Club Rules
GREENFIELD
BASSMASTERS
TOURNAMENT
RULES & REGULATIONS
1.
Only members in good standing, with your Club Dues and your FLW
Fees paid, are eligible to participate in tournaments unless you are a guest
or prospective member.
2. Club members must be at leat 18 years of age, unless a parent or other family member 18 years or older is a club member as well. To become a club member, you must attend two (2) out of three (3) consecutive club functions. At the end of your second (2nd) function you will be voted (in or out) by the club members present at that function. If a previous club member wants to rejoin Greenfield Bassmasters, he/she must be re-voted (in or out) by the club members present at that function.
3.
Boater club members will be paired with available non-boater club members
by drawing for each tournament until all non-boater club members have been
paired with boaters. Excess boaters
will then be paired together or fish alone according to the Boater Option
Rule listed in G. Illness or
mechanical problems will be the only reason for changing partners once the
drawing has been held.
4. Prospective boaters may fish, but must show proof of insurance at ramp or sign a waiver form prior to launch time.
5. It will be each member's responsibility to notify another club member if they are not going to be at a club
meeting or attend a tournament. Failure to do this will leave you out of the draw and disqualified from the
tournament. See exception below.
6. If an angler shows up at the tournament to fish and he/she has not put into the draw at the previous meeting, there will be a vote at the ramp to whether or not the angler can receive points. The vote will be unanimous by the club members present at the tournament.
7. Liability insurance in the amount of $300,000 is required for each boat. Each boater must have in their possession a copy of their watercraft liability insurance policy, or a certificate of insurance showing the name of the insurance company, insured's name, liability amount, description of watercraft, and policy effective dates. A copy must also be on file with the club officers.
8. In order for a club member to qualify for the Top 8 program the following year, he/she must score at least 250 bonus points in meetings and/or in club functions. These bonus points shall not count towards year-end total points. Meetings will be worth 25 points and club functions will be worth 50 points. There will be 12 meetings per year with the first one starting in November, and two (2) to three (3) functions per year. A function is defined as an activity the club participates in (i.e. Casting Kids, Boat raffle booth, Clean up a Ramp, Open tournament, etc.). New member's bonus points shall be pro-rated if he/she joins the club after the start of the new season. The Top 8 anglers shall be determined upon the Top 8 anglers for the lakes/rivers fished during the regular season. Alternates will be chosen starting with the angler in 9th place and so on.
B.
TIME OF TOURNAMENT
1. Starting time and length of each tournament will be decided by the tournament director at the meeting prior to the tournament.
2. The official starting time will be when all boats are launched and ready. The last boater drawn will start you in the order in which you were drawn at the previous club meeting. During a (2) day tournament, the first day will be the same as above but during the second day, the order will be reversed.
3. No contestants may fish until the specific start signal has been given.
4. It is the responsibility of each contestant to have the correct time. At least one member of the tournament committee will have the official time.
5. Penalty for late start: None, unless it affects a partner, in which case the late contestant will be penalized if their partner chooses to file a protest. Penalty will be decided based on amount of time late.
6. Penalty for late finish: 1 pound/min deducted from the total weight including any weight to be counted toward a big bass award. Any contestant more than 15 minutes late will lose credit for that day's weight, but will still receive their 5 participation points. "Good Samaritan" exemption: If a contestant is late because they are helping a stranded boater, etc., then they will be exempt from the late penalty.
7. If a non-boater does not show up to a tournament without giving his/her boater partner at least 24 hours notice prior to the tournament, he/she will be responsible for the boater's entry fee for that day.
C.
FISHING RULES
1. No fishing within fifty (50) feet of another tournament boat anchored or tied, or within (50) feet of any marina gas pump.
2. Artificial lures only.
3. No trolling.
4. The tournament director prior to the tournament will announce any off limit areas.
5. Each partner is entitled to fish from the front of the boat for one half (1/2) of the tournament and is entitled to pick the area to fish, if he/she so desires.
6. No boater shall get out of his/her boat to fish.
7. Penalty for violation of fishing rules: Disqualification.
D.
WEIGH IN
1. Only (5) fish per angler will be allowed to be weighed per tournament day. If a contestant brings more than (5) five fish to the scales, the tournament director will remove fish from the contestants creel starting with the largest fish and so forth until the contestant's catch meets the (5) fish limit.
2. No fish will be weighed in until at least the tournament director and his/her partner is present and at least (2) other participants are present.
3. Weight and length determined by club equipment as official.
4. All bass must measure at least the minimum size of largemouth bass for that lake/river. Where there is a question on minimum size limits for each lake/river, the tournament director shall clarify before the start of the tournament.
5. Length of a fish is measured with mouth closed and the tail compressed to determine total length. If tail touches line it counts.
6. Tournament director only makes the call on whether or not a fish counts. Contestant has option of using the official tournament rule for a bump. Once a fish is handed over to tournament director, he/she has left the decision up to the director to determine whether or not the fish will count. Penalty for short fish: 1 pound per short fish. The short fish will not be weighed in. Penalty weight will be deducted from the weight of the remaining catch.
7. Penalty for dead fish: 1 pound or weight of fish, which ever is less.
8. It is the responsibility of each contestant to verify his/her score on the club score sheet at the end of each weigh in. Contestants are encouraged to initial their score. Weights are final 30 minutes after the close of the scales.
9.
Greenfield Bassmaster's (GB's) club tournaments will take
precedent over all other tournaments that day.
If a member elects to fish another tournament the same day as GB's
and wants to receive points for GB's, it will be that member's
responsibility to weigh in at the same time as GB's and on GB's scales.
10. If in the event there is a protest, these shall be made to the appointed tournament director no later than 30 minutes after the close of the scales. A member wishing to protest must be present at the time the protest is filed and must remain present until the protest is decided upon by the tournament committee. In the event a member of the tournament committee is part of the protest, they will be replaced at that time by another club member appointed by the tournament director so that the committee may be impartial to the protest.
E.
SCORING
1. Only largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, and shoal bass will be counted.
2. Members will be awarded place points for each tournament, including the classic; 100 points for 1st place, 97 points for 2nd place, etc. in 3 point increments. Place points are based on total weight of fish and are only awarded for keeper fish. In addition to receiving place points for each tournament, members will receive 5 points for each tournament they fish. The club member who catches the big bass for that tournament will receive a bonus of 5 points added to his yearly points total in the "bonus points" column. In the event a contestant is penalized and their penalty would cause their score to be negative, they will receive a score of zero.
3. In case of a tie (for first place only), the number of fish caught, followed by the biggest bass will determine the winner. If still a tie, a flip of a coin will determine the winner.
4. Point standings will be given at each meeting following the tournaments.
5. Big bass for the year must be a weighed fish, no paper fish will be allowed.
6. Yearly points will be the total of the best 10 scores out of 12 tournaments, including the classic, plus any big bass bonus points.
F.
BOATING RULES
1. Each boat must have a kill switch, except for tiller steering.
2. Boat must meet safety regulations in force on the lake being fished and must be operated in accordance with the boating regulations in force on the water being fished. Penalty as follows:
a) If a boater receives a ticket for a "moving violation", such as too fast in an idle zone, disqualification.
b) If a boater receives a ticket for a "non-moving violation", such as no horn, penalty of 2.5 lbs.
3. During tournament hours, life jackets must be worn while the outboard motor is running. Disqualification.
5. No alcoholic beverages during tournament hours. Disqualification
G.
BOATER OPTION RULE
1. All boat owners drawn for a tournament will have the option of taking his/her boat to the tournament.
2. If a boater fishes a tournament by himself/herself, he/she must be the first boater drawn at the next meeting for the next tournament. In the event that more than one boater fishes alone in a tournament, then each of these boaters will be drawn in the next pairings before the remaining boaters. This will keep boaters from fishing (2) consecutive tournaments by themselves.
3. No (2) anglers shall fish a tournament together more than once in a season until
everybody has fished with each other once. Anglers will still fish together both days of a
(2)
day tournament. This rule does not apply to the Classic.
H.
RULE CHANGES
1. All proposed rule changes will be voted in or out ONCE A YEAR at the November meeting.
I.
LAKE SELECTION
1. Once the lakes and dates have been set, there will be no changes unless there is a
problem with the lake (determined by the tournament director and committee) such as a
chemical spill, high water, etc. OR if the club members who are fishing at that tournament
agree unanimously to change the lake. All tournament date changes must also be unanimous by the club members that are fishing that tournament. If there is a problem with switching lakes, Greenfield Bassmaster's will establish a list of dump lakes from which the new lake will be chosen from.
J.
CLASSIC LAKE SELECTION
1. Only members who are fishing the Classic will be allowed to enter a lake or river for
the Classic vote. Members who cannot make the draw meeting for the Classic will be
entitled to an absentee vote. The Classic lake will be the lake that receives the most votes.
In case of a tie, the lakes will be placed into a hat and one lake drawn from those that were tied.
2. The Classic tournament must be a lake or river in the state of Indiana.
3. The Classic will be off-limits after midnight the Sunday previous to the Classic Sunday. Off-limits is defined as no participant will be allowed on the water.
K.
SPORTSMANSHIP
1. During the tournament, it is the responsibility of each angler to conduct themselves in a way that is not discrediting to the Greenfield Bassmasters, the sport of bass fishing or to the spirit of fair tournament competition. The goal for each angler should be to search for, locate and then catch their own fish without the use of outside assistance from non-competitors. All fish should be caught on rod and reel during tournament hours and in case of sight fishing, caught in the mouth and not snagged.
Any questionable violation of sportsmanship should be reported to the tournament director (TD) within 30 minutes after the end of weigh-in. The TD will then discuss it only with the parties involved and the tournament committee. The TD will then rule on the protest before any points and moneys are awarded. The decision of the TD will be final at that time.