FLOWER CITY SPORTSMEN TOURNAMENT RULES
Revised 3/20/2007
PARTICIPANTS AND ELIGIBILITY:
Participation in the club tournaments is limited to members of the Flower City Sportsmen Club and its tournament sponsors unless otherwise determined by the Tournament Committee/Director at or before the time of the partner drawing.
PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE:
No closed date unless otherwise announced by the Tournament Committee/Director.
REGISTRATION:
Each person must sign in with the Tournament Director before the draw at the meeting prior to the tournament and pay the entire entrance fee of $40 per boat for single day and $60 per boat for 2 day tournaments. $5 from each boat entry will be taken out for the Lunker payout – the rest is put into the pool for 1st – 3rd payouts.
SAFETY:
- Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times.
- A Coast Guard approved chest type preserver must be worn anytime the internal combustion engine is operating.
- Boats are to be equipped with a kill switch that must be utilized any time the internal combustion engine is operating.
- 1 livewell must be in working order.
INSURANCE:
Boats participating in a tournament or any other club sponsored fishing event must have Marine Liability Insurance with coverage of at least $100,000. Proof of insurance must be presented to the Tournament Director prior to the 1st tournament that the boat is to be used in. It is the Boater’s responsibility to notify the Tournament Committee/Director in writing in the event of any loss or change of coverage.
SPORTSMANSHIP:
Participants are expected to exhibit high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Defacing or spoiling the environment and/or drunkenness will result in suspension from the current tournament and future tournaments at the discretion of the club membership. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times.
TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT:
Only artificial lures will be permitted for tournament use. Pork rinds are permitted. Only one rod can be used at any one time. All fish must be caught live and in a sporting manner (legal hook to the mouth area). Trolling as a method of fishing is not permitted unless determined otherwise by the Tournament director of the event. Nets can be used for landing legally hooked fish.
BOATS AND MOTORS:
Only boats and motors meeting Coast Guard certification will be permitted for tournament use. All boats must be equipped with an aerated or re-circulating livewell to maintain a live limit of fish for both partners. In the event of a livewell failure during tournament hours, every effort must be made to keep the fish alive and the boater must notify the Tournament Director at the weigh-in immediately upon arrival. Every effort will be made to weigh the fish as soon as possible.
BOAT OPERATION AND EXPENSES:
A full discussion shall be held between the two partners immediately after the partner draw as to schedule of operation and expenses. Each partner is entitled to equal time fishing the waters of their choice. The non-boater will pay $30 non-boater fee per tournament to their boating partner to share expenses, due at the draw meeting.
FISHING LOCATIONS:
All angling must be done from the boat with both partners present. Participants can fish anywhere accessible by boat without loading the boat and launching at another site unless otherwise specified by the Tournament Committee/Director.
OFFICIAL CHECKPOINT:
There shall be only one official checkpoint for the start and the end of the tournament. Prior to blastoff, the Tournament or Safety Director will check kill switches, livewell contents, and livewell operation.
PAIRINGS:
Pairing of contestants will be done by random draw at the meeting prior to the tournament. The order of the draw will be boaters first followed by non-boaters. Two partners will be assigned to each boat. After the draw no member is allowed to join the tournament. Every attempt will be made to ensure that no two partners will be paired twice in a season. If a boater draws a non-boater and they have fished together already, then a new non-boater is pulled until two who have not fished together are found. At the end of the draw, if there is an imbalance in participating members, the following applies:
LEFT OVER NON-BOATER:
This will be taken care of in this order:
1st Person has choice of:
A. Go as 3rd in a boat
B. Be the 1st Non-Boater drawn at the next tournament.
2nd If the person decides to be 3rd in a boat, then a boater and a non-boater pair may volunteer. If none are found the person will be 1st non-boater drawn at next tournament.
3rd If the person still wants to fish, they can find a non-member boater in good standing of their choice. Their choice must be made by the Thursday night prior to the tournament and notification given to the Tournament Committee/Director. The boater must follow all FCS rules and:
A. Pay fees
B. Have the required insurance. This policy must be shown to the Tournament Committee/Director prior to blastoff.
LEFT OVER BOATER:
If a boater does not draw a non-boater partner, he/she may at his/her option:
1) Fish alone
2) Find a partner outside the club or another boater that also has not drawn a partner provided that he/she has not fished with that boater in a previous tournament.
PARTNER NO-SHOW:
BOATER:
The boater will fish alone.
NON-BOATER:
The extra non-boater will become the third person in a suitable boat. The extra person will become the 2nd partner of the boat. Boater will be selected at the discretion of the Tournament Committee/Director and can only carry a third party once in a tournament season. If for any reason, a non-boater elects to leave the tournament early, the person must release their fish and the boater will be allowed full participation in the tournament.
SCORING:
Tournament winners, awards, and club standings shall be determined by the pound and ounce of the catch of selected species caught by an angler on the waters to be specified for each tournament. The tournament limit shall be the prevailing state limit. Bass that measure 12 inches or more with mouth closed shall be considered eligible. Each bass presented for weigh-in that measures less than 12 inches will accrue a penalty of (3) ounces and be disqualified. The final decision as to the length of the fish shall be that of the Tournament Committee/Director. Each participant’s fish will be weighed only once. Scoring shall be done as follows: Weight = Pounds and ounces. (Note: 1 lb = 16 ounces)
CULLING:
Each boat is allowed a maximum of 5 fish to be used in calculating lunker and point standings. If paired with another person, you may not catch fish for that person. Fish may not be culled at the weigh-in area and there is no culling of dead fish at any time
WEIGH-IN:
The weigh-in master will make the initial determination as to whether a fish is dead or alive. If challenged, the final decision will be the responsibility of the Tournament Committee/Director. Contestants returning late will be penalized 4oz per minute for each minute late up to 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the contestant is disqualified. No excuses will be accepted. Boats are to be within the check point area and all poles and lines are to be inside the boat at check-in time. If a boat breaks down, fish can be transported by other contestants and must be accompanied by the person whose catch is weighed.
PAY OUT:
Each tournament will be in the format of boat/team competition unless specified otherwise by the Tournament Committee/Director. Total weight of the fish caught by a boat is used to determine their point standing. Cash distribution will be as follows:
1st place à 50%
2nd place à 35%
3rd place à 15%
LUNKER POOL:
A pool for largest bass caught will be available based on $5 from the entry fee collected from each participant. Cash pay out for each pool is: Largest Bass - 100%
TIES:
In the event of a tie, the anglers involved will split the appropriate position money. Live fish wins in case of a tie with dead fish.
EARLY QUIT:
If you elect to quit early, it is mandatory that you notify the Tournament Committee/Director. If you elect to quit fishing and leave, it is mandatory that the Tournament Committee/Director be notified before you leave the tournament site.
SKUNK FEE:
If you get skunked at a tournament you have to pay $1.00 to the club treasury and your name goes in the newsletter. The money collected during the year will go to the “Most Skunked Award” to be given at FCS banquet.
PICKING A NEW LAKE:
So FCS can fish a new lake every year, we will:
First, nominate lakes never fished by FCS in a tournament.
Secondly, vote on these lakes to get our one new lake for the year (must be at least one lake not fished in prior year).
Thirdly, nominate other lakes to vote on for the rest of our tournaments. Any of the new lakes nominated that didn’t make it can be re-nominated for voting. Note: Before you nominate a new lake, please make sure that there are adequate launch facilities available.
INTERPRETATION OF ANY RULE CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE/DIRECTOR.
FINAL NOTE:
In the interest of safety, cost, camaraderie, and congestion at boat launches, it is strongly recommended that you try to pair up with some other participant going to the tournament preferably your partner. This facilitates several things: discussion of strategies, splitting of travel costs, safety by numbers, and reduces the number of cars without boats at a given launch. Please help out where you can.
Download 'Tournament Rules' in .PDF format: Here
|
