EFFECTIVE
BENNING
BASS CLUB
TOURNAMENT
RULES
I.
PURPOSE:
a.
The purpose of these rules is to prescribe the procedures that will
govern all club tournaments.
b.
These rules are not subject
to protest or change.
c.
Interpretation of these rules shall be left exclusively to the
Tournament Committee, and their decisions shall be final in all matters.
II.
TOURNAMENTS:
a. Tournament Schedule will be determined by
the Tournament Director & committee.
b.
The Tournament Director will provide to the Executive Committee, for
approval a tentative schedule of dates the monthly tournaments that will be
held from Jan through Dec.
c.
The location of the monthly tournaments will be determined by the
Tournament Director, approved by the Executive Committee, and published by the
Tournament Director.
d.
The Tournament Director will determine the check-in, start, and
weigh-in time, type of tournament, launch site and the size limit. This information will be disseminated to the
members at the regular club meeting prior to the tournament date (s).
e.
The Tournament Director will present next years Tournament schedule to
the General Membership NLT the first meeting in December.
f.
The Tournament Director or his direct representative will act as the
official time keeper at all tournaments, and will announce the time prior to
the start of the first boat.
III.
REGISTRATION:
a.
Members will register for the monthly tournament at the club meeting
preceding the tournament or prior to the launch of the tournament.
b.
Members who are unable to attend the club meeting may notify any
member, in advance of the meeting, to act as his/her proxy and be included in
the drawings and pairings.
c.
The Tournament Director will handle other late entries on a case by
case basis.
IV.
TOURNAMENT PAIRING AND START
ORDER:
a.
All boater and no-boaters names will be placed in separate containers.
b.
All boaters will be drawn prior to any no-boaters being drawn. The
first boater drawn will be, the 2nd boater drawn will start second,
3rd drawn will start third, and this will continue until no more
boaters are available.
c.
Upon the boaters starting order being determined, all boaters names
will be put back into the container. The no-boaters will then proceed to draw
out a boaters name. Whatever boater the no-boater draws will be his/hers starting
order. For example, if no-boater draws John Doe which is boater #7, then that
no-boater will fish from John Doe’s boat in the #7 spot. This will cause the
starting order to have a random draw, spreading the no-boaters through out the
field.
d.
On a 2-day tournament, the process will be repeated for the second day.
It is up to the Tournament Director to commence the second day drawing at the
meeting or at the ramp after the first days weigh-in
e.
After the draw is complete the lone boaters can have three options:
1)
The lone boater can request to fish a guest (see rule IV e3).
2)
The lone boater can fish with any (any order) other lone boater in the
club. If this option is chosen, there is still a two time limit for any member
to fish with any other member in the club per calendar year. Whosever boat the
two lone boaters decide to fish out of will be the boater and they will assume
that persons position in the starting order.
3)
The lone boater may chose to fish by himself.
f.
A member can only fish a guest if there are enough boaters for all
non-boaters to fish with prior to the tournament
draw. Members may request to fish with a guest for no more then, any not
consecutively, two times per calendar year. Once the member has fished with a
guest two times, he must go through the pairing sequence. If at that point the
member still has not been paired with a non-boater, he may request to fish a
guest.
1)
If a member wants to fish a guest, he’ll bring it up to the tournament
director prior to the draw
2)
If the member has officially requested to fish a guest, he will be
skipped in the pairing process (if it is one of the two allocated times). If
all other lone boaters are paired and a late registration is received, the
guest will be bumped.
3)
If the member has gone through the drawing and then request to fish a
guest, the member that registers late will automatically be paired with the
next available boat, this could include bumping the guest of that member.
However; all attempts will be made to match him with a lone boater. All guests
will be locked into position at 1900 the night prior to the tournament. This
does not take into consideration that a broke boat on a two day tournament will
still precede over all guests.
4)
Guests will not be allowed to win any money from a tournament held by
the BBC and are not allowed to fish from their own boats. All boats entered in
a BBC conducted tournament will be that of an active member.
g.
The starting order will be reversed the second day of a two day
tournament.
h.
The same two members will not be paired as partners more than twice
during a calendar year unless deemed in the best interest of the club by the
Tournament Director
V.
LATE REGISTRATION AND
PAIRING:
a.
After the registration and drawing for partners is completed, any
member wanting to fish in the tournament will contact the Tournament
Director. The Tournament Director will
pair the member with the first boater without a partner (refer to IV h).
b.
Any member that does not enter the registration and drawing, either in
person or by proxy at the club meeting proceeding the tournament, will not be
permitted to use his/her boat during the tournament unless deemed in the best
interest of the club by the Tournament Director.
VI.
TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEES:
a.
The tournament entry fees are $15
for one day and $30 for two-day.
b.
Any member who has not paid their entry fee prior to the start of the
tournament will not be awarded any points and will not compete.
VII.
NO SHOWS FOR TOURNAMENT
(EXCUSED):
a.
If a member(s) has registered and cannot fish for any reason, it is
his/her responsibility to notify the Tournament Director and his/her partner. Contact must be made with the Tournament
Director NLT 1900 the day prior to the tournament.
b.
The Tournament Director will make appropriate changes in the tournament
pairings as deemed necessary.
VIII.
NO SHOWS FOR TOURNAMENT
(UNEXCUSED):
a.
If a boater does not show for the tournament, the boater will receive a
WARNING from the President
and his/her no-boater partner has the following options:
1)
Does not fish and receives 75 points (NO REFUND).
2)
Does not fish, request the entry fee be applied to another tournament
and receives 0 points.
3)
The Tournament Director assigns the no-boater (s) to a boater without a
partner in order of drawing. The
Tournament Director may assign the no-boater (s) to a boater that is willing to
fish three in a boat.
b.
If a no-boater partner does not show for the tournament, the no-boater
will receive a WARNING from
the President and his/her boater partner may fish the tournament alone.
c.
Entry fees are not refundable.
IX LATE (EXCUSED)
a.
This applies only to boaters and no-boaters that know in advance that
they will be late for the start of the tournament.
1)
Any boater that is aware of circumstances that may cause them to be
late for the start of the tournament must inform the Tournament Director and
make appropriate arrangements with his/her partner if applicable.
2)
Any boater permitted to start late will, conduct a safety inspection of
his/her boat. The boater will then upon
locating a club member have the safety inspection verified and may then
start fishing.
3)
The boater(s) will have the same weigh-in time as the other
contestants.
b.
This applies only to no-boaters that know in advance that they will be
late for the start of the tournament.
1)
Any no-boater that is aware of circumstances that may cause them to be
late for the start of the tournament must inform the Tournament Director and
make appropriate arrangements with his/her boater partner.
2)
Any no-boater permitted to start late will meet his/her boater partner
at a predetermined time and location.
The no-boater may start fishing and will have the same weigh-in time as
the other contestants.
X. LATE (UNEXCUSED)
a.
Any boater(s) not present at the start time and does not have a
no-boater partner; the rules in (IX a2
and 3) apply.
b.
If boater and no-boater partner arrives late together and does not
start with the rest of the members NO
WARNING is given and rules (IX
a2 and 3) applies.
c.
Any contestant who is not present at the start time will incur the
following penalties unless being late was caused by an incident beyond the
contestant’s control. Offenses will be
counted on a calendar year basis. The
tournament director/committee will impose the following punishment for
repeat offenders.
First
Offense---Warning
Second
Offense---forfeit
50% of points for participation and fish caught for that day.
Third
Offense---Forfeit
all points for that tournament.
d. At ooze off, if a boat number is called and the boat is not at the start point, that boat number will be called again, if that boat is not at the start point the boat will be passed. The next boat in the order will be called. The boat that was passed will ooze off last.
XI.
SAFETY:
a.
Safe boating and fishing conduct must be observed at all times by all
members.
b.
A safety inspection will be conducted on each boat prior to the start
of the tournament utilizing the safety checklist provided by the club. The inspection will be conducted by the
club safety committee or his designated representative and
the results of the inspection reported to the Safety or Tournament Director,
prior to the start of the tournament.
c.
Any boat that does not pass the safety inspection will not be used in
the tournament until the safety violation is repaired. In the case of burned out bow or stern light,
the boater will remain at the launch site until it is light enough that lights
are not required.
d.
Each contestant is required to wear a Coast Guard approved personal
floatation devise type vest any time the
combustion engine is operating. The personal
floatation device must be strapped, snapped, or zippered securely and remain so
until the combustion engine is stopped.
The boat operator must
have the kill switch attached to his/her person when the combustion engine is
operating.
e.
Alcoholic beverages in boats or the consumption of alcoholic beverage
during the tournaments are forbidden.
f.
All boats must have a BIA/USCG rating plate attached and the horsepower
is within that specified rating.
g.
Before a boater can fish his/her boat in a club tournament he/she must
have $300,000.00 of insurance or $100.000.00 of watercraft liability
insurance with a 1 million dollar umbrella Liability Policy covering the boat
and operator required by the GBCF.
h.
Failure to comply with these rules will result in disqualification: no
points awarded for the tournament and forfeiture of all entry fees.
XII. SPORTSMANSHIP:
a.
All members will display a high standard of sportsmanship, courtesy and
conservation at all times.
b.
Courtesy must be afforded to all personnel on the tournament waters
especially non-members with regard to angling and boating.
c.
Contestants will not litter the tournament waters. All litter will be retained and properly
disposed of at the conclusion of the tournament.
d.
A member will not offer any bass caught by him/her, be counted on the
score of another member.
e.
Any act by a member that reflects unfavorably upon the club shall be
reason for immediate disqualification, no points awarded for the tournament,
and forfeiture of all entry fees.
f.
Any contestant, who operates the boat in such a manner as to handicap
or back seat their partner is considered not practicing good
sportsmanship and rule (XII e), will apply.
XIII.
TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT:
a.
Only artificial lures may be used. No live bait or pre-packed bait will
be permitted with the exception of pork strips or rinds.
b.
Bait casting, spin-casting or spinning casting may be used. All other types are prohibited.
c.
Only one rod and reel combination is permitted (8-foot maximum length
from butt of handle to rod tip)“in
use” at any given time. All
other types prohibited. “In use” is defined as a rod and
reel with an artificial lure attached which was cast out. Lures that are hung on structure of any type
are considered “in use”. The lure must be removed from the structure
or the line broken off before another rod and reel combination is used.
d.
Legal rods and reels combinations may be in the boat and ready for use.
e.
All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting
manner. Anyone guilty of snatching or
snagging visible fish will have their day’s catch disqualified. When visually fishing for bedding bass, all
bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner
before being unhooked to be counted as a legal fish.
f.
Gaffs may not be used to boat bass or be permitted in the boat at any
time.
XIV.
BOAT TYPE, EQUIPMENT,
OPERATION, AND EXPENSES:
a.
Boat with stick steering, pontoon, or other cumbersome craft is
forbidden for use during a club tournament.
b.
All boats must be equipped with bilge pump and safety equipment as
specified by any local, state, or federal laws.
c.
All boats must be equipped with a live well and aeration system. Live wells and aerators will be checked to
ensure they are operating properly.
d.
A discussion must be held between the partners to schedule equal time
to fish their selected water and operation of the trolling motor. Distance traveled to the fishing locations
must be considered so as not to deprive either contestant fishing time.
e.
If a contestant waives their right to operate the trolling motor they
will.
f.
The no-boater partner will reimburse the boater partner a minimum of $30 per tournament day or practice day for boater expenses.
g.
The boater and no-boater may decide on a lesser amount of the minimum
if that amount is mutually agreeable between both parties.
h.
Transportation costs to and from the tournament launch site will also
be negotiated and considered between the two partners.
XV.
PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS:
a.
Fishing is not permitted within 50 meters of another member’s boat that
was first anchored. An anchored boat is a
boat that has the trolling motor in the stored position and the boat is held in
place by an anchor line.
b.
Fishing is not permitted within 50 meters of any gas pump.
c.
All angling must be done from the boat (trolling is not allowed). No contestant may exit the boat to land a
bass or fish any water not accessible by water.
d.
Trailering from the launch site is prohibited unless authorized by the
Tournament Director.
e.
The Tournament Director may designate other areas as being “OFF LIMITS” to fishing.
f.
Fishing will be only on the lake or waters described in the tournament
letters. There will be no “lock thru” unless authorized by
the Tournament Director.
XVI.
SIZE AND LIMIT OF CATCH:
a.
The Tournament Director, prior to each tournament, will determine the
size limit for a legal bass imposed by the State and inform the club.
b.
The tournament limit will be five (5) bass per angler per day. Only Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted, Shoal
or Red Eye Bass will be weighed.
c.
When an angler catches their 6th bass, a bass must be culled
immediately before another cast is made.
d.
Dead fish will not be
culled.
e.
If a member presents a bass that does not meet the State standards for
a legal catch, the Tournaments Committee will remove the illegal bass from the
member daily catch and assess a one- (1) pound penalty.
f.
If a member presents more than (5)
bass or the lake limit for weigh-in, the Tournament Committee will cull
down to (5) bass or the lake limit. (STARTING
WITH THE LARGEST BASS).
g.
Any member may request the clubs measuring board to check any bass that
he/she suspect may not qualify as a legal bass prior to presenting the fish for
weigh-in. Only personnel from the Tournament Committee will be allowed to
handle any bass during weigh-in to determine if the bass is legal.
h.
All bass measurements will be made on a flat measuring board.
i.
Bass will be measured with mouth
closed and by fanning the tail.
j.
Contestants who present bass for weigh-in, which fail to measure the LAKE
SIZE LIMITS shall accrue penalties at the rate of 1 pound for each such bass
and the lost of that bass.
k.
Anyone attempting to alter a fish will be subject to
disqualification. Any bass that appears
to have been mangled, mashed, mauled or otherwise altered will be weighed and
credited only at the discretion of weigh-in officials.
XVII.
CONSERVATION:
a.
Members are expected to keep their bass alive by use of a properly
aerated live well.
b.
For boats without separate live wells, markers such as bread ties,
safety pins, etc will be used to identify each members catch. The clipping off of any fin or physical
marking the bass or altering the anatomy of any
bass after it is removed from its natural habitat will be disqualified.
c.
All bass presented for weigh-in must be given to a member of the Tournament
Committee in a weigh-in bag with water.
The Tournament Director will furnish the plastic bags.
d.
All bass will be turned over to a member of the Tournament Committee
for weigh-in. The member is forbidden from handling the bass again unless
directed by the Tournament Committee.
Members of the Tournaments Committee will direct the angler to return
the bass back to its natural habitat or retain the bass for later use.
e.
Any bass retained by the Tournament Committee for later use becomes the
property of any member of the club. The
Tournament Director will designate one member of the club to maintain custody
and prepare the bass for later use.
f.
Dead fish or those that obviously cannot survive if returned to its
natural habitat will be returned to competitor who caught them. When a fish fry is scheduled, any member may
retain these fish for the fish fry.
g.
A member that expresses a desire to retain possession of a bass that
they consider a “Lunker” must
obtain permission from the Tournament Director or Committee members.
XVIII. SCORING:
a. The scoring
for the club will be based on a points system.
b. A member
will receive points as follows:
1) For attendance at regularly scheduled monthly
meetings, 15 points.
2) For attending any “special meeting” called by the
President, 30 points.
3) For any meeting missed while conducting business
associated with the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation, 15 points.
4) For participating in a club tournament members will
receive points based on their order of finish by the weight of bass weighed in.
Starting with 300 points for first place and descending downward at 5 point
increments by order of finish. Participants who do not weigh in fish will
receive 75 points for tournament participation.
c. A member
will receive penalty’s as follows.
1) For each dead bass presented for weigh-in, minus
0.25 of a
pound.
2) For being late for weigh-in time, minus 1 pound per
minute late up to a maximum of 15 minutes. After 15 minutes the entire weight
for that days catch is forfeited. The participant will receive 75 points for
the tournament. Boat, motor, or weather difficulties will not be an excuse for
tardiness. However, the only exception would be rendering assistance to
endangered persons and the Tournament Committee would make that determination
based upon the merits of the incident.
d. Weight
received minus any penalty will determine contestant placement and total amount
of points awarded for the tournament.
e. All ties for
tournaments and the end of the year will be decided by:
1) Most bass weighed in.
2)
Most bass weighed in alive.
3)
Person with the largest fish.
4) Coin toss conducted by a member of the Tournament
Committee.
f. Largest fish
ties: Split award and divided equally between the tied contest-ants.
g. In-case of
boat breakdown, one of the contestants in that boat may bag up both anglers
catch and return to the weigh-in site in another
boat in order to make weigh-in time. One contestant may stay with the
disabled boat. This is while his/her partner weighs in the fish. In the case
of a lone boater, the boater may bag up his catch and hand the bag over to
another contestant who will bring it in for weigh-in. The boater may stay with his boat.
XIX.
GRIEVANCE:
a.
Any grievance must be voiced to the Tournament Director prior to
departure from the tournament site.
XX.
AUTHORITY:
The Tournament Director or his designated representative may make any
temporary changes to these rules if it is in the best interests of the
club. An example of a temporary change
would be to allow two members to fish together the third time because one partner
did not show for the tournament. Another
example would be to allow a no-boater to use his/her boat (XI g) because of not enough boats.