TOURNAMENT RULES:
Bay Area Bassmasters Team Tournament Trail:
Every fisherman that is a boater wishing to participate in a Bay Area
Bassmasters sanctioned event must provide proof of current boater’s
liability insurance with no less than $300,000.00 in coverage.
Fees:
To join Bay Area Bassmasters you must join the National B.A.S.S. Nation; $30.00, The Florida
B.A.S.S. Nation; $25.00 and be an active B.A.S.S. member. Club dues are $20.00 per year.
These are once a year expenses that the club will collect. You must keep your B.A.S.S.
membership current. Failure to do so could mean disqualification from one or more
tournaments.
Tournament Guidelines:
1. The following rules shall apply to all regular tournaments conducted by Bay Area
Bassmasters, except for special tournaments as deemed by the Tournament Committee.
2. By participating in any tournament conducted by Bay Area Bassmasters, it is understood that
the following tournament rules have been read, agreed on, and shall be adhered to.
3. Interpretation and enforcement of these rules shall be left to the sole discretion of the
Tournament Director. Members of the tournament committee present at the event may be
consulted if deemed necessary by the Tournament Director.
4. Protests:
a. Protests of violations of the tournament rules may be made to the Tournament Director or a
member of the Tournament Committee at any time during the tournament or weigh in, but must
be made within 15 minutes of the final fish being weighed. Protests made more than 15 minutes
after last fish weighed in will not be considered.
b. A formal protest shall require a $25.00 deposit or agreement to forfeit 75 club points, which
will be refunded should the protest be upheld. In the event the protest is found not valid or
overturned, money or points shall be forfeited and applied to the Club’s General Fund.
5. The decision of the Tournament Director and/or Tournament Committee shall be final in all
matters.
6. Any member who receives a prize may be subject to a polygraph test and shall forfeit any
prize and points for refusal.
7. Alcoholic beverages shall not be consumed until the weigh-ins has concluded and all checks
have been issued.
8. Checks will be issued 15 minutes after final weigh in. Once a check is issued, the tournament
is officially over and no protests or changes may be made.
9. These rules are steadfast and not open for discussion at regular club meetings unless all
conditions are followed under “Changes to Rules”.
Team Trail:
1. Teams will consist of only 2 members.
2. New teams must attend a regular meeting to be allowed to join Bay Area Bassmasters. At
least one of the team members must attend and be voted in by the existing members of the
club. No new memberships will be allowed to join at the ramp. Past members in good standing
may join at the ramp if proper notification has been given.
3. Should a team dissolve or separate, and both members wish to remain members of the club,
team points shall be split evenly and awarded to each member.
4. Should a member of a team be absent from a tournament, an alternate will be allowed to fish
for that team, providing the alternate is a paid member in good standing with the club.
5. Once an alternate joins the club, that angler may fish for any team in the club. While
designated an alternate, the alternate member is not allowed to accumulate any club points.
6. No alternate who joins the club after October 15th will be allowed to fish in the club Classic.
7. During meetings and votes, each club member present will be recognized as an individual
and allowed their own voice and vote. Teams are a term used only for tournaments.
8. Any two different full time team members that choose to fish together must split Team Angler
of the Year (TAOY) points. The exception is if a full time team member chooses to fish with a
designated full time alternate the points would go to the full time team member. A full time
alternate is defined as a member not designated to any team. A full time team member is
defined as a listed member of a team.
Safety:
1. Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times. A violation of state or local boating laws as
well as any conservation laws resulting in a written citation shall result in disqualification from
the event.
2. Each competitor must wear a Coast Guard approved chest type life preserver anytime the
combustion engine is in operation. The preserver must be strapped, snapped or zippered
securely, and maintained in that condition until the combustion engine is shut off. Inflatable life
vest indicators should be checked daily. Inflatable PFD's are allowed as long as U. S. Coast
Guard regulations are met. The Coast Guard requires that inflatable PFD's must be worn at all
times unless there is an equal number of non-inflatable Coast Guard approved PFD's on board.
This will begin when your boat number is called in the morning, and ending once the teams chip
has been placed on the board.
3. Tournament hours shall be safe light (Discretion of Tournament Director) to 3:00 P.M. except
in June, July, August, and September during which it will be 2:00 P.M. , unless approved by the
tournament committee and a weigh in time stated at the pretournament meeting.
4. Each boat must be properly registered and have all required Coast Guard safety equipment.
In addition, it must have a functional live well space, properly aerated to adequately maintain a
live limit of all fish caught during the tournament.
5. Navigation lights must be used at the start of each tournament and remain on until the
shoreline, on the opposite side of the lake becomes easily visible. If the lights are not working
on a tournament boat, that boat must move to the last boat called and wait for safe daylight
before taking off.
6. Keeping in mind children may be present, the use of drugs or alcohol is not allowed during
tournament hours or during the weigh in.
7. Kill switches must be installed in all tournament boats. The lanyard must be connected to the
driver when the main engine is running.
8. Stick or Tiller steered boats over 40hp are strictly prohibited.
9. As a non-profit group, it is up to the discretion of the boat owner as to the amount of
insurance carried, as long as he meets the clubs minimum policy requirement of $300,000.00.
Bay Area Bassmasters does not provide insurance, and is not responsible for any accident or
injury incurred during a tournament.
Tackle and Equipment:
1. Only Casting, Spinning, or Spin Cast rods (Not exceeding 10’ in length) may be used. Any
other type of rod or reel is prohibited. Numerous rods may be rigged and ready to use, but only
one rod per person is permitted to be in use at any one time.
2. Only artificial lures may be used. No live or prepared baits may be used with the exception of
commercial pork rinds.
3. All fish must be caught live and in a sporting manor. Anyone found guilty of snatching or
snagging visible fish will be disqualified.
4. While sight fishing, bass must be hooked inside the mouth to be counted as a legal fish.
5. Gaffs to land fish are strictly prohibited. Every attempt shall be made to land a fish in a
manner that will not harm the fish and allow for a live release. The use of a landing net is
allowed.
Tournament Rules:
1. Team entry fees shall be $80.00 per team, which includes big bass.
2. The entry fee will be divided as so; $52 per entry will be used as payout for the tournament,
$10 of each entry fee will be paid back to the big fish winner, $13 will be held back for the
Classic fund. $5 per team fee that will be divided at the end of the year as such; $1 per entry fee
will be awarded to the largest bass of the year. $1 per entry fee will be awarded to the smallest
legal fish of the year. $3 per entry fee will be awarded to the Team Angler of the Year and to the
team that finishes in second place. It shall be awarded in a 70/30 split.
3. No boat shall fish within 50 yards of another boat who is anchored and with the trolling motor
stored and locked in the up position. This includes the use of Power Poles or other shallow
water type anchors as well as conventional anchors.
4. No trolling is allowed (Moving your bait with your trolling motor or main engine).
5. Competitors must remain in the boat during tournament hours. Competitors are not allowed to
leave the boat to land a fish. Competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter in bad
weather where danger is imminent. In the event of a needed restroom break or refueling
situation at a marina gas pump, contestants are allowed to leave the boat, at which time all
fishing must cease until partners are back together again in the boat.
6. Fishing is only allowed in waters accessible to all fishermen.
7. Sequence of boat launch shall be conducted by a draw at the meeting prior to each
tournament. Teams that are present at the meeting and have paid their entry fee will be drawn
first. Teams not present at the meeting but have paid their entry fee will be in a second draw
that same night. Teams paying at the ramp will be launched in the order their entry fee has been
received.
8. The Tournament Director will go out boat #2. The Tournament Secretary will go out boat #3,
and the Tournament Assistant will go out boat #4. The Tournament Director will appoint these
positions. All other boat numbers will go into the draw.
9. Withdrawals from the tournament must be made to the secretary by 9:00 PM on the Thursday
before the tournament or forfeit their entry fees.
10. Each team will be issued a chip according to boat launch number. This chip must be posted
on the tournament board, located at the weigh-in site at the time of weigh-in. Any team leaving
early and not posting their chip will be disqualified and will not receive tournament points.
Teams leaving early may elect to pass their chip to another team to be posted at weigh-in or
leave it on one of the director’s vehicle and will still receive tournament points. This rule is for
the safe return of each and every member of the club.
11. Unless specifically authorized by the tournament director, boats shall not be loaded onto
trailers until after the teams fish have been weighted and recorded.
12. Any team who cannot make a scheduled meeting to pre-pay prior to a tournament, must
notify the club secretary, president, or tournament director, by no later than 9:00 pm Thursday
before the tournament. If this if followed, then we will accept the payment of your entry fee at the
ramp the day of the tournament. No exceptions to this rule will be allowed.
13. Minimum fish size will be 12" and no limit on oversize fish if exemptions are issued. If
exemptions were not given the minimum size limit shall be 12" and Florida size limits will apply.
If you are late and do not get the exemption certificate you must obey Florida law size limits for
that lake. Only one courtesy measurement will be allowed per team. You must ask for the
courtesy before your fish are in the weigh basket.
14. All tournaments will have a five fish limit per boat unless specified differently by the
tournament director. Once the sixth fish is caught, culling must be completed before both team
members can resume fishing. Culling of dead fish is not allowed. Culling at the ramp is
forbidden.
15. The Board of Directors reserves the right to refuse membership to anyone.
Team Anglers of the Year:
Team Anglers of the Year points will be awarded based on team participation, and placement in
each tournament they fish. Point system is as follows; 75 points for 1st place, 74 points for 2nd,
73 points for 3rd, and so forth on down the rest of the places in decreasing increments of one
point per position. The Team weighing in the largest bass of the tournament (Big Bass) will
receive and one additional point. Teams that actively participate (fish the event) that do not
catch a fish in that tournament will receive 10 points less than the lowest scoring team that
presented a caught fish at the weigh-in. Lastly, teams that do not show for the event will receive
no points for the event.
Penalty Points:
1. Every attempt shall be made to keep each and every fish caught, living and releasable. Each
legal fish presented at the scales, as a dead fish, deemed dead by the Tournament Director,
shall access a penalty of .25 lbs.
2. Late Penalty: any team who does not have their chip placed on the board at their designated
weigh in time shall be considered late and will be accessed a 1-lb. penalty for each minute they
are late. After 15 minutes, the team will be disqualified.
3. All fish will be checked on a "Golden Rule". If a short fish is brought to the scales and you did
not ask for a "courtesy" measure your team will be penalized and will lose the weight of not only
the short fish but also lose the weight of your largest fish being weighed in.
Ties:
1. In the event of a tie, 1st tiebreaker will be number of fish, 2nd tiebreaker will be weight of big
fish. If still a tie still exists, points for that position and next consecutive position shall be
combined and split evenly as well as any monies.
2. Ties for Big Fish shall split the money and the extra point.
Off Limits:
All tournament waters are off limits from sundown on the Friday before the tournament until
normal launch time on the Saturday morning of the tournament.
Classic:
The Club Classic is our last tournament of the year in November. It will be a two day event with
weigh-in on Saturday at 3:00 PM and on Sunday at 2:00 PM. To qualify for the Club Classic, at
least one member of the team must fish seven (7) of the ten (10) tournaments. If an angler
fishes a Florida B.A.S.S. Nation event on the same day as a club event has been scheduled,
they do not receive any club TAOY points but it does count as a fished event towards our club
classic.
Sportsmanship:
1. The focus of this club is to promote tournament fishing. Children may be present and it is of
the utmost importance that each and every member of the club retains sportsman like conduct.
Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
Changes to the Rules:
1. Changes to the rules can only be made by the tournament committee at a regularly
scheduled meeting and by a majority vote of those members present.
2. Any active member of the club may make suggested changes. However, a suggested change
must be made in writing at least one month prior to the next tournament committee meeting.
The suggested rule change will then be brought up in the next regular club meeting and any
member of the club may make a statement regarding the rule change.
3. The Tournament Committee will take a vote on the suggested change at their next scheduled
meeting, and the decision of the tournament committee shall be final. Should any discrepancy
arise not covered in the above rules, Bay Area Bassmasters retain the right to revert to the rules
of the B.A.S.S. Nation State and National Tournament Rules.
Updated 01/01/2023
