2011 Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Northeast Region
Tournament Trail Rules
*Tournament committee members and fishing partners must be in 15 minutes early.
1. Rule Changes : The following rules will remain unchanged throughout the event, unless state or local laws are in conflict. The Tournament Director shall have the right to make changes for safety considerations. The decisions of the Tournament Committee are final in all matters.
2. Participation and Eligibility : Participation in each tournament is open to all members who are 16 years or older and in good standing with B.A.S.S., Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, the applicants participating club. and has paid their entry fee prior to the start of the tournament. Entrants who are 16 to 18 years old require written parental consent and their entry form must be signed by the authorized club representative. (i.e. sponsor club, herein defined as entrant's club who has paid his B.A.S.S. Insurance obligation) and be fully and legibly completed or entry will be rejected. Participants under the age of 18 will be non-boaters. Any entrant is expected to assist with the check-in and weigh-in when asked by the Tournament Director or his designee.
3. Pre-Tournament Practice : The tournament waters shall be off limits to all participants commencing at midnight of the Sunday prior to the Saturday before the tournament unless the Monday prior to the tournament is a National Holiday in which case practice would end Monday at midnight . Paid guides may not fish a tournament that they have guided on the tournament lake in the past 30 days. No guides may be used on tournament waters 30 DAYS prior to the tournament. Each participant agrees to report to tournament officials any violation or infraction of these tournament rules.
4. Registration and Pairing of Contestants : Registration for the Northeast Region Tournament Trail will be conducted by email with a completed entry form attached and forwarded to the Tournament Director or Regional Director no later than 8:00pm the Thursday prior to the tournaments. All contestants must pay their entry fee before 6:15am the tournament day. (NO EXCEPTIONS) Entry fee payments may be received through the club representative. Entrants will register and declare themselves as a boater or non-boater. A random pairing of registered boaters and non-boaters will take place prior to the start of the tournament. A copy of the pairings will be posted at the official launch site. Registered boaters will take their boat regardless of pairing. Take off numbers will be randomly assigned. If a member or their clubs representative notifies the Regional Director or Tournament Director of the members' registration in the tournament they or the club is responsible for the payment of the entry fee regardless of participation in the tournament. Emergency situations such as family illness will be considered by the Regions officers and Tournament committee.
5. Safety : Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by tournament competitors. During the tournament, each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard approved chest-type life preserver. This preserver must be worn anytime the combustion engine is in operation. This preserver must be strapped, snapped or zippered, securely and maintained in this condition until the competitor reaches his fishing location and the combustion engine is shut off. Violation of this rule shall be reason for disqualification. The Tournament Director has the right to delay or cancel the start of the tournament because of bad weather or other factors that would endanger the safety of the competitors. Tournament waters may be restricted at any time because of bad weather.
6. Sportsmanship : All participants are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any contestant who displays poor sportsmanship, violates these rules or any state or local laws, or bring unfavorable publicity to the sport of bass fishing will be disqualified and forfeit all entry fees, prizes and prize monies. Use of alcohol or drugs (other than those purchased over the counter or prescribed by a licensed physician) by any entrant during the tournament or when in weigh area will not be tolerated and shall be cause for automatic disqualification from the tournament and all future tournaments. Each competitor will verify his partner's catch by signing his partner's weight-in slip. All Texas B.A.S.S. Federation rules apply in circuit tournaments except for the horsepower limitation.
7. Boat and Motor : All boats and equipment must meet all U.S. Coast Guard and State regulations and be at lest 16 feet in length. No barges or similar craft will be permitted, nor shall "stick steering" boasts be allowed. A small electric motor for slow maneuvering must be attached. There is a 250 horsepower limitation. All boats must be equipped with a working emergency kill switch, a functional bilge pump and live well space, properly aerated, to adequately maintain alive a limit catch of bass by fishermen using the boat. The ignition kill device must be attached to the driver's body any time the combustion engine is operating. Anytime the combustion engine is operating and in gear, there must be a driver in the driver's seat in full control of the boat. All boats must be inspected by the Tournament Director or his designee prior to starting time or during the start of the tournament.
8. Tackle and Equipment : All fish must be caught in a legal sporting manner. Intentional snagging of fish is not allowed. No trolling with outboard motor is permitted. Only artificial lures may be used. No live bait or prepared bait will be permitted, with the exception of pork rinds, strips, etc. Only one casting, spincasting or spinning rod (8 foot maximum length from butt of handle to the tip) and reel may be used at any one time. All other types are prohibited. Other rigged rods may be in the boat ready for use; however, only one is permitted in use at any given time.
9. Boat Operation and Expense : A full discussion must be held between the two partners prior to a morning departure as to the schedule of boat operations. This schedule must permit equal time to fish from the front of the boat and to operate the trolling motor, so as to afford each a partner the opportunity to fish his selected waters an equal number of hours, however, it is understood that the boater will have access to water of his choice for the first one-half of the tournament. If contestant waives the above rights, he shall retain the right to select the fishing waters for one-half the tournament day. Failure for a boater to comply with this rule is clearly a show of un-sportsmanship and is subject to the disqualification of his days catch. Any contestant who, in the judgment of the Tournament Director, operates the boat in such a manner as to unfairly handicap his partner shall be disqualified. A minimum $20.00 non-boater fee is in effect.
10. Permitted Fishing Locations : Tournament waters shall be established by the Tournament Director for each tournament. Fishing on the tournament waters is permitted anywhere except: within 50 yards of any marina gas pump or within 50 yards of another competitors boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position. No such boat shall permit selected competitors to fish within the 50-yard circle claimed by him, to the exclusion of any other competitor. Any water within those boundaries posted Off-Limits of No Fishing by state or federal agencies will be OFF LIMITS. Only the water open to ALL public fishing will be considered tournament waters. Any waters closed to public fishing will be closed to each tournament's contestants. All angling must be done from the boat. Competitors wishing to change fish habitat by placing any object in the tournament waters may do so if such action does not violate state or federal regulations. Boats may not be trailered to and from weight-in during tournament hours unless under the direction of the Tournament Director. All fishing must be done from the boat and the contestant must not leave the boat to land fish. No fishing is permitted within 20 yards of any moving boat (trolling motor down) without permission of other boat's occupant. No water encroachment will be tolerated, regardless of whether the occupants of the other boat are entered in the event or not. No one may hold fishing holes for contestants.
11. Scoring : Tournament Standings, auxiliary awards and final winners shall be determined on a points system. Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye, or Smallmouth bass will be weighed. At no time shall a competitor have in his possession more than 5 fish, unless contestant is actively culling. Each contestant may weigh in 5 fish with a minimum of 14" length measured on a flat board with mouth closed and tail compressed. Short fish brought to weight-in will be penalized at the rate of 1 lb. from total stringer and loss of that short fish for each short fish presented. An official courtesy board will be provided for each contestant's use prior to entry to weigh-in line. There will be a .50 pound stringer penalty deduction for each dead fish presented. Any bass that appears to have been mangled, mashed, mauled, or otherwise altered will be weighed and credited only at the discretion of the Tournament Director. All contestants must submit their weigh-in slip to a Tournament Director at check-in, whether or not fish have been caught, to receive appropriate scoring. Tournament points cannot be transferred forward when changing from one Club to another Club without the consent of Tournament Director. In the case of a tie in year-end standing, all ties will be determined by total accumulated net weight and if a tie occurs on accumulated net weight, then the contestant with the highest overall number of live fish brought to the scales wins the breaker. In the case a tie in a tournament, equal points will be awarded and next place points awarded will skip a place. If cash finishers are involved in a tie, the cash for each place will be added together and split equally. Any prizes will be awarded accordingly.
12. Official Checkpoint : The posted launch site will serve as official checkpoint to check-out in the morning and check-in in the afternoon. Following a mandatory live well check all contestants are expected to be in the water ready for a first safelight take-off. Take-off will be in order of number assigned at registration. The Tournament Director has the right to reassign partners due to no shows or late contestants. Failure to be present prior to release of first boat at safelight or designated start time will automatically disqualify contestant with no tournament points awarded. At check-in, all boats are required to turn in their numbered tags and be signed-in.
13. Late Penalty : Competitors who are not in the official checkpoint area at the appointed time, shall be penalized at the rate of one (1) pound per minute to be deducted from the total weight of his total catch that day, including any weight to be counted toward a "lunker award," for each one (1) minute he is late. Any competitor more than 15 minutes late shall lose all credit for that day's catch. There shall be no excuses for tardiness. After proper recognition at the check-in point, competitors will be allowed ample time to proceed to the weigh-in site; however, all fishing must cease upon check-in. Exact starting and check-in times will be announced at the registration meeting. All contestants must be in weigh-in line before official close of weigh-in line before official close of weigh-in or lose all credit for that day's catch.
14. Point System : Championship qualifying will be determined by points format. First place in each event will receive 200 points. 2nd place = 199 points so ondown the placements. Points drop by one for each position until all entrants are awarded points who weighed fish. Any contestant not weighing in fish will receive points based on what the point total for the last fisherman to catch fish minus one then minus thirty (30) points. Each entrant will have his weight for each tournament added to the points awarded for his/her finishing position to determine their standing. The highest finishers for the season will consist of the individual who accumulates the most points during the season. The tournament season will consist of 6 tournaments; however, only the points totals from each individual's best 4 tournaments will count (the worst 2 tournaments will be dropped). After the 6th tournament, the final standings will be determined by totaling the best 4 tournament point's totals. The number one season-ending finisher will be the Northeast Region Angler-Of-The year. The Top 20 anglers with a minimum of 4 tournaments and all members participating in all 6 of the regional qualifying tournaments will qualify for the Northeast Region Championship. The Northeast Regional Championship will be a two day draw event with the Top 50 percent of the qualifiers being designated boaters unless refused or unable to comply. The remaining field will be designated as non-boaters. The Championship will have an even field of boaters and non-boaters. The Tournament Champion will represent the Northeast Region on the State Top 12 Team participating in the Central Division qualifier. The Top 6 finishers from the Championship will be eligible to represent the Northeast Region at the State Tournament as a Top 6 Team. The Championship Lake will be determined by a vote with all qualifying members being eligible to cast a ballot. The Championship Lake can be any lake in the Northeast Texas area. The Northeast Texas Regions Tournament Schedule will be developed by the Regional Administration (Regional Director, Assistant Director and Tournament Director).
15. Polygraph : All contestants are subject to polygraph. Failure to submit to a polygraph test will be grounds for immediate disqualification of that days catch.
16. Entry Fees and Payback : The entry fee for each tournament is $65.00 (This $65.00 includes $10.00 for Big Bass).The previous seasons AOY entry fee will be payed by the region or sponsor of the region. Payout is based on 80% of regular entry fees minus $98.33, which will be collected from each tournament to pay the entry fee for the Northeast Regions State Team. One place per five (5) entries paid through the first 25 entries, with a maximum of five (5) places paid. Payback for the paid entrant with the largest bass by net weight is 70%. Payback for the paid entrant with the second largest bass by net weight is 30%. All pay backs (and any prizes) will be issued at weigh-in site. Tournaments with fewer than 20 participants will not have the $98.33 deducted from the payout.
17. Tournament Hours : From safelight until 3:00 p.m. , cut off time is at the location where you turn in your team-or flight number and get your weight slip.
18. Protests : All protests must be submitted in writing and turned in to the Tournament Director within fifteen (15) minutes after the closing of the weigh-in line. Tournament Director will rule on the protest before leaving the tournament site. Tournament results will be adjusted in accordance with the protest ruling. Entrants who have protest upheld against them will forfeit all entry fees, recorded weight, winnings and prizes and will not be awarded any tournament points.
19. Conservation : This is the primary concern of Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Northeast Region All fish submitted for weigh-in become the properly of Region 214-903 and will be 100% live released back to the tournament lake.
20. Other Rules : The Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Region 214-903 and all entrants shall abide by all applicable federal, state, local and tournament lake laws, rules and regulations. Club representatives are responsible for issuing the Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Rules and Regulations which are the official rules of the Northeast Region Competitive Tournaments unless specifically revised here.