SALT CITY BASSMASTERS

 

Tournament Rules

adopted July 1986

Revised January 08, 2008

 

 

1.       RULE CHANGES:

 

a.       The rules set forth herein are to apply to all club tournaments.  The interpretation shall lie solely with the tournament director and a committee selected by the tournament director.

 

b.       Rule changes will be presented to the tournament director and voted on by the tournament committee.  The tournament director will then present the rule changes to the membership.

 

c.       In the event of improper weather or other extenuating circumstances, tournament sites can be changed by a majority vote of tournament committee members that are present.

 

d.       In the event of rule changes, even if for only one particular tournament, it is the responsibility of the participant to ascertain and abide by such changes.

 

e.       Appeals may be made within thirty minutes of check-in time to the tournament director for consideration by himself and the tournament committee.

 

 

 

2.       PARTICIPATION:

 

a.       Participation in club tournaments is limited to paid members of Salt City Bassmasters. Potential members and guests may request to participate in club tournaments through the tournament director. He will base his decision on what effect it will have on all club members. Potential members and guests must pay an entry fee if they wish to compete for prize money, or they may go as an observer, not pay an entry fee but still fish if they wish. Their presence will be ignored in regard to the points standings and all other rewards.

 

b.       The tournament director reserves the right to assign the pairing of partners for the guest, if necessary.

 

c.       All participants must be 16 years of age or older.

 

d.     All Boaters must carry a Minimum of $300,000 Liability Insurance. A copy of the Declarartion Page of their Policy must be provided to the Tournament Director at or before the May Club meeting of each year.

 

 

 

3.       OFF LIMITS:

 

a.       All tournament waters will be off limits beginning at dawn on the Monday before the tournament.  Club members participating in the tournament who wish to enter the off limits area must notify the tournament director in advance or be automatically considered in violation of the off limits.  Bank fishing is also disallowed.  Minimum penalty for violation is disqualification for this and the following three tournaments.

 

 

 

4.       PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS:

 

a.       The tournament committee will select the tournament sites and schedule the tournament dates. The tournament committee shall schedule events where priority will be given to the Club Trail first(1st); the New York State Bass Chapter Federation second (2nd); other trails as they may be deemed appropriate.

 

b.       Boundaries will be established for all tournaments by the tournament director.  Tournament sites, dates, and boundary information will be distributed to members by the tournament director at the regular monthly meetings.

 

c.       No State or special tournament will be used as a club point tournament.

 

 

 

5.       FISHING RESTRICTIONS:

 

a.       Participants may not fish within 50 yards of another boat that was first anchored.  (anchored means - anchored with trolling motor removed from the water.)

 

b.       Participants may not fish within 50 yards of the weigh-in area, or as designated by the tournament director.

 

c.    Participants may not fish a gas pump, over the objection of the marina owner, employee, or customer.

 

d.       Participants may not fish in a marina, over the objection of the marina owner, employee, or customer.

 

PENALTY FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE (a - d) INFRACTIONS IS THREE (3) POUNDS.

 

e.       All fishing must be done from the boat.  Contestants must not leave their boat to land fish.  Boats must stay in the water during the tournament day.  All contestants must leave the official dock by boat.  (PENALTY - DISQUALIFICATION)

 

f.        Contestants may go ashore only by mutual consent, and must stay within sight of each other.  The partner who does not give consent, must clearly state this to his partner before he goes ashore.  (PENALTY FOR GOING ASHORE WITHOUT CONSENT IS TWO (2) POUNDS.)

 

g.       If a boat owner wishes to return to dock, or go ashore, it is suggested that he let his partner use his boat.  If this is done, the partner is permitted to fish alone.  The boat owner still receives a two (2) pound penalty if his partner does not consent to this arrangement.

 

 

 

6.       SCORING:

 

a.       Tournament standings will be determined by the pound and ounce weight of each competitor’s catch.  Only Largemouth and/or Smallmouth Bass will count.

 

b.       The competitor with the heaviest catch will be awarded 250 points.  The next heaviest catch will receive five points less.  This point reduction will continue until the last man with the lightest weight.  All other competitors who have not caught fish will be given 75% of the points given to the last man with fish.

 

c.       A four (4) ounce reduction of weight will be taken from the total weight for each dead fish.  A fish is considered alive if it displays any movement of any kind on its own during inspection at weigh-in.

 

d.       All competitors are bound by the statutes and regulations as they pertain to fishing in the State of New York.

 

e.       At no time shall competitor have reduced to possession more than five (5) bass.  If a sixth bass is caught, one bass must be released (culled) before fishing is resumed by that competitor.  Tournament officials will conduct checks for violations of this provision.  In the event a competitor has not reduced to possession of five (5) bass, the largest bass shall be culled first until the five smallest bass are left.  Competitors shall not cull dead fish.

 

f.        Only bass which measure 12 inches or more in length will be counted for weight.  Measuring shall be done with the mouth closed and the tail squeezed or rotated (revolved).  Measurement is to the farthest protrusion of the tail.

 

g.       Bass presented for weigh-in which fail to measure 12 inches shall accrue penalties at the rate of one (1) pound.

 

h.       Any bass that appears to be mangled, mashed or otherwise mutilated will be weighed at the discretion of the tournament director.

 

i.         An official 12 inch measuring device will be used at the weigh-in.  It is the responsibility of each contestant to check his own measuring device against the official one to be sure his will be accurate to it.

 

j.    Only your highest 4 points tournaments will count towards angler-of-the-year and the 6-person team. 

 

 

 

7.       TOURNAMENT TIES:

 

a.       In the event of ties during a tournament, the higher position will go to the angler with the most fish.  If a tie still exists, it will be recorded as such.

 

b.       The ties will be given all places from the tied position down until a place is taken up for each person included in the tie.  The total points for each place taken by the ties will be added up and divided by the number of positions.  This will become their point total for the tournament.

 

c.       The next position points will be the next position lower than used by the ties.

 

d.       Any prize money will be divided in the same manner.

 

 

 

8.       END-OF-YEAR TIES:

 

a.       In the event of ties at the end of the year, the higher position will go to the angler with the most fish for the year.  If a tie still exists, the total weight will be used.  If a tie still exists, it will be recorded as such (the dropped tournaments will not be taken into account.)

 

 

 

9.       PENALTIES:

 

a.       If any penalties exceed the amount of weight caught by a contestant, the maximum of eight (8) ounces will be carried over to the next tournament.

 

b.       The meaning of the phrase “in the check point area” will be defined by the tournament director for each tournament.

 

c.       There shall be only one official check point, and all contestants must end the tournament day at this point by boat, by water.

 

d.       Competitors who are not in the official checkpoint area at the appointed time, shall be penalized at the rate of eight (8) ounces per minute late.  This will be deducted from his total weight for that day.  The eight (8) ounces per minute will also be taken from the weight of the lunker award.

 

e.       Any contestant more than 15 minutes late will lose all credit for that day.

 

f.        Official time is kept by the tournament director or his designee.  It is the responsibility of each contestant to obtain this time from him.

 

g.       Late arrival due to unexpected mechanical failure may be considered by the tournament committee, if witnessed by others or if proof is presented.  Those assisting in the return of a disabled boat will not be penalized.

 

h.       8 Anglers at a time with weigh tags in line for weigh-ins, in line with no weigh tag results in a 6oz. Penalty.

 

 

 

10.    PAIRING OF CONTESTANTS:

 

a.             This will be done by blind (random) drawing of those constants with boats for those without boats. No SCBM will be asked to give up the use of their boat at a SCBM Tournament if paired Boater/Boater at a Tournament draw, if paired contestants (boater/boater) cannot reach an agreement on their own as to whose boat to use, then, the Tournament Director and his Committee will find a partner for said boaters by means of   paid Club members, wait list or guests, these people can pay an entry fee and fish for prize money only or not pay and go as an observer but still can fish. In order to protect SCBM from a Liability issue these non SCBM will be asked to sign a release wavier prior to the Tournament.

 

b.      In the event of some unforeseen issue with boater/boater pairings, the tournament directors decision will be final.

 

c.       If there is a shortage of boats, three contestants will fish from the same boat (triple-up).  The non-boater’s names left over after all boats are filled will be placed in the #1 boat on down the line until all non-boaters are assigned to a boat.  Exception #1 to this rule will be if the #1 boat owner has previously had a Triple-Up in that season.  Exception #2 to this rule will be if a boat is too small or so designed to create a safety hazard as deemed by the tournament director.  The decision of the tournament director in either of the above exceptions is final.

 

d.      Emergency boaters- Non boaters who own a boat can be subdivided into another category called emergency boaters. An emergency boater may be asked at the discretion of the tournament director to participate as a boater. In the event this occurs the emergency boater will maintain non-boater status and continue to accumulate points as such for classic and end of the year awards. If a non-boater elects to use his/her boat NOT at the request of the tournament director their status will be considered boater for classic and end of the year awards.

 

 

 

11.    TRIPLE-UPS:

 

a.       If there is a shortage of boats and a Triple-Up of contestants is necessary, the pairing of those contestants will be done with the following guidelines:

 

1.       The first non-boater to be Tripled-Up will be placed with the #1 boat providing that the #1 boat owner has not had a Triple-Up previously during the current tournament season.  If the boat owner has previously had a Triple-Up, the non-boater will be placed with the next boat owner who has not had a Triple-Up during the current tournament season.  This placement of non-boaters will continue until all contestants have been assigned a boat.

 

2.       No boat owner will be required to have more than one Triple-Up during a tournament season until all boat owners have had a Triple-Up.

 

3.       Non-boat owners that are required to Triple-Up by draw, will be assigned to a boat after consideration of the “boat owners’ Triple-Ups”, in such a manner as to minimize the number of each non-boaters’ Triple-Ups during the tournament.

 

4.       The tournament director will insure the placement of Triple-Ups for non-boaters will be done in a fair and equitable manner.

 

5.       The exception to the regular pairing of contestants will be if a boat owner does not show up for a tournament and has not given notice.  The non-boat owner will be assigned to a boat at the launch site in such a manner as to minimize delay and confusion.  The above guidelines will be used if possible.

 

 

 

12.    PRE-REGISTRATION:

 

a.       The selection of partners will take place at the regular monthly club meeting before the tournament.  If  there is more than one tournament scheduled between our regular monthly club meetings, there will be a partner draw for each tournament.  Anglers shall be obligated to register and PAY IN FULL each/all event(s) before hand or at each monthly meeting where registration is required. Anglers that fail to PAY IN FULL by the required meeting will be added to a waiting list and only allowed to fish should a previously registered angler forfeit or at the descretion of the tournament director.

 

b.       Five ($5.00) dollars of the $25 registration fee will be paid back for Lunker.

 

c.       Two ($2.00) dollars of the $25 registration fee will be paid back to the club treasury.

 

d.       Eighteen ($18.00) dollars of the $25 registration fee will be paid back one place for every six contestants.

 

e.       The Lunker fee being part of the registration will be mandatory.

 

f.        No registration fee will be accepted after the meeting (as it is required that all members pre-register and pre-pay (see rule A.)

 

 **Only exception would be if a member was allowed to fish the event at the request of the tournament director, at which point monies must be paid in full prior to the start of the tournament.**

 

g.   The Payout for the SCBM 2 Day Event will be - The Club will payout the top 10 finishing places according to weight in lbs. & ozs., Lunker will be paid out for each individual Tournament. Tournament entry fees will be divided up the same as for ALL Points Tournaments with the exception of the number of places paid, that schedule is as follows: 1st -25%, 2nd – 20%, 3rd – 15%, 4th – 10%, 5th – 9%, 6th – 7%, 7th – 5%, 8th – 4%, 9th – 3% and 10th – 2%.

 

 

 

 

13.    BOAT OWNERS’ FEE:

 

a.       A minimum $30.00 boat fee will be paid directly to the boat owner by the non-boater. It shall be the responsibility of the pair to agree on sharing boat operational expenses prior to the send-off. Refusal to pay the boat owner after the tournament has ended will result in that person not being allowed to fish another tournament until it is paid.

 

 

 

14.    BOAT OPERATION:

 

a.       A schedule must be set that permits each partner equal time at the electric motor controls.

 

b.       The contestant who is operating the electric motor shall have the privilege of selecting the route and fishing waters.

 

c.       In the event the non-boat owner elects not to operate the electric motor, he still has a right to choose the fishing spots one-half of the time during the tournament day.

 

d.       Any contestant, who, in the judgment of the tournament committee, operates the boat in such a manner as to unfairly handicap his partner, shall be disqualified.

 

e.       Boats will start in the order names were drawn for the pairing of partners.  Boats will normally be permitted to leave at 15 second intervals or at intervals specified by the tournament director or his designee.

 

 

 

15.    SPORTSMANSHIP AND SAFETY:

 

a.       Sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation is expected from each participant.  Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification. 

 

b.       All boats must contain safety equipment as required by the U.S. Coast Guard (PENALTY -DISQUALIFICATION).

 

c.       All boats must be equipped with a kill switch (PENALTY - DISQUALIFICATION).

 

d.       Contestants must wear a life preserver securely fastened at all times while the combustion engine is in operation.  The driver must have the kill switch attached to his person.  (PENALTY - TWO (2) OUNCES FOR EACH INFRACTION).

 

e.       No alcoholic beverages may be consumed during tournament fishing hours.  No alcoholic beverages may be on board a tournament boat during the tournament (This provision also includes any mind altering substances commonly referred to as “drugs”).  (PENALTY - PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION).

 

f.        Each Angler is responsible for his or hers dead fish, not to be left at weigh-in site.

 

 

 

16.    TACKLE