Tournament Rules

 

 

BRETT & BOOMER’S BIG OL’ BASS TOURNAMENT OFFICIAL RULES

  1. BASS TOURNAMENT DEFINED. Bass tournament shall be defined as a competitive event in which the practices collectively known as fishing are skillfully applied by participants to catch bass and present them for scoring by weight, length or other criteria to determine a winner or winners who receive certain awards and/or other recognition.
  2. ENTRY FEE of $155 per boat. You can register at 949starcountry.com. Deadline to register is April 20th at 5PM.  There is a $7 parking fee at the state park day of the tournament.  $9 if  you are from out-of-state.

 

  1. PURPOSE OF TOURNAMENT RULES. Tournament rules are adopted for the express purposes of providing equal opportunity for all participants to successfully apply their fishing skills and abilities, of improving the safety of both participant and non-participant users of the tournament area resources, and of providing for proper handling of the fish.

 

  1. AMENDMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS. Only the Tournament Committee of the 94.9 shall amend the Tournament rules. They are subject to interpretation only by the Tournament Committee, under the coordination and supervision of the Chairman. Decisions of the committee approved by the chairman shall be final. All tournament rules will be recommended to the Board for their approval or disapproval.

 

  1. BASS DEFINED Bass shall be defined as any of the species known as large-mouth bass (Micropterus Salmoides), smallmouth bass (Micropterus Dolomieu), spotted bass (Micropterus Punctulatus), all of which are of the genus, Micropterus, in the family, Centrarchidae, the fresh water sunfish.

 

  1. ETHICS~ SPORTSMANSHIP AND PERSONAL CONDUCT All 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. They shall yield to all other recreational users of the Tournament resource, sufficient distance or other courtesy to avoid interference with their activities. For example, duck blinds, which are occupied, on lawful duck hunting days, shall be given sufficient clearance to avoid interference with ducks approaching the blind in flight and to avoid danger from shot. Where a blind is situated in a narrow passage, boats shall move past them at no wake speed without stopping to fish. Drunkenness during the practice, competition and scoring activities will be cause for immediate disqualification. No alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in competition boats during competition hours. Participants shall yield to inspection by tournament officials at any time during the tournament.

 

  1. PRACTICE DAYS AND COMPETITION Tournament waters are open at all times to all competitors.

 

  1. TOURNAMENT WATERS Tournament waters shall be defined as all public waters which are accessible by boat from the tournament headquarters with the exception of the waters within one hundred yards of the headquarters location or such off-limits areas as may be designated and announced at registration time by the Tournament Committee. All fishing by participants shall be done from a boat on tournament waters and all participants and competition boats shall remain on tournament waters throughout the competition hours. Violators shall be disqualified for that day’s competition.You will be allowed to fish around the island.  The only stipulation is that, after 2:30pm, there will be no fishing inside the “no wake” buoys, due to flighting.**Lake fishing only.  No fishing allowed above the first set of falls**

 

  1. COMPETITION HOURS Competition hours shall be determined by the Tournament Committee and announced at registration. The hours may be changed by the committee as necessary because of changing conditions and with reasonable notice to participants during the tournament. Late arrival at the check-in point at the end of competition hours shall not be excused. No make-up time shall be granted for any reason to any participant who has been unable to compete during any part of the tournament.  Tournament hours are Safe Light to 3pm.

 

  1. WEATHER CONDITIONS Tournaments shall proceed as scheduled regardless of weather conditions, except that competition may be suspended or terminated by the Tournament Committee whenever it finds weather conditions to be hazardous. Competitors shall not fish during periods of suspension or after termination of competition. They may decline to compete without penalty only after the Tournament Committee has accepted their notice, given prior to withdrawing, that they believe weather conditions to be hazardous.

 

  1. SAFETY AND INSPECTION Boat lights must be turned ON at blast off.  Safety shall be the concern of first priority to all participants. Proof of boat insurance and fishing licenses must be shown before entering the water. All competition equipment shall be presented for inspection before the beginning of competition and all participants shall yield to inspection upon the request of tournament officials during the entire tournament event including scoring, award ceremonies, and the protest period and during the deliberation of any protests that may be registered by participants. Competition equipment found to be unsafe or unseaworthy by the Tournament Committee shall not be used in the tournament.

 

  1. SAFETY EQUIPMENT Participants, throughout the official practice and competition hours, shall whenever their primary propulsion engine is on/running, wear a vest type personal floatation device, or life jacket, which is approved by the United States Coast Guard. All Virginia laws pertaining to boating safety/equipment requirements must be met.  The kill switch must be hooked to your life jacket while your big motor is running.
  1. FISHING TACKLE Competition tackle shall be limited to casting, spinning and spin-casting rods and reels, and artificial lures. Live baits, or natural baits are prohibited and shall not be present in boats during competition except that skin, feathers and hair of non-aquatic animals may be used as lure components subject to approval by the Tournament Committee. As many sets of tackle, which include rod, reel, line and lure, may be kept in competition boats as participants’ desire. Only one such set may be in actual use at any one time.

 

  1. FISHING METHODS Trolling as a method of fishing shall be prohibited. Participants shall hook, play and land any fish they catch in competition, using no devices other than a landing net. All fishing must be done from the boat. Contestants must not depart from the boat to land the fish. Boats may not be trailered during tournament hours. Absolutely no ladders can be used during the tournament.

 

  1. CONTACT WITH OTHER BOATS No fishing shall be permitted within fifty yards of the anchored boat of another participant Anchored boats are defined as:  Anchor deployed with trolling motor up in the stowed position and/or Power Poles/Talons down/deployed with trolling motor up in the stowed position.  Anchored boats shall not restrict navigation through narrow channels to or from other tournament waters. Participants shall not approach closer than necessary or otherwise make physical contact with other boats or persons during competition hours for reasons other than emergencies. Any competitors’ boats seen in physical contact on the lake without the existence of an emergency will be disqualified from that day’s competition.

 

  1. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS Emergency conditions are defined as conditions which subject persons or property to imminent danger or conditions which are deemed by the Tournament Committee to be of emergency nature. Only under emergency conditions, or in cases where boats are disabled, may participants leave their boats. In cases of dire emergency or where safety is involved, both contestants must remain in the boat at all times. Under such conditions (dire emergency or safety), they may ride in other boats and bring their fish to the tournament headquarters for scoring subject to all requirements otherwise applicable. Contestants must call Tournament Directors to inform that they are riding to weigh in with another contestant.

 

  1. HANDLING OF FISH DURING COMPETITION Competition boats shall be equipped with a functional, adequate size aerated livewell.

 

  1. CHECK IN AND LATE PENALTY All competitors must check in with tournament officials at the official check-in site by the previously announced finish time. Failure to do so will result in loss of credits for that day’s catch. There will be no acceptable excuses for tardiness.

 

  1. HANDLING OF FISH AT CHECK-IN AND DURING THE WEIGH-IN All fish present in a competitor’s boat when he checks in at the check-in point become the property of the Tournament Committee. Discarding or transferring any fish will result in immediate disqualification. The practice of culling and measuring after check-in is prohibited. All fish that are alive at the completion of the scoring procedure shall be returned to the water by tournament officials except that the requests of governmental, education and research agencies may be honored, and trophy fish may be returned to the participants who caught them when they request them for mounting and display. Fish not judged by tournament officials to be alive shall be protected from spoilage, and disposed of as food, or otherwise in a manner, which complies with the law if; they are unfit for use as food.

 

  1. TOURNAMENT CREEL AND SIZE LIMIT At no time shall a team have more than five fish in the live well. Possession of more than five fish will result in disqualification. The minimum acceptable length of fish will be 12 inches. Any fish which does not meet the minimum acceptable length will be removed from the competitors catch and the competitor will be assessed a one-pound penalty for each short fish deducted from the total weight of his remaining legal fish. Any fish presented for weigh-in, which is judged to be dead will result in an 8-ounce penalty for each such fish, deducted from the total weight of fish.  Weight determined by collective weight of 5 fish.  You cannot cull a dead fish.  No dead fish can be weighed for Big Fish prize.

 

  1. SCORING Each team’s score will be the weight of the legal bass, minus penalties caught and kept during competition hours. The team with the greatest accumulated weight will be the winner. Total weights will be arranged in descending order for other places.

 

  1. TIES All ties will be determined first by the number of fish caught and then by the flip of a coin.

 

  1. PROTESTS AND PENALTIES Participants shall honor the letter and the intent of the Tournament Rules or they shall be judged to have violated them. All judgments are reserved to the Tournament Committee. Participants who suspect that the Tournament Rules have been violated may protest to the Tournament Committee at any time during the tournament or within 15 minutes after arrival at the tournament sight followed with a written protest within 15 minutes after closing the scales. Protests shall be decided by the Tournament Committee. Polygraph examination, administered by a qualified examiner shall be included among the methods available to the Tournament Committee for consideration in their deliberations. All participants shall be presumed to be familiar with the Tournament Rules and to have implied their consent and agreement to submit to polygraph examination when they affix their signatures to the official registration list. Polygraph examination may be requested only by the Tournament Committee. Refusal to submit to such examination will result in forfeit of any and all awards. Participants held by the Tournament Committee to be in violation of the Tournament Rules shall be penalized as specified in the rules. When a penalty is not specified for a violator the Tournament Committee has the discretion of determining what degree of penalty is appropriate for the violation.

 

  1. COMMUNICATION During competition days of the tournament, a competitor may not use a cellular phone, a CB radio, a VHF marine band radio, or any other type of communication device for the purpose of locating or catching fish. Contestants are permitted to transmit by radio or telephone only in the event of an emergency. Violators will be disqualified for that day’s competition.

 

  1. None of the above rules shall prohibit a properly designated tournament official from approaching or boarding any competitor’s boat at any time during the warm-up period or competition day.
  2. Prizes are as follows:
    1st Place: $10,000 and a trip for 2 to the CMA Festival (trip details will be provided closer to the tournament date)
    2nd Place: $2,500
    3rd Place: $1,000
    4th Place: $500
    5th Place: $300
    Largest Large Mouth: $500
    Largest Small Mount: $500
    ***Prize money will be split equally between the boater and partner.  Both will be responsible for taxes associated with their half of the prize.  In regards to the CMA Fest trip, the boater and partner will choose amongst each other who gets the trip
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