2. Participation and Eligibility
All members of MLH, provided they are members in good standing in accordance with the club's by-laws, are eligible to fish all club tournaments.
3. Registration
All boaters and nonboaters must be present to register, have all fees paid and have boats in the water or equipment at the ramp one half (1/2) hour prior to the start of the tournament. A boat inspection may be done by the Tournament Director or his official at this time.
There shall be one (1) official blast off point in the morning and one (1) official check in point in the afternoon. Competitors must leave and return to official checkpoints by boat. These points will be designated prior to the start of the tournament. All fishing must cease upon check in. Exact starting and check in times will be announced at the tournament briefing. Any competitor arriving after blast off must find a tournament committee member for a live-well check. Failure to do so will result in disqualification from the tournament.
4. Pre-Tournament Practice
Tournament waters will be off limits to all club members starting at 5:00 p.m. two calendar days prior to the tournament, until the actual start of the tournament. Out of state, Western Wildlife District (to include the Connecticutt River - west) and Cape Cod tournaments, the deadline for practice will be 5:00 p.m. one calendar day prior to the tournament. (NOTE: Penalty for violation of this rule is the member will be removed for the balance of year in question and suspension for one (1) year from the Chapter).
5. Safety
Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by all tournament competitors. Each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device any time the combustion engine is operating. It must be securely strapped, snapped or zippered when worn.
6. Sportsmanship
All tournament competitors are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of the fundamental principles of good sportsmanship may be deemed cause for disqualification. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of non-competitors who are on tournament waters. Any act by a competitor which reflects unfavorably upon the MLH, MASS BASS and B.A.S.S.'S effort to promote fisheries, conservation, clean waters and courtesy shall be cause for disqualification. No alcoholic beverages, depressants or stimulants shall be tolerated in the boats during tournament hours. Drunkenness of any competitor during the tournament will not be tolerated and shall be cause for automatic disqualification from the tournament and future MLH tournaments.
7. Tackle and Equipment
Only artificial lures will be permitted. Live bait or prepared bait will not be permitted, with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. Only one (1) rod (eight (8) foot maximum length from butt or handle to rod tip) and reel may be used at one time (with up to two (2) baits per line) per angler. Other rigs as specified above, may be in the boat ready to use. ALL bass must be caught alive and in a sporting manner.
8. For the Safety of all Contestants
All motors twenty-five (25) horsepower and above will be equipped with some type of ignition kill switch which will be checked the morning of the tournament. This ignition kill device must be attached to the driver any time the combustion engine is operating. All boats must have current registration and proof of insurance available.
9. Horsepower Regulations
Maximum horsepower for all outboard motors used in a Metrowest Lunker Hunter competition will not exceed the horsepower limitation set by the U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate attached to the boat by the manufacturer. Any boat manufactured prior to November 1, 1972 must adhere to the ratings set by the Coast Guard for similar boats. Normal maintenance to increase the performance of your motor is allowed. Changing or altering standard factory parts of your motor to increase the horsepower rating is forbidden.
10. Basic Boat Equipment
Every boat shall be expected to have all state required safety equipment(boaters must check out of state regulations for out of state tourneys). All boats must have a functional live well space properly aerated to adequately maintain alive a limit catch of bass by both contestants using the boat. The Tournament Director shall have the sole responsibility for determining whether aeration and capacity is "proper and adequate". Boats that do not have a factory installed gas tank are restricted to a maximum of eighteen (18) gallons of gasoline in tanks that meet U.S. Coast Guard regulation. Gas tanks must be properly secured or strapped in the boat.
11. Permitted Fishing Locations
Fishing on the tournament water is permitted anywhere except within twenty five (25) yards of another competitors boat which was first anchored. An anchored boat is defined as having the anchor in the water and the trolling motor out of the water. No such anchored boat shall permit selected competitors to fish within the twenty five (25) yards claimed by said boat. No boat will be permitted to drop anchor on another competitors boat until that boat has moved fifty (50) yards away. No boat shall approach within reaching distance of another competitor during the tournament except for an emergency or invited by the other boat.
12. Leaving The Boat
Both competitors must remain in the boat at all times except in cases of dire emergency. If contestants must leave their boat to relieve themselves during tournament hours, they must ask another participating boat to witness their leaving and returning to their boat. Contestants may not depart their boat to land fish.
13. Scoring
Tournament awards and final winners shall be determined by total weight. Only black bass, largemouth and smallmouth bass will be weighed. The limit aggregate for team events will be a five (5) fish per individual of the above species and varieties per day unless the tournament numbers do not allow. All competitors are bound by the prevailing statues and regulations of said states. At no time shall a competitor have in his possession more than the above described limits. Culling is permitted, but must be done immediately. The minimum length for bass shall be twelve (12) inches. Only fish that get weighed in shall receive points.
14. Ties
Ties in weight will be decided by the following list of tie breakers to be applied one by one in order:
1. Number of fish
2. Number of alive fish
3. Weight of biggest fish
Ties for LUNKER will be decided by the following formula:
Length + Girth = Total Inches
* The highest number wins the tie breaker.
15. Measuring Devices
Due to the variance in measuring devices, a request to check your measuring device against the official measuring device (Golden Rule) with no penalty to the contestant, will be allowed. For the 2002 season, the Tournament Director will have the official measuring device. There will be a courtesy check for fish allowed. The MLH will use ounces as a unit of measure at all tournament weigh-ins.
16. Penalty Points
The tournament official(s) shall have sole authority for assessing penalty points.
1. For each legal dead bass presented to the weigh in officials, the competitor shall have four (4) ounces of weight deducted from his daily total.
2. Competitors who bring more fish to the scales than allowed will have the weight of their largest fish plus one (1) pound deducted from their days total weight.
3. Each fish weighed in under twelve (12) inches will have those fish disqualified, and not weighed, and a one (1) pound penalty deducted from the total weight of the remaining fish.
4. Any bass that appears to have been mangled, mashed, mauled or otherwise altered will be weighed and credited only at the discretion of the tournament official(s).
5. Competitors who are not in the official check point area as described in Rule # three (3) at the appointed time shall be penalized at the rate of one (1) pound per minute to be deducted from the total weight of their catch that day, including any weight to be counted towards a LUNKER award. After being fifteen (15) minutes late you are disqualified.
6. Bass must not be stringered at any time during the tournament.
17. Boater In Distress
If a club boat in distress signals for assistance, you must stop and render assistance and if nothing can be done, one team member from the distressed boat may bag the fish and be taken to the weigh-in.
18. Just Cause
None of the above rules shall prohibit a properly designated tournament official(s) from approaching any competitors boat at any time during the tournament hours if there is "Just Cause".
19. Complaints/Violations
All contestants are required to report all complaints or violations against any competitor to the Tournament Director prior to the presentation of awards. All violation and/or complaints shall be ruled upon by the Vice President/Tournament Director and the tournament committee. If a decision can not be rendered at the tournament, all monies will be held until such time the Tournament Director, Tournament Committee, the President, or their designees have an opportunity to review the matter. The President, then other officers will fill in for the Vice President who also have the power to break a tie.
20. Nets
Nets will be allowed at any Metrowest Lunker Hunters in house tournament.
METROWEST LUNKER HUNTERS 2002 POINT SYSTEM
The maximum amount of points that one could attain for any one tournament would be 110. The total amount of points accumulated for each tournament would be the sum of the points from each one of the following categories:
1. Participation in the tournament.
2. Number of fish caught.
3. Place of finish in your division.
4. Weight of your lunker.
5. If angler gets between 10.00lbs and 14.15lbs, they get a bonus of 5 points and
for 15lbs and over, they get a bonus of 10 points.
The following procedure is how one would accumulate points in each of the five categories above:
1. For participating in the tournament one would receive 50 points. If you do not
participate you get 0 points. See participation clause below.
2. The maximum amount of points one could accumulate for a limit of fish is 20
points. Every fish caught is worth 4 points. Therefore, if an angler caught 2 fish in a tournament he would receive 8 out of a possible 20 points in this category for that tournament.
3. The maximum amount of points one could achieve in the "place of finish"
category is 20 points. The amount of points you would receive per finish is
below:
First place - 20 points
Second place - 15 points
Third place - 11 points
Fourth place - 8 points
Fifth place - 6 points
Sixth place - 5 points
Seventh place - 4 points
Eight place - 3 points
Ninth place - 2 points
Tenth place - 1 point
The above point system for "place of finish" will be the same for both boater and non boater divisions. If you fish the tournament and do not catch anything, you will receive the points for the last number finisher depending on how many people participate in the tournament.
4. The maximum amount of points one could achieve in the "weight of lunker"
category is 10. If your lunker for the tournament weighs:
LARGEMOUTH
5 pounds + - 10 points
4 pounds + - 8 points
3 pounds + - 6 points
2 pounds + - 4 points
1 pound + - 2 points
SMALLMOUTH
3 pounds + - 10 points
2.5 pounds + - 8 points
2 pounds + - 6 points
1.5 pounds + - 4 points
1 pound + - 2 points
As an example of this point system, if an angler was fishing our first tourney at Whequaquet and he came in second place in the non boater division, caught four fish and his lunker weighed 8.4 pounds, his points would be tallied this way:
50 points Participation
16 points # of fish caught (four fish)
15 points Second place finish in his division
10 points Lunker (over 5 pounds)
91 points Angler's points accumulated for Whequaquet
* The participation clause:
You will receive the 50 points for participation if:
1. You are present ½ hour prior to the start of the tournament (Article 3
Tournament Rules).
2. You make a reasonable effort to abide by all rules set forth by the
tournament committee.
Benefits of this point system:
1. Rewards a broad range of factors.
2. You will not be able to "luck out" catching one big fish and winning
points. (It will reward the most consistent angler).
3. It has been catered to the club. (It rewards what we feel is important).
4. It works!!!! (It has been tested against previous years standings).
President: Bob Gavin
Tournament Director: Bryan King
Secretary: Jeff Meisner
Treasurer:
Revised:
May 2002
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