SAN DIEGO BASSMASTERS - 2011 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. Tournament points are only awarded to those participants that weigh-in legal fish during the tournament. Participants not weighing in legal fish may receive participation points.

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 well be deducted from that angler's remaining weight. 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.

9. Each angler is totally responsible for the care, culling and releasing of their 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. All fish to be weighed in must comply with size and bag limit regulations. Length rules will be announced prior to the tournament. Short fish penalty is loss of the fish and 1 pound.

11. Each eligible contestant will be awarded two participation points per tournament fished. To qualify for participation points, each contestant must be signed up for the tournament prior to the start of the draw, defined as the moment the first name is drawn for the final pairing for the tournament. Any contestant that cannot attend the general meeting tournament, can sign up for a for a draw tournament by notifying the tournament director, prior to the start of the draw for that tournament, of their desire to participate in the tournament. It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to verify their inclusion in the draw. Any contestant that has not signed up for a tournament prior to the start of the draw for that tournament will forfeit the participation points for that tournament. For pick tournaments, notice must be given to the tournament director at the general meeting prior to the tournament.

12. To qualify for awards or year-end points, a fish must be a largemouth, smallmouth or spotted bass.

13. 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.

14. 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 weight 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 last regularly scheduled San Diego Bassmasters tournament season will be eligible for the following year's award.

15. 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.

16. 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 prior to the start of the competition.

17. 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.

18. All members of the San Diego Bassmasters who sign up for "in-town" tournaments will be placed into the draw, without exception. Boaters and non-boaters will be paired in accordance with the draw procedure determined by the Tournament Director or his designate. All non-boaters will be paired with boaters until every non-boater has been assigned to a boat. In the event there are more boaters than non-boaters, all remaining boaters will have the option of fishing by themselves. However, if additional non-boaters enter the tournament subsequent to the draw at the General Meeting, the pairings with boaters will continue in the order of the original draw until all non-boaters are assigned to a boat. Any boater that has previously fished a draw tournament, without being paired with a non-boater, will be placed into the draw in such a manner as to ensure a partner pairing will occur for any remaining tournament.

19. For all out of town or “Pick Tournaments”, every boater and non-boater will have free choice of partners for all out of town tournaments. All members that wish to participate in an out of town tournament must be signed up for that tournament prior to the start of the draw, if required, to pair up any non-paired members at the general membership meeting. Any non-boater that has been unable to find a boater pairing for the tournament will be assigned a boater by a blind draw to be conducted by the Tournament Director at the General Membership meeting. In the event any non-boaters sign up for the tournament after the drawing at the General Membership Meeting and they do not have a participating boater with which they will fish, a participating boater without a non boater will be assigned by the Tournament Director through a blind drawing. Any boater that signs up for the tournament after the draw for the tournament will be paired up with any boater not assigned a non-boater until such time as all participating boats have two members fishing in each boat. All remaining boaters that have signed up for the tournament in accordance with the procedure outlined above, and have not been assigned a non-boater, will have the option of fishing by themselves. Any boater that has previously fished a Pick Tournament without being paired with a non-boater will be placed into any subsequent draw in such a manner as to ensure a partner pairing will occur in any remaining tournament. Any boater and non boater pairing that sign up for the tournament after the draw will be able to participate but will not be awarded their participation points.

20. Any boater that has not signed up for the tournament by the start of the draw at the general meeting and subsequently wants to enter a tournament will only be allowed to enter as a non-boater until such time that all backseats are filled.

21. No trolling shall be allowed during San Diego Bassmasters tournaments.

22. Contestants must remain at least 50 yards from other participating anglers, except their designated partners, unless all parties involved agree otherwise.

23. 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.

24. Shore fishing is allowed where permitted by law, but partners must remain within 50 yards of each other.

25. The official measuring device of the San Diego Bassmasters is the Golden Rule Weighmaster flat board.

26. The tournament slip must be properly completed, including the first and last name of the participant, the lake fished, and the date.

27. All tournaments are closed to live bait and only artificial lures may be used. Allowed exceptions are pork rind baits and scents.

28. No contestant may utilize more that one fishing rod at a time.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. The designated weigh master will determine whether or not a fish is short or if it is dead.

32. 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.

33. 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. Dead fish penalty is .25 lbs (4 ounces).

34. 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 you may be cited by a warden 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.

35. It is the responsibility of each angler to know and follow these rules.

36. Protests must be made in writing within 15 minutes after the scales are closed for that tournament.

37. The tournament committee will make all decisions and interpretations of these rules. All decisions are final.