Rules and Regulations 2006
1. PARTICIPANTS AND ELIGIBILITY
Open to all individuals, male and female. Those under 18 years of age may participate with written permission from a parent or guardian. Full or family membership in the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail is required to fish any tournament and each member must be a member in good standing. (No membership required for a legal substitute, as described in rule 16, fishing one tournament as a sub.) F.O.M.N.T.T reserves the right to reject any entries which we feel are not in the best interest of the tournament. Full membership is $35.00 per person per season. Associate membership is $20 per person per season. Family Membership is $50.00 per family per season. Memberships are to be submitted to the Division Director prior to fishing your first Tournament.. Fishers of Men Division Directors are not eligible to compete in the division they direct.
Associate Membership Benefits: Membership packet, (which includes a license plate, a window decal, and a patch). An associate member may upgrade to full membership at any time by paying an additional $15.
Full Membership Benefits: Membership packet, (which includes a license plate, a window decal, and a patch) and eligibility to compete in any Fishers of Men Divisional Tournament. (A full member can add on a family membership at any time by paying an additional $15).
Family Membership Benefits: One (1) Membership packet, (which includes a license plate, a window decal, and a patch), and eligibility for any family member residing in that household to compete in any Fishers of Men Divisional Tournament.
2. ENTRY FEES
Entry fees shall be $150.00 per boat per tournament, which includes Big Fish. Entry fees for divisional tournaments should be mailed to the Division Director and must be postmarked no later than the Friday 8 days prior the Tournament. All entries received after the entry deadline will be assessed a $25.00 Late Fee! ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED THE MORNING OF THE TOURNAMENT! All entries paid on Friday night are on a cash only basis. There will be a $25.00 fee charged on all checks returned for insufficient funds. Winners are responsible for any and all taxes on any moneys or prizes won.
3. BONUS BUCKS
The "Bonus Bucks" program is designed to increase tournament payout for those who wish to compete for a higher purse. This totally OPTIONAL program features 100% payback of a $25 per team entry, in a 50%; 30%; 20% split, which will be paid to the three highest finishing teams who elect to enter the "Bonus Bucks" program.
4. PRIZE PAYOUT
Prize money will be awarded following the weigh in at each divisional tournament. One place will be paid out per five teams entered. Big bass will be paid out in two places. 1st place and 2nd place big bass can not be won by the same team.
5. OFF LIMITS
THE TOURNAMENT WATERS SHALL BE OFF-LIMITS FROM 12:01 A.M. THE MONDAY PRECEDING THE TOURNAMENT UNTIL SAFE LIGHT ON FRIDAY. Friday will be an official practice day. The official practice closes at 5:30 pm to allow all teams time to make it to the Friday night pre-tournament meeting. All teams assume responsibility of finding out the time and location of the Friday night Pre-Tournament meeting from their respective Director. The tournament waters will remain off limits from 5:30 pm Friday until blast-off. TEAMS MAY NOT SOLICIT INFORMATION FROM ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN ON THE TOURNAMENT WATERS DURING THE OFF-LIMITS PERIOD. Teams may not have the assistance of any non-competitor for the purpose of locating or catching fish on the official practice day(s) or the competition day(s). (See exception for legal substitute in Rule 16.) The use of electronic communication devices for the purpose of sharing fishing information during tournament hours is prohibited. Any competitor found guilty of violating the off limits period will have their catch disqualified and face a disciplinary hearing before being allowed to fish any more on the Trail.
6. TOURNAMENT HOURS
Tournament hours will be from safe light to 3:00 p.m. We reserve the right to assign flights and change hours if necessary.
7. LAUNCH SEQUENCE
Starting positions will be determined by a drawing of all participants just before the closing of the Friday night meeting. Participants not in attendance will be assigned a starting position by the Division Director.
8. SAFETY
Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times. Each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life vest, securely fastened, at all times while the boat is being propelled by the combustion engine. Furthermore a kill switch must be fastened to the driver anytime the combustion engine is propelling the boat. Failure to do so is grounds for disqualification of the offending team's catch. Running lights must be operational and turned on at the blast-off of each tournament. Each competitors boat must be equipped with a livewell system capable of keeping a tournament limit of bass alive. All AUXILIARY gas tanks and BLADDER tanks that are not installed by the boat manufacturer 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 official practice and 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.
9. SPORTSMANSHIP
Each contestant is expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, and conservation. NO TEAM MAY FISH WITHIN 50 YARDS OF ANY OTHER BOAT WHICH IS ANCHORED WITH THE TROLLING MOTOR UP, FURTHERMORE NO TEAM MAY FISH WITHIN 25 YARDS OF ANY OTHER BOAT WITHOUT THE OTHER BOATER'S PERMISSION. PERMISSION MAY NOT BE GRANTED TO ANY TEAM AT THE EXCLUSION OF ANY OTHER TEAM. No hole sitting by a non-competitor to aid a tournament participant will be allowed. Violators will have their catch disqualified.
10. TACKLE AND FISHING METHODS
Only artificial baits may be used. No live or cut bait is permitted (pork baits are permitted). All bass must be caught alive in a legal and sporting manner. No snagging. Each competitor may only use 1 rod at a time. No more than 1 line in the water at a time per angler. No rods over 8 feet are permitted. Trolling with the combustion motor is not permitted. No competitor may leave the boat to land or catch fish.
11. STATE AND FEDERAL GAME REGULATIONS
All participants are required to abide by all state and federal laws and game regulations. Any participant who consumes, or is under the influence of alcoholic beverages, stimulants or depressants during any Fishers of Men function will have their catch disqualified. (Prescribed medications taken per doctor's instructions are excluded.)
12. SCORING
A limit of 5 bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass) may be weighed in. Minimum lengths will be set at the discretion of the Division Director but at no time will be less than 12 inches. Lengths will be measured with mouth closed on a "Pro-Rule" ruler. A short fish brought to the scales will not be weighed, and will result in a 1 pound penalty. Dead fish will be penalized .25 (1/4) pound. The dead fish penalty will also apply to any fish weighed as a Big Fish if that fish is dead. All culling must be done on the lake; no team may have more than the tournament limit in the livewell at any time during the tournament, with the exception of dead fish.
13. EMERGENCIES
Competitors shall remain with their partners in the boat at all times during the tournament, except in the event of sickness or brief excursions for "nature calling", severe storm or other such hazard. If for any reason either or both team members decide to leave the tournament waters early, both members shall bear full responsibility for notifying a tournament official. If one team member leaves the water early, he/she may not return and resume fishing. However, his/her partner may continue fishing for the remainder of the tournament hours. In case of a breakdown, one partner may return with fish by another tournament boat while the other partner is permitted to stay with the disabled boat.
14. WEIGH-IN PROCEDURES
Weigh-in will be on a first come first serve basis. Once fish have been presented to a Tournament Official to be weighed-in all fish become the property of the F.O.M.N.T.T. and no additional fish may be brought to the scales. Bags will be limited in order to avoid a bottleneck at the weigh-in tanks. Teams not weighing any fish are still required to check in with tournament officials in order to account for all teams.
15. LATE PENALTY
Competitors who are not checked in by the check in deadline will be penalized at a rate of 1 pound per minute, up to 15 minutes at which time their catch will be disqualified. The contestants will retain their participation points for their yearly total. Late penalties will be deducted from "Big Fish" weight as well as total weight.
16. CHANGE OF PARTNERS & USE OF SUBS
All participants must have a declared partner to begin their season. A permanent partner change may only be made prior to the start of the second Tournament within your Division with all points retained. A participant may fish solo in as many tournaments as become necessary and retain all points. The following may serve as a substitute in a tournament at any time while still retaining all points: Grandparent, Parent, Spouse, Sibling, Child, Grandchild, or any in-law of the same relations. Any youth 17 years old or younger may also serve as a legal substitute. That legal substitute may serve as a sub in as many tournaments as needed, however, before serving as a sub for a second time, he/she must become a full member or family member. Any person who qualifies as a legal sub may fish with a member on the Official Practice day at any time. No other substitutions will be allowed. Hardship cases may be appealed to the National Office. Partner disagreements do not constitute hardship cases.
17. PROTEST AND POLYGRAPH TEST
Any protest must be submitted in writing to the Tournament Director within 15 minutes of the close of the weigh-in. The Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail reserves the right to give a polygraph test to any participant at any time. This test does not have to be administered on site and may be set up by the Tournament Director at his discretion. All participants agree to abide by the results of any polygraph test administered. In the event of a protest and an off-site polygraph test the Tournament Director will have the option of mailing all the checks to the teams in the money pending the outcome of the polygraph.
18. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
The team having the highest cumulative point total in each Division will be declared the Division Champions for that Division. They will receive the Points Championship Pot, Jackets, Plaques and an automatic berth in the year-end National Championship Tournament. All ties in the cumulative year end standings will be broken by season cumulative weight. The winning team in each divisional tournament will receive 150 points, 2nd place149 points, 3rd place 148 points and so on. In the event of a tie in a tournament both teams will receive the points for the place they are tied at, and the subsequent place will remain vacant. (Example: A tie for 3rd place would result in both 3rd place teams receiving 148 points. The next team behind them would be the 5th place team and would receive 146 points.) Teams not weighing any fish will receive 1 less point than the last place teams with fish. Any team paying an entry fee but not actually showing up to fish will earn 1 point less than the last place team(s). Paying an entry fee but not actually competing does not count as one of the three tournaments required to be eligible to qualify for the Regional Championship Tournament or the Wildcard Regional. Furthermore all teams who attend the Friday night Pre-Tournament meeting will receive an additional 50 points, which will be applied to the teams cumulative point total for the year, for the purpose of qualifying for the Regional Championship Tournament. (at least one member must be in attendance prior to the beginning of the inspirational message, and remain until the end of the meeting) Points will run through all 5 Tournaments within that Division and may not be transferred to any other Division.
19. REGIONAL QUALIFIER TOURNAMENT
The Regional Qualifier Tournament will be the final Tournament within your Division. It will be a 1-day tournament. Entry fees will remain at $150.00. The top 5 teams in this tournament who have fished in (actually competed in) at least 4 tournaments within that division (including the regional qualifier) and who have not qualified by way of the points system, or by being the highest finishing adult/junior team or the highest finishing male/female team, will qualify for the Regional Championship Tournament.
20. ADULT/JUNIOR & MALE/FEMALE REGIONAL TEAMS
The highest finishing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team in the year end point standings (who do not qualify for their Regional Championship by points or through their finish at the Regional Qualifier) will earn berths into the Regional Championship Tournament. An Adult/Junior team is defined as a team with one member who has reached his/her eighteenth birthday on or before September 10, 2006, and another member who has not reached his/her eighteenth birthday on or before September 10, 2006.
To be eligible to earn one of these berths in the Regional Tournament, these teams must compete in at least three tournaments within the division they are qualifying through, furthermore, they must maintain their Adult/Junior or Male/Female status in the event they have to use a substitute. For example; any person substituting for a junior must be a junior, a person substituting for a female must be a female, etc. These substitutes must also fit the description of a legal substitute as described in rule #16.
21. REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATIONS
Only teams who have fished (actually competed in) at least 3 tournaments within their division will be eligible to qualify for the Regional Championship Tournament. The top 20 teams in the year end point standings of each division who have competed in at least 3 tournaments within that division, will qualify to fish their respective Regional Championship Tournament. In addition, each division will be rewarded with one additional slot for each 10 boat increment average above 30 boats. These additional teams will come from the final points standings. The Regional Qualifying Tournament will serve to qualify the 5 highest finishing teams for the Regional Championship Tournament (as stated in rule 19). The highest finishing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team not already qualified by points or the by the Regional Qualifier Tournament will earn berths in the Regional Championship. Fishers of Men Division Directors are not eligible to compete in post season tournaments. Fishers of Men reserves the right to pull additional teams from other Divisions within a Region to fill the Regional Tournament field.
22. REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
The Regional Championship Tournament will be a 2-day tournament. There will be 2 official practice days preceded by a 1-week off-limits period on the Regional Championship waters. All teams are required to attend the meeting to be held the evening prior to the first day of competition. Those not in attendance at the meeting will be declared ineligible to compete. Teams may practice from two boats on the Official Practice Days. Entry fees will remain at $150.00. Deadline for entry will be set by the National Office and will be announced at a later date. There will be 2 Big Fish paid each day. The winning team will receive a new, fully rigged Triton TR-186 bass boat with a 150 HP Mercury Outboard motor. The top 7 teams by cumulative weight in this tournament will advance to the National Championship Tournament. Also, the highest placing team from each division, not already qualified will advance to the National Championship Tournament. In addition, the highest finishing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team in each Regional Tournament will earn a berth in the National Championship Tournament. To be eligible to compete for the National Championship spots as the highest placing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team, you must compete in the Regional Tournament with your original partner or a substitute which does not change your Adult/Junior or Male/Female team status as described in rule #20.
23. WILDCARD REGIONAL TOURNAMENT QUALIFICATIONS
Any team that has paid an entry in at least 5 Fishers of Men tournaments in any division or combination of divisions, and actually competed in at least 3 of them, and is not already qualified for the 2006 National Championship Tournament is eligible to compete in the "Wildcard Regional".
24. WILDCARD REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
The Wildcard Regional Tournament will be a 1-day tournament. There will be 2 official practice days preceded by an off-limits period on the tournament waters which will begin at the time the site for the Wildcard Regional Tournament is announced. All teams are required to attend the Friday Night meeting on the evening prior to the competition day. Those not in attendance at the meeting will be declared ineligible to compete. The Tournament site will be announced at the conclusion of the final weigh in of the last Regional Championship Tournament of the 2006 season. Entry fees will remain at $150.00. Deadline for entry will be set by the National Office and will be announced at a later date. There will be 2 Big Fish positions paid. Prizes will be based on the number of entries. The top 7 teams by cumulative weight in this tournament will advance to the National Championship Tournament. In addition, the highest finishing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team in this tournament will earn berths in the National Championship Tournament. To be eligible to compete for the National Championship berths as the highest placing Adult/Junior team and the highest finishing Male/Female team, teams must compete in the Wildcard Regional Tournament with their original partner or a substitute which does not change their Adult/Junior or Male/Female team status as described in rule #20.
25. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
The National Championship Tournament will be a 3-day tournament following three official practice days, which will be preceeded by a two week off limits period. Teams are NOT PERMITTED to practice from two boats on the Official Practice Days. All teams are required to attend the meeting to be held the evening prior to the first day of competition. Those not in attendance at the meeting will be declared ineligible to compete. After two days of competition the field of competitors will be cut to the top 20%. All teams who make the cut and compete on day three will receive a check. This will be a No-Entry Fee Tournament. There will be 2 big fish positions paid each day. The winning team will receive a new, fully rigged Triton TR-20X bass boat with a 200 HP Mercury Outboard motor, National Championship Plaques and Jackets as well as an automatic berth in the following year's National Championship Tournament, provided they fish at least 3 Fishers of Men Tournaments in that year.
26. LIABILITY INSURANCE
All members must carry a minimum of $100,000 of liability insurance on any boat they might use during any Fishers of Men Tournament. Failure to do so, or reporting of false information will result in disqualification of catch. Participants must include the company name and either the policy number or the name of the agent binding the coverage on the entry form for each tournament.
27. RULES INTERPRETATION
Interpretation of these rules will be left to the Division Director. Infractions of any rule may result in disqualification of catch.