Tennessee Fishing Regulations

Tennessee Boating Information

Berkley Big Bite Form

TN Bass Federation TOURNAMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS:

 Revised:  February 4, 2006

 1.      RULE CHANGES: The following rules of this tournament will remain unchanged, except for special tournaments conducted by TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC.. Interpretation and enforcement of these rules shall be left exclusively to the Tournament Rules Committee consisting of the Tournament Director and State Officers. The decision of the Tournament Director and tournament officials shall be final in all matters.

2.      ELIGIBILITY: This tournament is open only to members of THE Bass FEDERATON, INC./FLW OUTDOORS who are 16 years of age or older and who are active members of Tennessee Bass Federation affiliated clubs. Proof of age to the satisfaction of tournament officials is the responsibility of potential competitor. Each member club, whose dues are up to date and who have been members of the Tennessee Bass Federation, Inc. for at least one (1) year, may send up to six (6) representatives to compete the State Federation Tournament as one team.

A.        STATE TOURNAMENT:  The State Tournament will be divided into two (2) Divisional State Tournaments.  The West Divisional shall consist of clubs within the boundaries of the West Division (Region 1 and Region 2) and the East Divisional shall consist of clubs with the boundaries of the East Division (Region 3 & Region 4).  Each club within these competing Divisions will be able to send a six (6) man team to compete in their State Divisional tournament provided they have met the membership requirements.  Club who fail to send at least one (1) member to their respective Regional/Area meeting in the spring and late summer will not be eligible to send a six (6) man team.  All team members must have been on the roster at least thirty (30) days prior to the entry deadline.  All competition will be based on a six (6) man team; however, a club can enter less than six (6) men.  Entry fee for each State Divisional tournament will be five hundred dollars ($500.00) which will include the Big Bass pot money.  Pay-out will be 70% of the entry fees broken down to include the following: Big Bass - $1,000.00 split 60% for the 1^st big bass and 40% for the second big bass, $1,000.00 paid out for the top three (3) individuals split as follows:  1^st place - $500.00, 2^nd place - $300.00, 3^rd place - $200.00.  The remaining balance will be paid in either cash, prizes or a combination to the top 20% (clubs) fishing the tournament.  (i.e. 60 fishing – 12 teams receiving prizes/cash.  Thirty (30%) of the entry fees from each Divisional tournament will go the Southern Divisional team and the National Federation representative for expenses.

3.      REGISTRATION: A properly completed and signed official entry form must be received by the TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC. on or before the application deadline date. The Tournament Director reserves the right to discontinue acceptance of applications and the right to extend the acceptance date. A team captain from each club will be responsible for pre-registering his club and team members. He will provide the following information at that time: NAME, THE Bass FEDERTION, INC./FLW NUMBER AND DATE OF EXPIRATION, BOATER OR NON-BOATER DESIGNATION AND PROOF OF BOATER LIABILITY INSURANCE OF $100,000 MINIMUM. THIS DOCUMENTED PROOF MUST SHOW AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND EXPIRATION DATE. A copy of the cards should be sent along with the registration form. ENTRY DEADLINE DATE FOR EACH TOURNAMENT SHALL BE 30 DAYS PRIOR TO THE FIRST COMPETITION DAY. THERE WILL BE A $50.00 LATE FEE FOR APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE DATE.

A.      STATE DIVISIONAL TOURNAMENT: Teams that fail to send an application or entry fee fifteen (15) days prior to the First Competition Day will be considered not fishing by TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC. Tournament Officials. Team changes can be made on the day of check-in if necessary. However, no team shall be allowed to add a person to their roster within thirty (30) days of the divisional tournaments.

4.      THE TOURNAMENT: During the tournament a competitor may not have the assistance or advice of anyone for the purpose of locating or catching bass. He shall not enter the tournament waters with a professional guide, state or federal wildlife agency employee, or any other person deemed an “expert” on these tournament waters by the Tournament Director, unless the person is a contestant in the tournament. During the tournament, a competitor may not “SKIN DIVE” or “SCUBA DIVE” on the tournament waters. No competitor may buy or barter a fishing location from any other contestant for use during any competition day. During competition days of the tournament a competitor may not use a CB radio, a VHF marine-band radio, cellular phone, or any other type of communication device for the purpose of locating or catching fish.  Contestants are permitted to transmit by radio or telephone only in the event of an emergency. If so equipped contestants may listen to the marine-band weather information. Each competitor agrees to report to the Tournament Director any violation or infraction of the Tournament Rules. The failure to report violations or suggestions to violate these Rules or false verification of weigh-in forms will be cause for disqualification. Each competitor agrees to take a polygraph test should he be accused of any rule violation. The administration and interpretation of the polygraph test shall be solely the responsibility of the Tournament Director and his agents, and shall be used (or not used) at the discretion of the Tournament Director. Without limiting the foregoing, the Tournament Director shall have sole discretion to select the place, at which such polygraph test shall be administered, the individual who administers such polygraph test, and the scope of the questions, which may be asked during such test. The participant shall be available, at his expense, at the location selected by the Tournament Director and shall cooperate in all respects with such examination.

5.      SAFETY: safe boating conduct must be observed at all times by tournament competitors. During the tournament, each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard-approved chest-type life preserver. This preserver must be worn anytime the combustion engine is operating. The preserver must be strapped, snapped or zippered securely and maintained in that condition until the competitor reaches his fishing location and the combustion engine is shut off. Violation of this rule shall be reason for disqualification. Tournament officials have the right to delay or cancel the start of an official tournament day because of bad weather or other factors that would endanger the safety of the competitors. Tournament waters may also be restricted at any time because of bad weather.

6.      SPORTSMANSHIP: Competitors in Tennessee Bass Federation tournaments are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification. Use of alcohol or drugs (other than those purchased over the counter or prescribed by a licensed physician) by any competitor during the official practice or during the tournament will not be tolerated and shall be cause for automatic disqualification from this and all future TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC. tournaments. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of non-competitors who may be on tournament waters. Any act of a competitor which reflects unfavorable upon efforts to promote fisheries conservation, clean waters, and courtesy shall be reason for disqualification. All competitors are bound by the prevailing statues and regulations of the various states within which they fish. No alcoholic beverages or other stimulants or depressants, prescription or otherwise, shall be allowed in the boats during competition days or when in the weigh-in area. Chemical-substance addiction or abuse, conviction of a felony or other crimes involving moral turpitude, or other conduct reflecting unfavorable upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules shall be grounds for rejecting any application for participation and for disqualification. Any disqualification or suspension from, or other disciplinary action regarding any tournament or fishing organization, shall be grounds for rejecting any application for participation and for disqualification.

7.      TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT: Only artificial lures may be used. No “live bait” or “prepared bait” will be permitted, with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. Only ONE casting, spin-casting or spinning rod (8-foot maximum length from butt to rod tip) and reel may be used at any one time. All other types prohibited. Other rigs as specified above may be in boat ready for use. However, only ONE is permitted in use at any given time. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner. Anyone guilty of snatching or snagging visible fish will have their day’s catch disqualified. When visually fishing for bedding bass, all bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner before being unhooked to be counted as a legal fish. Gaffs may not be used to boat bass or be permitted in boat at any time. The use of grippers in landing bass is prohibited.

8.      HORSEPOWER REGULATIONS; MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER FOR ALL OUTBOARD MOTORBOATS USED IN TOURNAMENT COMPETITION WILL BE 250 HP, not to exceed the horsepower limitations set by the U.S. Coast Guard in their ruling of November 1, 1972. When required, each boat must have an U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate attached to the boat by the manufacture. The horsepower of the outboard engine must not exceed the rating specified on this rating plate or the horsepower maximum set by TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC.. Any boat manufactured prior to Nov 1, 1972 must adhere to the ratings set by the U. S. Coast Guard for similar boats. Each competitor agrees to submit, by his signature on the official entry form, the boat and outboard motor used in the tournament to an inspection by factory-trained personnel, if there is any reason to suspect the horsepower is in excess of the rating. Norman maintenance to increase the performance of your engine is allowed. Changing or altering standard factory parts of your motor to increase the horsepower over the factory horsepower rating is forbidden, and will result in disqualification. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower rating number on the motor also would be cause for immediate disqualification from the entire tournament for both the contestant and his entire club team. (NOTE: IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CLUB AND TEAM TO POLICE ITSELF)

9.      BOAT AND MOTOR: For the safety of all contestants, ALL BOATS MUST BE EQUIPPED WITH SOME TYPE OF OPERABLE IGNITION KILL SWITCH. This ignition-kill device must be attached to the driver’s body any time the combustion engine is operating. Anytime the combustion engine is operating and in gear there must be a driver in the driver’s seat in full control of the boat. Fishing boats may be used that are 15 feet or more in length. Any raised platform or decks cannot be higher then the gunnel of the boat. A small electric trolling motor may be used for slow maneuvering; however, trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited. All bladder tanks and any other type of auxiliary gas tanks that are not installed by the boat manufacture are prohibited. Additional gas tanks that are factory options and installed by a manufacturer’s authorized dealer are legal. Boats that do not have factory-installed gas tanks are restricted to a maximum of 18 gallons of gasoline in tanks that meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations. Gas tanks must be properly secured or strapped in a boat. During the tournament, no portable gas tanks or containers capable of holding gasoline can be placed anywhere on the tournament waters or shoreline for use by any tournament competitor. No “barges” or similar cumbersome craft will be permitted. USE OF BOATS EQUIPPED WITH ‘STICK STEERING’ SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED DURING THE TOURNAMENT BY ANY COMPETITOR. The definition of “stick steering” shall be made by the Tournament Director. A competitor answering affirmatively the question, “will you bring a boat and motor?” will be expected to make that boat and motor available for tournament use by himself and his daily partner, if so requested by tournament officials. Those answering the same question negatively will be presumed not to have a boat and motor available and will be paired with one who does when possible. It shall be the responsibility of the fishing partners to mutually agree on a basis for sharing operational expenses. Each club will be responsible for providing their own back-up boat(s) in the event of a breakdown during the tournament.

10.  BASIC BOAT EQUIPMENT: Every boat must have all required Coast Guard equipment. In addition, it must have a functional bilge pump and LIVEWELL SPACE, PROPERLY AERATED, TO ADEQUATELY MAINTAIN ALIVE A LIMIT CATCH OF BASS BY BOTH FISHERMEN USING THE BOAT. Tournament officials shall have the sole responsibility for determining whether aeration and capacity is “proper and adequate.”

11.  BOAT IDENTIFICATION: Each boat will be given an official number and must remain with the boat until the end of the tournament or unless the Tournament Director changes the number. This number could be a button or some other numbering system and must be displayed during the tournament.

12.  BOAT OPERATION AND EXPENSE: A full discussion MUST be held between the two partners prior to the morning departure as to the schedule of boat operation. This schedule must permit each partner equal time to fish from the front of the boat and to operate the trolling motor, so as to afford each partner the opportunity to fish his selected waters and equal number of hours. Distance traveled to fishing locations must be considered in order not to deprive either partner fishing time while traveling to and from fishing waters. If a contestant waives the above rights, he shall retain the right to select the fishing waters for one-half the tournament day. Any contestant, who, in the judgement of the officials, operates the boat in such a manner as to unfairly handicap his partner, shall be disqualified. In view of the large expense involved in operating and maintaining a tournament bass boat, it is suggested that the non-owner partner at least share part of the cost of gas and oil for the competition day.

13.  PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: Tournament waters shall be established by the Tournament Director for each tournament. Each competitor must obtain this information from TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC.. Fishing on the tournament waters is permitted anywhere except: within 50 yards of another competitor’s boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position with the trolling motor out of the water. All such boats are required to advise any other competitor when such boat believes the competitor is close to being within this 50-yard radius. No such boat shall permit selected competitors to fish within the 50-yard circle claimed by him, to the exclusion of any other competitor. Any water within these boundaries posted Off-Limits or No Fishing by state or federal agencies will be OFF-LIMITS. Also, the live-bass release area established by the Tournament Director will be OFF-LIMITS and will be announced at the Tournament Briefing. Only that water open to ALL public fishing will be considered tournament waters. Any waters closed to public fishing will be closed to this tournament’s contestants. All angling must be done from the boat. Competitors wishing to change fish habitat by placing any object in the tournament waters may do so if such action does not violate state or federal regulations.

14.  CONTESTANTS MUST REMAIN IN BOAT: Contestants must not depart the boat to land fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Boats must remain in tournament waters during tournament days. Contestants must leave and return to official checkpoint by boat. Both competitors must remain in boat at all times except in case of dire emergency. In such an emergency, competitors may be removed from their boat to: A BOAT OPERATED BY OTHER COMPETITORS OR A RESCUE BOAT. Partners must remain together at all times, in sight of each other and each other’s catch under the conditions cited above, in order for their catch of that day to be scored in the tournament. When a competitor must violate any of the above conditions to contact a tournament official by phone or other means or to report an emergency or breakdown, both competitors must cease fishing at that point, and their catch must be verified by a tournament official in order to be counted in the tournament. If after the emergency situation is resolved by tournament officials and enough time is left for the competitors to resume fishing, a RESTART will be allowed and the competitors will continue and their catch will be counted. This applies only to dire emergency situations. Trailing of boats during tournament hours is prohibited, except by the direction of the tournament officials.

15.  OFFICIAL CHECKPOINT: There shall be only one official point for checkout in the morning and check-in in the afternoon and this point shall be designated at the tournament briefing. At the time of check-out, all competitors and their boats shall be in full conformance with all ruses set forth by the Tournament Director: at check-in, all boats shall identify themselves by means of the number assigned and proceed immediately to the designated weigh-in area. Partners must stay together.

16.  SCORING: Tournament standings, auxiliary awards and final winners shall be determined by the pound and ounces weight of each competitor’s catch during the competition days of the tournament. Only largemouth, spotted, red-eye or smallmouth bass will be weighed. The limit shall be 5 of the above species and varieties per day, unless the prevailing state limit is less than 5, or a special limit is established for a particular tournament by the tournament official, in which case the state limit, or special limit, shall be the tournament limit. At no time shall a competitor have reduced to possession more than the tournament limit. Tournament officials will conduct checks for violation of this provision, and in the event a competitor has reduced more than the above-described limits to possession, shall cull the largest bass first, down to the limit described. The official length for bass shall be determined by the Tournament Director and announced at the tournament briefing. In most cases it will be the longest state limit covering the tournament waters. Only bass as described above which measure the official length or more on the longest straight line, shall be weighed-in. THE OFFICIAL MEASURING DEVICE SHALL BE A FLAT-BOARD (GOLDEN RULE TYPE). Bass presented for weigh-in which fail to measure the official length shall accrue penalties at the rate of one (1) pound for each such bass. This penalty shall be deducted from the total score of the competitor. Any bass that appears to have been mangled, mashed, mauled or otherwise altered will be weighed and credited only at the discretion of tournament officials. After a competitor checks-in at the official checkpoint he MUST present all LEGAL fish in his possession to a tournament official to be counted, measured and weighed and his/her catch must be certified by the signature of his partner of that day. Once a competitor’s catch is measured, counted and verified by a tournament official, that contestant may not return to his boat until his catch has been weighed and recorded. Bass must not be stringer at any time during the tournament. This restriction includes live-well stringer systems used for culling, which are also prohibited. The Tournament Director will furnish special designed bags, which increase survival rate, and these bags must be used to carry fish to weigh-in.  Fish will ten be placed in  plastic basket and weighed without the bags.

17.  DON’T KILL YOUR CATCH: Each competitor is expected to keep his bass alive by use of a properly aerated livewell. The few bass that do not survive will be used for scientific study and for charity.

18.  PENALTY POINTS: For each legal dead bass presented to weigh-in officials, the competitor shall be penalized two (2) ounces of weight, to be deducted from his daily score. The tournament director and his designated appointees shall have a sole authority for accessing penalty points.

19.  LATE PENALTY: Competitors who are not in the official checkpoint area as described in Rule 15 at the appointed time shall be penalized at the rate of 1 pound per minute, to be deducted from the total weigh of his catch that day, including any weight counted toward a “lunker award,” for each 1 minute he is late. Any competitors more than 15 minutes late shall lose all credit for that day’s catch. There shall be no excuse for tardiness and in no case shall a competitor be allowed to make up “lost time.” After proper recognition at the check-in point, competitors will be allowed ample time to proceed to the weigh-in site; however, all fishing must cease upon check-in. after the tournament begins, fishing the tournament waters is prohibited except during the tournament hours. Exact starting and check-in times will be announced at the tournament briefing.

20.  TIES: In case of a tie for Team, or Individual standings, the following tie-breakers will be used in order: 1.) The team or individual with the largest number of legal fish weighed-in during the competition; 2) The team or individual with the largest number of legal live fish weighed-in during the competition; 3) The team or individual with the heaviest single-day catch during competition; 4) The team or individual with the second-heaviest single-day catch during competition. In the unlikely event that teams or individuals remain tied after these four tie-breakers are employed, then a flip of a coin will be used to determined the winner(s) and the money, if any, will be equally split.

21.  PARING OF CONTESTANTS: Two contestants will be assigned to each boat. Whenever possible, no contestants from the same club will be paired, nor shall two competitors fish together more than one day. Announcement of your fishing partners shall be made at the tournament briefing, which “MUST BE ATTENDED” by each competitor. Any member fishing the State Tournament must fish with the person he/she is paired with; without regard to race, color, and creed or gender (sex). It shall be the responsibility of each partner to appear at a mutually agreed upon location with sufficient time remaining to check out at the official checkpoint and start on time. Tournament officials shall have no responsibility for finding missing partners. The Tournament Director, at his sole discretion, may reassign partners prior to the morning take-off. It is suggested that a minimum of 30 minutes is required for preparation to depart to the checkout point. When two contestants check out at the beginning of the day, they must stay together and within sight of each other and each other’s catch throughout the day until the weigh-in is completed; except in case of dire emergency. A contestant must not allow any bass caught by him to be counted on the score of another contestant. In such case, both contestants shall be disqualified from this tournament and from all future tournaments conducted by the TENNESSEE BASS FEDERATION, INC.