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River Road Bassmasters
Club Tournament Rules and Regulations
Updated: 2007

1. Rules:  This Set of rules for club tournaments will remain unchanged.  Interpretation of these rules shall be left exclusively to the tournament director.  The decision of the tournament director shall be final in all matters.
2. Participants and Eligibility:  Participation in any club tournament is open only to members in good standing of the River Road Bassmasters.  This includes having paid club dues for the current year.
3. Pre-Tournament Practice:  Since there is no closed period prior to club tournaments, pre-tournament practice can be done at any time, with the exception of the day of the tournament (no practice prior to the official starting time of that days event). For our Megabucks tournament, no pre-tournament practice is allowed.
4. Registration:  Each competitor must register in person at the tournament launch site one half hour prior to the start of the tournament.  Each boat will be checked for an ignition kill switch and an operating livewell.  Each competitor will pay an entry fee of twenty dollars.  The monies collected will be distributed as follows: 50% for the club general fund, 25% to the competitor weighing the heaviest total stringer, and 25% to the competitor weighing the largest single bass.
5. Safety:  Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times by all tournament participants.  Each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard approved chest-type life preserver while the combustion engine is running.  The preserver must be strapped, snapped and/or zippered securely and maintained in that condition until the combustion engine is shut off.  Also when the internal combustion engine is in operation, all participants shall be seated so that their feet are resting on the main floor of the boat.  Contestants are required to operate their boats at speeds, which would not be considered dangerous or excessive.
6. Sprotsmanship:  Competitors 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.
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 tip) and reel is permitted to be in use at any one time.  All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner.  Foul hooked (snagged) fish are to be returned to the water immediately.  Only mesh landing nets are allowed when landing bass.  No grippers or gaffs can be used to land bass.
8. Horsepower Regulations:  Maximum horsepower for all outboard motors used in tournament competition shall not exceed the horsepower limitations set by the U.S. Coast Guard in their ruling of November 1, 1072.  The horsepower rating must not exceed the rating specified on the rating plate of the boat.  Any boat manufactured prior to November 1, 1972 must adhere to the ratings set for similar boats.
9. Boat and Motor:  All boats must be equipped with some type of ignition kill switch.  Fishing boats that are 14 feet and longer may be used. A small motor (gas or electric) may be used for maneuvering.  Trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited.  No “barges”, airboats, or similar cumbersome craft will be permitted.
10. Basic Boat Equipment:  Every boat must have all required Coast Guard safety equipment.  Each boat must be equipped with livewell space, properly aerated, to adequately maintain alive a limit catch of bass by both fishermen using the boat.  Absolutely no stringers or fish baskets will be allowed as a means of holding fish or carrying fish.
11. Permitted Fishing Locations:  Fishing on the specified tournament waters is permitted anywhere except within 50 yards of another competitors boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position with the trolling motor out of the water.  Only that water open to all public fishing will be considered tournament waters.  All fishing must be done from the boat.  Competitors are not allowed to leave the boat for any reason during the tournament except in the case of an emergency.  Trailering the boat from the tournament launch site to another boat landing during the tournament is not allowed.  Contestants must leave and return to the official launch site by boat. 
12. Official Checkpoint:  There will be only one official point for checkout and check-in.  At the time of the checkout, all competitors and their boats must be in full conformance with all rules for the tournament.
13. Scoring:  Tournament standings and final standings for the year shall be determined by the pound and tenth of a pound weight of each catch during the day of the tournament.  Only largemouth and/or smallmouth bass will be weighed.  The limit shall be a total of five (5) bass (or as local waters permit).  The prevailing statues and regulations of the state in which the tournament is held bind all competitors.  Only bass that measure 14 inches or more in length (or as local waters permit) will be weighed.  Fish are measured with the mouth closed.  Short fish will not be weighed.  The scoring system is defined as follows:  Points are awarded based on total weight only.  50 points for 1st, 49 2nd, 48 3rd, and so on.  If you fish the tournament but do not weigh in a fish, you are awarded 10 total points.  Ties:  In the case of a tie for first place, the competitor with the heaviest single fish shall be declared the winner.  If competitors tie with a single heavy fish, the next heaviest fish will determine the winner.  If a competitor has weighed and released his or her fish and not weighed individual fish, they are automatically awarded second place in the event of a first place tie for total weight.  Ties for positions less than first place will remain as ties.  Season points:  Your top 6 tournaments will count toward the Final Mr. Bass standings.  All final point standing ties will be broken with the total weight for your best 6 events.  The tiebreak winner will receive 1/10th of a point.  Total weight ties will be broken with the total number of fish weighed for 6 events.  This tie will be broken with the biggest fish of the year. 
14. Don’t Kill Your Catch:  A 4oz. (0.25 pounds) penalty will be assessed against the total weight for each dead fish weighed in. 
15. Late Penalty:  Competitors who are not at the official checkpoint area as described in Rule 12 at the appointed end time of the tournament will be penalized 10 percent of their total weight for each minute they are late.  No fish will be weighed for a participant that is more than 9 minutes late.  There will be no excuse for tardiness, and in no case shall a competitor be allowed to make up lost time.  All fishing will cease upon check-in.  The exact starting and check-in times will be determined at the club meeting prior to the tournament. 
16. Partner No Show:  In the event that one of the paired partners is an unexcused no show (fifteen minutes past the official start time) at a tournament the following penalties will be accessed:  Boater - No points awarded for the tournament.  Cannot participate in the next scheduled club tournament.  If it is the last tournament of the year, cannot fish in the first tournament the following year.  Twenty-dollar tournament fee must be forfeited to the club.  Non-Boater – Five- dollar fine payable to the boater for fuel.  No points awarded for the tournament.  Twenty-dollar tournament fee must be forfeited to the club.
17. Tournament Locations, Date, and Times:  Each year’s tournament schedule (locations and dates) is determined during (winter) club meetings.  The launch site, starting time, check-in time and partner pairing will be determined during the club meeting that precedes the tournament.