BARTLESVILLE BASSMASTERS 2010 TOURNAMENT RULES

1. CLUB DUES - Dues for membership in the club are due prior to the first tournament scheduled. Dues for the current year are $55.00.

A. Fishermen paying dues at the ramp will pay dues of $100.00, unless he/she had a paid membership the year before. If he/she attends the next monthly meeting and fishes the next tournament the club will refund $45.00.

B. Dues can be paid by mail prior to the first tournament for participants who are unable to attend meetings.

C. Only paid members may vote on any club business.

2. TRAILERING - Trailering is allowed on the same lake. Member to be eligible for weigh-in must be at the designated ramp at starting time.

3. TOURNAMENT ENTRY / SAFE START TIME - Every contestant should pay their entry fee prior to start of fishing hours. Tournament start time and ending times will be voted on at the club meeting prior to the tournament. Safe start time will be specified by the highest ranking officer and one club member, the morning of the tournament, to be dictated by safe conditions.

4. WEIGH-IN TIME - All contestants are to be back at the official weigh-in area by appointed time. A five (5) minute grace period will be allowed. Contestants who are not in the official weigh-in area by the end of the grace period shall be penalized eight ounces per minute they are late, including Big Bass. Any contestant more than 15 minutes late shall forfeit their entire weight. No fishing will be allowed after returning to the official weigh-in area for check-in.

5. BAIT: No live bait is allowed:

A. in the boat, or

B. to be used in catching fish.

6. TIES - All gross weight ties will be settled by the comparison of the weight of the stringers largest single bass. If a tie still exists it will be settled by the stringer with the most fish. If a tie still exists the points will be totaled then split between the two contestants.

7. PARTNERS:

A. The area of the lake to be fished should be shared equally.

B. The front of the boat should be shared equally.

C. Pairing will be done by drawing at the meeting before the tournament. A paid member will be allowed only one (1) guest, one (1) alone or may fish self twice or quest twice and three (3) self pairing tournament during the year, (2) two dayers and (1) night tournament].

*** THE NIGHT TOURNAMENT WILL BE SELF-PAIRING WITHIN THE CLUB ***

THE ODD MAN/BOAT WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO FISH SELF OR HAVE A GUEST IF ALL OTHER MEMBERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED AND VERIFIED BY THE PRESIDENT, AND WILL NOT BE COUNTED AS A SELF.

Thus if a member fishes all seven one day tournament he will be REQUIRED to be placed in the draw for a partner four times (as one of these tournaments is the night tournament and is self pairing).

Boaters who do not draw out with a non-boater can go “self” and not have to pair out with another boater or use their “self”. Boater can take any non-member they choose with them and not lose their “self”.

D. The deadline for entry in a tournament will be the end of the draw at the club meeting prior to the tournament. If a member enters late, boaters fishing alone will have the option to pair up with the late member or not.

E. If a member refuses to fish with a member he has drawn, the refusing member will not be allowed to fish that tournament.

F. Each member is to furnish his own food and drink. The boat owner will provide an ice chest.

8. EXPENSES - Expenses for both the boat and tow vehicle should be shared equally. This covers gas, oil and toll road expenses.

9. LEAVING BOAT - No participant may leave the boat to fish. However, if a participant's boat should become disabled making it impossible to return to the weigh-in, he may elect to leave his boat to come to the weigh-in or to send his fish to the weigh-in via another person.

10. TROLLING - No trolling is allowed.

11. LENGTH LIMIT - STRINGER SIZE:

A. 14 inch length limit unless state and local laws allow otherwise.

B. Five (5) fish limit and the sixth (6th) fish will be culled immediately.

C. Bass will be measured on the official club board only. Measurement will be determined by placing bass on the official board with the mouth closed and, if any part of the tail touches the line, the fish is eligible for weigh-in.

D. All Spotted or Kentucky Bass must be 12” minimum length.

12. WEIGH-IN: Club officers shall conduct the weigh-in of fish. Any fish which is questioned by any member as to its weight and/or length shall be directly measured and weighed by a club officer.

A. If a member presents a fish to an officer for measurement, it will be assumed that the member intends to weigh-in the fish, unless a courtesy bump has been requested. A fish that has been presented for a courtesy bump will not be counted against the members weight nor penalized per 12.B. below.

B. If a member attempts to weigh-in a fish that does not meet the tournament length limit (14 inch or the lake limit), the penalty is an automatic disqualification of the largest fish on the stringer.

C. All participants should be off the water before weigh-in begins.

D. If the Vice President is not at a tournament to bump the smallest fish in each and every stringer, the presiding officer will appoint a member to be sure all stringers are bumped equally.

E. Judgment of if a fish is dead or not will only be made in the weigh-in basket. If a fish is near death, yet still alive when weighed in, then is unable to swim off or dies in the water, this shall not be a deduction for a dead fish, because it was alive at the time of weigh-in.

F. You can only weigh-in using an official club bag.

13. DEAD FISH PENALTY - There will be an 8 oz. deduction for each dead fish. All live fish will be released except for trophies.

14. PROTESTS - If a member wishes to protest a violation of the club rules by another member, the protest must be submitted in writing within one (1) hour after the close of the tournament weigh-in to a club official. The protest will be decided upon at the next regular club meeting.

15. No electronic communication devices will be allowed in use by contestants for any communication relating to the tournament during tournament hours.

16. SPORTSMANSHIP - If a member shows poor sportsmanship thru actions or verbally spoken word during any club function and a written protest is filed with an officer of the club, that member shall be, after a meeting of the 3 officers of the club, punished accordingly up to the point of expulsion from the club. Expulsion of a member for acts detrimental to the club can only be done if a 2/3 majority of the members present at the next meting approve.

17. RELEASE OF ALL BASS - All bass are to be release into the lake in a manner so that their well being is assured. The open end of the bag containing water and fish will be laid in the lake, the closed end grasped and raised so as to dump the contents back into the lake gently. According to new state regulations pertaining to Spotted/Kentucky Bass, fish in the 12”-14” may be kept and cleaned for consumption immediately following the tournament.

18. LIFE JACKETS - A coast guard approved life jacket MUST be worn by any contestants ANYTIME the boat is on plane. Each boat must include a kill switch which is to be attached to the driver while on plane.

19. LIABILITY WAIVER - All tournament contestants must read and sign the form entitled "WAIVER & RELEASE" which may be available at the meeting before the tournament and/or on tournament day. Your signature on this form will constitute a certification that the contestant has read and understood the "Waiver & Release" form. All terms of the "Waiver & Release" form are hereby incorporated by reference into these rules in the same manner as if the terms of the "Waiver & Release" form were printed verbatim in these rules.

20. PENALTY FOR RULES VIOLATION - The penalty for violation of any rule (unless otherwise noted) will be a loss of that tournament day's fish weight and the member will only be awarded the ramp points.

Special Tournament Rules:

1. TOP TEN CHAMPIONSHIP - If a qualifying non-boater is unable to borrow a boat to fish the tournament, he will first be required to fish with a qualifying officer or with a non- qualifying officer (observer only). If an officer is not available, a non-boater may get another club member with a boat as an observer only. A positive pairing must be set up for the qualifying non-boater. The observer can fish, but it must be from the back of the boat and will not be allowed to keep fish in the live well. Observers may not net a qualifiers fish, likewise neither shall another participant. Each qualifier must land his own fish. No qualifier will be allowed to trailer. Each qualifier will be required to have their live well’s inspected by an officer of the club before the start of the tournament. If an officer is unavailable, this duty falls back to member of the lake committee. If still unavailable, one of the qualifiers will be picked to inspect all live wells. Only the "TOP TEN" members who qualified by the clubs point system will be allowed to participate in the tournament. If a qualifier is unable to fish for any reason, the next available in the club rankings (i.e. #11) "will not" be allowed to be pulled up to participate. The "TOP TEN" lake will be off limits from the finish of the last regular season tournament to the morning of the "TOP TEN" Championship. Any qualifier on the lake for any reason during this time shall be disqualified from the "TOP TEN" Championship. The lake committee should, if at all possible, try to schedule the last regular season tournament on a Saturday followed by the "TOP TEN" Championship the very next day (Sunday).