San Diego Bassmasters
2010 Tournament Rules
1. All members
of the San Diego Bassmasters and approved prospective members, except
inactive or honorary members, may participate in tournaments. An approved
prospective member is one who has been pre-fished and approved as
eligible for membership by the board. Prospective members and at-large
members are eligible for any tournament awards, but not
year-end points. At-large members may only participate if doing so does
not preclude a regular member from participating. Non-participants
are not allowed in boats during tournaments.
2. Sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, and conservation
are expected from each participant. Any infraction of these
fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification.
3. Unsafe acts committed during tournament hours may
result in loss of participation points or disqualification from the tournament.
4. No alcoholic beverages may be consumed by participants
in a San Diego Bassmasters tournament from the time of launching until each
individual’s weigh-in. No alcoholic
beverages are allowed on any San Diego Bassmasters’ boat during tournament hours. No
contestant may participate in any tournament if judged by a member of the tournament committee to
be intoxicated.
5. During tournament hours, all
participants in a San Diego Bassmasters tournament shall, during the
operation of the main motor, wear properly fastened life vests and utilize a kill
switch on any boat capable of being so equipped. It is the
responsibility of the boater to ensure that his partner has his or her life
vest on and properly secured. Failure to follow these safety precautions will result
in disqualification from the tournament.
6. The tournament schedule consists of ten tournaments, which count
towards year-end points. Year-end points
are awarded for each tournament, thirty points for first place, twenty-nine points
for second place, and so on, down to one point for
thirtieth place.
7. Weigh-in time and location will be announced prior to the
tournament day. There is no provision for weighing in fish prior to the
official weigh-in.
8. Tournament scoring will be total weight with a five
bass per day maximum. Large fish will break ties. If more than
five fish are brought to the scale, the smallest fish will be
removed and a one pound penalty will be deducted from that angler’s remaining
weight.
9. Each angler may possess no more than 5 fish at any
time. An angler must stop fishing and cull immediately upon
catching of a sixth fish. Each angler is responsible for the care, culling and
releasing of his or her fish. No dead fish may be culled with a live fish, period. You may not
give away a dead fish to a non-participant or dispose of it in an illegal manner, such as
throwing it on the bank. If you have a limit of fish, and then
catch another one and kill it in the process, you may immediately throw it
back, but you cannot legally possess a sixth fish, even if
your partner does not have a limit.
10. Dead fish penalty is .25 lbs (4 ounces).
11. Short fish penalty is loss of the fish and 1 pound.
12. All fish to be weighed in must comply with size and bag
limit regulations. Length rules will be announced prior to the tournament.
13. Each eligible contestant will be awarded two
participation points per tournament fished. For draw tournaments, contestants
must sign up for the tournament prior to partnership draw at the general meeting
prior to the tournament. For pick tournaments, notice must be given to the tournament director at
the general meeting prior to the tournament.
14. To qualify for awards or year-end points, a fish must
be a largemouth, smallmouth or spotted bass.
15. Fish caught by a tournament contestant in a San Diego
Bassmasters tournament will be eligible for the following year-end awards: largest bass of the year, heaviest stringer in tournament, top twelve fishermen, and high point fisherman.
16. Properly certified non-tournament
fish can also qualify members for an additional award: largest non-tournament bass of the year. To be
eligible, a fish must be taken from waters and at times open to
the general public. Bass caught in waters restricted to the general public
are ineligible for consideration. To be eligible, the fish
must be weighed and the weght witnessed by another person. The weight
of the fish, where caught, date caught and the
signatures of the angler and the witness are then submitted in writing to the tournament director. Fish caught
after the end of the regularly scheduled San Diego Bassmasters tournament
season will be eligible for the following year’s award.
17. All fish presented for weigh-in by a
contestant must be caught by that contestant during tournament hours. The fish
shall be presented to the tournament director at the designated
time and place.
18. Competitors must leave and return to a common launch
site designated prior to the start of competition. No
competitor may trailer his or her boat to another launch site. The tournament director or
his representative must announce any
exceptions to this rule to all participants prior to the start of the
tournament.
19. Partners will be determined at the general meeting
prior to a tournament, either by: draw tournament - boat owners
and non-boat owners are to be paired via random draw, and a
member may fish with the same partner for draw tournaments only once per
calendar year; pick tournaments - free choice of partners. Every effort
will be made to pair up participating members with another club member for
every tournament.
20- all members of the San Diego Bassmasters who sign
up for “in-town” tournaments will be placed into the draw.
21. If two boaters are paired in a tournament and cannot
agree on which boat is to be used, the member with the highest
point standing at that time shall have first choice. If both
members are tied in the point standings, or for the first tournament
of the year, a coin toss will decide the issue.
22. No trolling shall be allowed during San Diego
Bassmasters tournaments.
23. Contestants must remain at least 50 yards from
other participating anglers, except their designated partners, unless all
parties involved agree otherwise.
24. Contestants who are not in the docking area on time
will lose one pound of their tournament weight per each minute or portion of a
minute after the tournament’s weigh-in time, up to a maximum
of 5 minutes after the designated weigh-in time. For multiple
day tournaments only, the weight on the day the contestants are late is
affected. After 5 minutes, the contestants’ total fish
for that day will be disallowed. There are no acceptable excuses for being late.
25. Shore fishing is allowed where permitted by law, but
partners must remain within 50 yards of each other.
26. The official measuring device of the San Diego
Bassmasters is the Golden Rule Weighmaster flat board.
27. The tournament slip must be properly completed, including
the first and last name of the participant, the lake fished, and the
date.
28. All tournaments are closed to live bait and only
artificial lures may be used. Allowed exceptions are pork rind baits and scents.
29. No contestant may utilize more that one fishing rod at
a time.
30. No angler shall remove fish from the livewell or bring
fish to the scales until the weigh master has announced that the scales are
ready and assistants are in place.
31. Fish shall be brought to the scales in an official bag only, with
sufficient water to ensure the survival of the fish (don't skimp on
water... Yes, we know it's heavy). Fill the bag
with at least two gallons of water.
32. The designated weigh master will determine whether or not
a fish is short or if it is dead.
33. The weight shall be written on an official weigh slip
and the angler shall be given the yellow copy as a receipt. After the
fish are weighed, the angler will immediately return the fish to
the water unless otherwise instructed by a member of the tournament committee.
34. All legal-sized fish shall be kept in
a properly operating livewell. Use of additives to preserve the health of the fish is
encouraged. Every effort shall be made to keep said fish alive.
35. For tournaments where a DFG exemption
from size limits has been granted, each participant must have
in his or her possession an official weigh slip with all information at the top
completely filled out, plus the permit number and weigh-in site
written across the top. If you do not comply a warden may cite you if you have
fish under the lake limit. If you do not have a weigh slip as stated above in your
possession, you must fish the normal lake size regulation.
36. It is the responsibility of each angler to know and
follow these rules.
37. Protests must be made in writing within 15 minutes
after the scales are closed for that tournament.
38. The
tournament committee will make all decisions and interpretations of these rules. All
decisions are final.