Bass Champs - Texas's #1 Tournament Trail

OFFICIAL 2008 BASS CHAMPS TEAM TOURNAMENT RULES
To protect the integrity of Bass Champs and our anglers, all winners will be subject to a polygraph exam before checks are distributed at each event. Contestants must pass the polygraph exam at tournament site to receive prize money and points for the event.

1.	RULE CHANGES: Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Director. Protests must be made in writing within 10 minutes of the official closing of the scales at each tournament.

PARTICIPATION/ELIGIBILITY:
• Participation is open to current members of Bass Champs who are 18 years old and older. Any person entering a Bass Champs Tournament under the age of 18 years must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the official entry form.
• Bass Champs Tournaments are open to all anglers except professional anglers. A professional angler is defined as any angler that has entered more than one bass tournament that required an entry fee greater than $2,500 in the 12 months prior to the date of the Bass Champs Tournament being entered.
• All contestants must have a valid fishing license.

PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE: All Bass Champs Qualifying Team Events have a 5 day off-limits period which consists of the Monday-Friday prior to the tournament. No contestant may be on designated tournament waters for any reason during the official off-limits period except for the following dates:
o Memorial Day, May 26, 2008
o Labor Day, September 1, 2008

REGISTRATION TIMES: Registration for all Bass Champs Qualifying Team Event will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm the evening before the event and beginning at 5:00 am the morning of the event. Each team must register in person at the designated site during official registration. A completed and signed entry form must be received before the start of each competition day. Flight numbers will be randomly drawn by contestants during registration hours only.

SAFETY: Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened (fully zipped and/or all clips fastened), U.S. Coast Guard approved, personal flotation device anytime the combustion engine is in operation from boat check until weigh-in. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver's body any time the combustion engine is in operation. The driver must be seated in the driver's seat anytime the combustion engine is engaged in gear. Tournament days may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion. Competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter in bad weather, at which time no fishing may occur.

PERMITTED FISHING METHODS: Only artificial lures may be used with the exception of pork trailers and Berkley Gulp products. Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however, each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast is attempted or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. Switching or sharing fish with other teams or individuals is a violation of these rules and will result in immediate disqualification. All bass must be caught alive, in a conventional, sporting manner. When sight fishing for bedding bass, all fish must be hooked inside the mouth to be counted as a legal fish. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish, or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters.

SPORTSMANSHIP AND CONDUCT: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to, the following:
o Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any mind-altering substance during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure;
o Conviction of a felony within the past 36 months;
o Actions or words which reflect unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, and fair competition;
o Chemical substance abuse or addiction.
o Disqualification from Bass Champs tournaments or other fishing organizations that resulted from unexplained rule violations that result in a contestant’s honesty, integrity, character, and qualifications for entry into a Bass Champs event being questionable in the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion.
Upon review of the circumstances by tournament director, Bass Champs, Inc., and the Tournament Director shall have the right to refuse any application, or to deny a confirmed application, by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application, or disqualifying a contestant. Bass Champs reserves the right to place an official observer in a contestant's boat at any time during competition hours.

BOAT OPERATION: During hours of competition, contestants may not receive fishing information from non-competitors or participate in the practice of "hole sitting." The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CBs, etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited.

BOAT AND HORSEPOWER REGULATION: Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U. S. Coast Guard in such vessel. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate to conceal such limitations will be cause for disqualification from the tournament. No contestant may have a platform, raised deck, or ladder which is higher than the gunnel of their boat. Standing on the fishing seats or outboard motor will not be allowed in Bass Champs events. No air or jet drive boats will be permitted during official practice or competition days.

10.

PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as "off limits" or "no fishing" by state or federal officials, or within 50 yards of a competitor's boat which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position), or within 25 yards of a non-anchored competitor's boat unless otherwise agreed upon by the other tournament angler. The act of moving bass from one area of the lake to another confined area of the same lake at any time, whether or not during official practice days or competition days, is not permitted.

11.	OFF-LIMITS AREAS: Such areas established and announced at the registration for each Bass Champs event. Contestants fishing inside the established “off-limits” area will be immediately disqualified. Contestants' boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event.

12.

TRAILERING IS NOT ALLOWED: All boats must leave the official check point by boat in the order designated at registration. Contestants may launch their boat at a ramp other than the designated take-off location, but all contestants must come through the official check point location before leaving to fish. In the event of severe weather alternate take-off instructions will be given at the registration site, at the sole discretion of the Tournament Director.

13.

OFFICIAL CHECKPOINTS: There will be only one official checkpoint for boat inspection in the morning and one official check-in point in the afternoon. Failure to go through boat check-out in the morning or failure to official check-in at the check-in point will result in disqualification from such event. During morning check-out, all teams are required to idle a minimum of 100 yards before putting the boat on plane. It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to arrive at the designated check-in location on time. Regardless of what you are told or understand, it is the angler's responsibility to verify their provided flight card time. All fishing must cease upon check-in, or upon such other time as may be designated by the Tournament Director.

14.

SCORING: Will be determined by the pounds and ounces of each angler's catch during the tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye or Smallmouth Bass are accepted species. The limit will be five bass per team. Any contestant who possesses more than the tournament limit at any time will have their catch for that day disqualified. The minimum official length limit for all species for the 2008 Bass Champs Qualifying Team Event is 14 inches. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a one pound penalty to the weight of the remaining fish. Each contestant's catch must be presented in an official weigh-in bag and verified by the signature of at least one team member. The Pro-Rule Measuring Board is the official measuring board of Bass Champs.

15.

LIVE FISH: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of chemical live well additives made by Sure-Life which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat are recommended. A ONE pound penalty will be deducted for each dead bass presented for weigh-in. Any team that weighs in a dead fish for the big bass award will receive a ONE pound penalty from the total big bass weight.

16.

LATE PENALTY: Contestants who are not at the official check-in point at the appointed time will be assessed a ONE pound per minute penalty from their total weight including any weight to be counted toward a big bass award. Any contestant more than 15 minutes late will forfeit that day's catch. In the event of a mechanical break down, a contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a ride from another registered contestant or tournament official only. The contestants must return to the official check-in location by the methods set forth above by their assigned check-in time to avoid late penalty.

17.

CLOSING OF THE SCALES: Scales will close 30 minutes after the last flight is due in. Due to certain weigh-in locations this time may be lengthened or shortened at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion. Any change to the above stated official scale closing time will be announced during registration and during boat check-out. It is the angler’s responsibility to verify the official scale closing time and to be in the weigh-in line by such time.

18.	TIES: A tie for 1st place in all events will be broken by a One Hour Fish Off. All other ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place's money.

19.

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: There are 5 ways to qualify for the 2008 Bass Champs Team Championship.

• The top 10 teams from each region’s AOY point standings will automatically qualify for the State Championship.
• The top 10 placing teams at the final regular season event in each region that have entered all 5 events in such region. (not previously qualified)
• The top “Junior Team” in each region will also qualify for the State Championship (see details below).
• The highest placing team in a qualified Skeeter at the final regular season event in each region that have entered all 5 events in such region.
• Three random draw teams from each region. Drawing will be held at the final regular season event in each region from teams that have entered all 5 events in such region.

20.

POINTS: Will be awarded as follows: Total Entries = Total Points: Winner receives the exact # of points as the # of entries. Example: 200 Entries - Winner receives 200 points, 2nd place receives 199 points, 3rd place receives 198 points, etc. All teams that do not weigh in a bass will receive ten points less than the last place team that weighed fish at that event.

21.	ANGLER(S) OF THE YEAR (AOY): The Team or Individual that accumulates the greatest amount of points for the entire season will be awarded the prestigious "ANGLER OF THE YEAR" title. Anglers of the Year will receive free entry fees the following season for the division in which the title was won.

22.	JUNIOR TEAM: Any team that consists of one adult and one junior, 17 years old or less, will be considered a "Junior Team". The "Junior Team" that enters all five regular season events and accumulates the most AOY points in each region will automatically qualify for the State Championship.

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