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Weekend Tournament Rules

RULES: The following rules will be interpreted solely by the officials and their decisions will be final.

ELIGIBILITY: All persons who have paid their entry fee. Minors accompanied by a parent or guardian are eligible. A maximum of two persons per boat. One person from a team will be allowed to fish alone no more than twice during the nine weekend tournaments when his partner is unavailable to fish that tournament.

TOURNAMENT HOURS: Safe light to 3:00 pm. Tournament hours may be altered for safety or convenience reasons. All boats must be inside the no-wake buoys by the time announced for each tournament.  Any boat arriving inside the buoys after that time will be disqualified.  

TIES: All ties will result in the money from the two places in question being added together and divided evenly between the two places.

TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT: Only artificial baits and lures are permitted except for pork rind products. All bass must be caught on rod and reel from your boat during tournament hours.

BOAT AND MOTOR: All boats must be powered by a gasoline motor and be equipped with an aerated livewell that will adequately keep five keeper bass alive.

SCORING: Five (5) fish limit per boat. Only largemouth, spotted or small mouth bass which are legal 15 inch keepers will be weighed. SHORT FISH: will result in a 2 pound deduction from the total stringer weight (not big bass) and loss of the short fish. DEAD FISH: will result in a 1 pound deduction from total string weight.  If the dead fish is the only fish weighed then it will come off of that weight which could affect big bass standings.  

BIG BASS: Only one fish per team will be weighed for big bass.

CHECK IN TIME: The tournament will end at 3:00 PM unless announced differently at take off. All boats entering the no wake after this time will be disqualified.

PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS:  There will be no fishing within 50 feet of any gas dock.  No fishing will be allowed behind the docks at Campbranch or Little Platte marinas.   No boats will be allowed behind the docks at Campbranch or Little Platte.   Casting behind the docks at Campbranch or Little Platte is also not permitted.    Anything inside the no wakes at Little Platte cove is also off limits.  That is from the point on the North side to the break wall on the South side.   This includes casting inside of the no wake area even if your boat is outside the no wakes.  Any area deemed off limits by the MDC or Corps of Engineers.

SAFETY: Each contestant must wear a personal flotation device that is snapped or zipped any time the combustion engine is in operation and the boat is moving above an idle speed.   All state and federal boating regulations will apply.

PROTESTS: Must be presented to the tournament director prior to the conclusion of weigh-in or it will not be considered.

POLYGRAPH TEST: The tournament director will randomly and at his discretion require any team to take a polygraph test.  Anyone who refuses the test will forfeit all winnings and be banned from any future tournaments.

POINTS SYSTEM: 75 points will be awarded to the winner of each tournament. Points will decrease by 1 per place for each team that weighs in a legal fish. All teams that do not weigh in a fish will receive 20 points. The team member designated as boater will be the individual receiving the points. You must declare a partner in writing upon the conclusion of the tournament series. A partner may be anyone who has fished at least two Thursday night or weekend tournaments.

ENTRY REFUNDS: Prepaid entry’s will be refunded or moved to the next tournament with 24 hours prior notice to the tournament. When 24 hours notice has NOT been received all entries will be paid out at that tournament.

SPORTSMANSHIP: These rules shall apply to all tournament anglers when they come in contact with other tournament anglers, non-tournament fun fishermen and pleasure boaters:

As the water is public domain, all have the right of use. Your entry into a tournament gives you no extra privileges. All anglers will respect the rights of others to use or be on the water whether they are under power of trolling motor, tied up or drifting.

No tournament angler may put any other angler or boater in danger. They may not harass or encroach on others. Example: Go around the little old man by himself fishing down the bank. If you want to fish their, ask. He has as much right to that spot as you do.

AUTOMATIC FISH-OFF QUALIFICATION

Any team that fishes 7 of the 8 weekend tournaments, or 18 of the 20 Thursday night tournaments, will automatically qualify for the FISH-OFF!!! Those who qualify from Thursday nights will advance into the fish-off along with the qualifiers from the weekend tournament. The top 50% from each circuit will advance.