AIKEN CHRISTIAN BASS ANGLERS RULES
1/1/2012
"Be Ye Fishers of Men, You Catch Them, He Will Clean
Them"
PURPOSE
The Aiken Christian Bass Anglers was
formed to provide for the enjoyment of tournament bass fishing with the main
emphasis on Christian fellowship. That by our conduct and attitudes we provide
a Christian witness to all who we come in contact with.
GENERAL
Tournament Year
January 1st
through November 30th each year.
Review and Changing of Rules
The rules shall be reviewed for change at the
end of the tournament year (usually November).
Tournament Dates
Tournament events shall be voted on at
the monthly pre-tournament meeting prior to the next month's tournament. The
goal is to select dates that maximize participation.
Designated Lakes / Rivers
Tournament
locations will be selected from the following bodies of water:
Lake
Thurmond
Lake
Murray
Lake
Greenwood
Lake
Russell
Lake
Wateree
Savannah
River
DIVISIONS
The tournaments are divided into two
separate divisions (ADULT AND YOUTH).
Adult is 18 yrs. and older. Youth is 17
yrs. and under.
MEMERSHIP FEES
Annual membership fees are $110.00 for
adults and $55.00 for youth. Dues can be paid annually or monthly, but must be
current for any club awards. Membership dues will be prorated for the remainder
of the year once membership has been declared.
Guests are not required to pay
membership fees, but are not eligible for points or awards.
10% of the club’s annual gross income
will be given to Tommy Youngblood Memorial Fund to support international
missions to train pastors on the mission field.
Back
Fees
If a member gets two months behind in
fees, the member will not be eligible for year-end awards until back fees are
paid.
OUTREACH EVENTS
Tommy
Youngblood Memorial Fishing Classic*
Will be scheduled annually in the
spring and will be a non-point open tournament.
October
Outreach Tournament*
Will be scheduled annually in the fall
and will be a non-point open team tournament. A committee will be formed no later than the
last day of May to start the planning.
* Monthly point tournament scheduling during
the same month as the outreach events will be voted on during the previous
month tournament meeting.
TOURNAMENT
PARTICIPATION AND PARTNER DRAW
Partner
Draw
Partners can be pre-arranged or drawn
at the monthly meeting before each tournament determined by majority vote.
Youth are not included in the draw.
Youth participation shall be pre-arranged by the parent/guardian of the youth
with an adult boater (21 years of age or older) prior to the meeting. The
following addresses the protocol used when boaters and non-boaters are not
pre-arranged.
a. Boaters: All members have the option
to use their boat. Members wishing to use their boat will be assigned a number
to be placed in the draw.
b. Non-boaters: Each non-boater will draw
a boater number to determine the pairings. Non-boaters have the option to redraw
if they draw the same person two (2) consecutive tournaments.
c. Open boats: Following the draw, remaining
open boaters have the options to; 1) fish open, 2) pair-up with other open
boaters or 3) bring a guest.
Guests
Invited guests are the responsibility
of the inviter for obtaining boat space.
TOURNAMENT RULES
Boating
Equipment
Only boats and motors complying with
state laws will be permitted in tournaments.
Life
Preservers
Each competitor is
required to wear a Coast Guard approved life vest, securely fastened, with kill
switch connected at all times while the boat is being propelled by the
combustion engine and on plane.
Accessory
Equipment
Electric trolling motors, depth finders
and graphs (paper, LCR's, & CRT's) location markers, temperature, oxygen,
and pH monitors, and other accepted electronic equipment may be used.
Lures
Only artificial lures may be used. No
live bait or prepared baits are allowed except commercial pork baits.
Tackle
All fish must be caught on a rod &
reel. Only one type of rod may be fished at one time. Other rods may be
pre-rigged and available for immediate use.
Fishing
Methods
Fish must be caught in an accepted
conventional manner (no foul-hooking of fish or trolling with gas motors). Fish
must be hooked inside the mouth when sight fishing.
Competition
Fish
Mashed, mangled or foul-hooked bass
will not be counted.
Adult - Any black bass will be counted.
Youth - All legal species of fish will
be counted.
Size
Limit
Minimum of twelve (12) inches per black
bass as measured by the tournament officials. Mouth shut, closed tail.
Stringer
Limit
Five (5) fish per person.
All culling must be
done at the time the 6th fish is caught; no person may continue
fishing with more than the tournament limit in the live well at any time during
the tournament, with the exception of dead fish that is not included in their
limit.
Boat
Operation and Expense
Operating a boat in negligent or unsafe
manner or in violation of any state or federal law will result in the immediate
and final disqualification. Adult partners will agree about the expense
sharing.
Lake
Headquarters
Headquarters will be designated by the
tournament committee. Boats must leave and return by water to this location,
except when trailering or extreme high wind conditions.
Tournament
Hours
Tournament hours are 8 hours from voted
blast off time, unless a tournament duration extension is voted on at
the monthly pre-tournament meeting.
Blast-off
Tournament blast-off time will be voted
on at the pre-tournament meeting. Each boat should exercise good judgment in the
interest of safety at blast-off. Starting
positions will be determined by a drawing of all participating boats just
before the closing of the pre-tournament meeting. Participants not in
attendance will be assigned a starting position at the back of the line. Trailering
contestants shall not leave the parking lot before the first
boat blasts-off.
Weigh
in
Will be at Lake Headquarters. A weigh
in time will be announced prior to blast-off. Weigh in deadline is defined as – inside the
designated no wake buoy or in the weigh in area, idle speed or less by the designated
weigh in time. Trailering contestants
must be in the parking lot at the weigh in deadline. Fish must be caught by the
contestant weighing them. No more than one limit of fish should be brought to
the scales. Once fish have been presented to the tournament committee to be
weighed in, all fish become the property of Aiken Christian Bass Anglers and no
additional culling shall take place. Penalties
will be incurred at that point.
Leaving
the Tournament Early
If a contestant decides to leave a
tournament early because of a pre-arranged agreement or unforeseen
circumstances, he should leave a note or tell another contestant that he is
leaving the tournament. If a note is left, it must be left on another
contestant’s vehicle at the weigh-in site. If this is the case, another member
can weigh-in that persons fish for him.
Alcohol
and Profanity
Alcohol is absolutely prohibited. Profanity will not be
tolerated.
Sportsmanship
Each
contestant is expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, and
Christian attitudes. No boat may fish within 50 yards of any other boat which
is anchored with the trolling motor up;
furthermore no boat may fish within 25 yards of any other boat without the other
boater’s permission. Permission may not be granted to any boat at the exclusion
of any other boat. No hole sitting by a non-competitor or by another
competitor, to aid a tournament participant will be allowed. Violators will
have their catch disqualified.
PENALTIES AND
PROTESTS
The following penalties will apply to
all tournaments.
Late
for Weigh In
A one (1) pound penalty of total weight
will be assessed for each minute late up to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, no
fish will be weighed.
Too
Many Fish Weighed-In
For each fish over the five (5) fish
limit placed in the weigh in scales, the string will be culled beginning with
the largest fish down to a five (5) fish limit.
Small
Fish
A short fish will not be
weighed, and the contestant will loose one (1) pound for each fish under 12
inches that is presented to the tournament committee to be weighed-in.
SCORING SYSTEM
The following system will be used to
determine the standings for Aiken Christian Bass Anglers:
Tournament
Weigh-In Points
Placement in tournament (individual or
team) will be determined by official total weight at the scales. First place
receives 100 points. Points per place is set to 1. All members attending the
tournament and not weighing in fish will receive 10 points less than last place
weighed points. Tags
will be awarded to the top three places in the adult and youth divisions.
Tournament Tie Breakers
used
1 – Big Fish
2
– Number of fish weighed in
Tournament Bonus
Points
Big Fish 5
points
Limit of Fish 5
points
Attendance
Points
Each Meeting Attended.............10 points
Members attending church functions and cannot attend the meetings will receive the bonus points if prior notification is given to the tournament officials concerning fishing arrangements for the tournament (e.g. boater, open boat, assignment of boat #, etc.).
Members
- Big Fish Pot
Each month, 20% of that months membership
dues will be placed in the pot. The size of the big fish will be voted on
before the first tournament of the year. The first active member (dues current
through month fish was caught) to catch the size of the big fish or greater
will win the entire pot. Once the pot has been won, a new big fish size is
established and starts over.
Year-To-Date
Standings
Standings for active members will be determined
by combining the following:
·
Individual
tournament place and bonus points
·
Meeting
bonus points
Year - To - Date Tie
Breakers used
1 – Number
of fish caught
2
– Most Weight
Dropping
Events
All participants must drop the 2 lowest
tournaments for the year. This will include all place points and bonus points
for the 2 tournaments.
Awards
The following awards will be presented at the
close of the tournament year:
Adult Division
1st Place – Angler of the Year
(Based on points)
Big Bass of the Year
Highest Total Weight for the Year
Youth Division
1st Place - Angler of the Year
(Based on points)
Big Fish of the Year
Highest Total Weight for the Year