing by participants shall be done from a boat on tournament waters. All participants and competing boats shall remain on tournament waters throughout the competition hours. Fishing on tournament waters shall not be permitted within 50 yards of another competitor’s boat, which was first anchored. Any such boat shall have its trolling motor retracted from the water. No such anchored boat shall permit selected competitors to fish within the 50-yard circle claimed by him or her to the exclusion of any other competitor. It is the responsibility of the anchored boat to make other competitors aware that he or she is anchored.
SAFETY: Life jackets must be on when the boat is on plane.
FISHING TACKLE: Shall be limited to casting, spinning, and spin-casting rods and reels and artificial lures. No live or dead bait is allowed. Animal skin (pork frogs for example), fur, and feathers may be used to dress artificial lures.
FISHING METHODS: Trolling is prohibited. Only one rod and reel per person may be actually in use at one time.
EMERGENCY CONDITIONS: Emergency conditions are those which subject persons or property to imminent danger or which are deemed by the Tournament Officials to be of an emergency nature. Only under emergency conditions, or in cases where boats are disabled, may participants leave their boats. Under such conditions, they may ride in other boats and bring their fish to the tournament headquarters for scoring.
FISH: Tournament limit will be 5 bass measuring 14 inches in length. The dead fish penalty is .25 pound per dead fish. Short fish, will not be weighed and 1 pound will be deducted from the total team weight. All fish must measure 14″ on a Golden Rule (mouth closed and tail pinched). No culling of fish at the dock after check-in. Bringing more than 5 fish to the weigh-in scales, will result in automatic disqualification.
TIMELINESS:  Any boat not in weigh-in area promptly at the appointed time will be assessed a penalty of 1 lb. for each minute late, disqualification after 15 minutes late.
SCORING: Competitor’s scores shall be the weight of bass they have caught and kept during the competition hours. 200 points to first place team, 199 to second, 198 to third and so on. If you do not weigh in any fish, you will not receive points. The team with the most points after the 4 qualifying tournaments will be declared the Points Champion. The Points Champions will receive a gift package from Mariner’s Landing and free entry into the Championship tournament.
TIES: In case of a tie, the tiebreaker will be big fish. If there is still a tie then the money and points will be combined and split equally.
PROTESTS: Participants who suspect that the Tournament Rules have been violated may file IN WRITING a protest with the Tournament Director within 15 minutes after that day’s weigh-in process and before awards begin. The Tournament Committee will decide all protests. Decisions of the Tournament Director are final.
VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES: Participants shall honor the letter and intent of the Tournament Rules or they shall be judged to have violated them. All judgments are reserved to the Tournament Officials. All participants shall be presumed to be familiar with the Tournament Rules. Participants held by the Tournament Officials to have violated the principles of fairness, sportsmanship, and ethical conduct explicitly or implicitly included in the Tournament Rules may be declared as disqualified.