2012 Eastman Bass Club Rules

 

1.    Tournament entry fee will be $20.00 per person with 88% payback, except for the Out-of-Town tournament which will be 100% payback. Fees include $2.00 entry for Big Bass of tournament.  The 12% holdback from tournament entry fees is combined with the Fishing section dues collected for that year. Trophy expenses and any other club-authorized expenses are paid from this total. The remaining balance is split 50/50 between the banquet for door prizes and the Classic for monetary awards. The boat of the officer running tournament will fish free of charge in 2012 with exception of Guntersville and classic tournament, see rule 7.

2.    All state and local laws must be observed. Boating courtesy and water safety are stressed. Both front and back lights must remain on at all times during night events and also must be on at the blast off of all day tournaments, with no exceptions.  Members are urged to help keep our lakes and shores clean. Please do not throw trash in the lake or around the landing.

 

3.    One participant in each boat must be an ERC Hunting and Fishing Club member or Associate member (see rule #4) in good standing with a valid ERC pass upon request. Associate members and Non-ERC guests must fill out a one-time waiver form prior to fishing an ERC scheduled event. These forms are available from the Fishing Club Secretary upon request and will be filed upon completion.  Club Members are responsible for the action of their guests.

 

4.    Family members of employee's or retiree's may join the club as "Associate members". Also Program Affiliates may join the club as "Associate members". Program Affiliates must provide a valid pass at time of joining the club. To become an Associate member, a fee of $10 must be paid. This fee will be good through the 2012 calendar year. This fee will be split and be added to our Classic and Banquet.

 

*5.    All participants are subject to random live well checks before the scheduled start time and leave from the designated launch site announced prior to each tournament. Any participants arriving after the scheduled launch time must check in with a club officer, have their live well checked and pay their entry fee. Fishing club officers are: President Eugene France, Secretary Jeff Powell, Daryl Woodruff, Andy Simm, and Harold Dye.  A phone list will be provided for club members to contact an officer to find location to check in if arriving late.

 

6.    Trailering is allowed at the following locations: Cherokee and Douglas.  You must inform secretary you will be trailering and wait in parking lot until the first boat blasts off and must be back to ramp by end of tournament.  You also may put in at another ramp other than the one specified to launch from, but you must be at launch site before blast off and you must come to weigh in before you go put boat on trailer at the other ramp.  You must inform secretary at signup that you are parked in a different location other than the one specified and have your live well checked by an officer.

 

7.    Boats will be eased off one at a time at the start of the tournament according to starting positions determined by contestant sign-up. At sign-up, you will be given your starting number by the club secretary/officer running tournament.   A cut off time will be announced prior to each tournament in the tournament reminders. If you arrive after cut off time you must find an officer to check in (see rule 5).  The secretary/officer in charge will be the starter boat and will instruct the members of the position on lake to start tournament at the sign-up. All boats should be behind starter boat. Please do not get on-plane until 50-ft past starter boat. Starting times will be as scheduled or at SAFE LIGHT, as determined by the club officers.   The boat of the secretary/officer in charge of each tournament will fish for free and will be the starter boat, except for the out-of-town tournament and the classic.

 

8.    All participants must wear a USCG approved life preserver with the kill switch attached at blast-off of tournament. Participants will not be permitted to start without these. It is strongly recommended that life jackets be worn with kill switch attached anytime boat is under power.

 

9.    No off-limits will be enforced in ERC bass tournaments unless otherwise specified in tournament announcements.

 

10.  All fish must be caught live and in a conventional and sporting manner. Only artificial lures with the exception of pork trailers may be used. Only one fishing rod may be used at a time per person and no trolling will be allowed.  Trolling is defined as fishing while big motor is under power.

 

11.  A catch and release program will be in effect. All fish must be brought to the scales alive; NO DEAD FISH will be weighed with no exceptions. All fish will become the property of ERC and will be released except for trophy fish and walleye caught during the combination tournaments.   Walleye weighed in during combo tournament do not have to be alive and can be kept on ice and will be allowed to be taken home.

 

12. The tournament creel limit is five (5) fish per boat. No one or team will be allowed to bring greater than five (5) fish to the scales.  This will apply to all tournaments except the bass/walleye combo tournament (5 Bass and 5 Walleye limit per boat).  The boat creel limit is 10 fish per boat provided two anglers are present in the boat. Anglers fishing solo must start culling their catch upon landing the sixth (6) keeper size fish per Tennessee possession laws.

 

13.  Participants must check out and have their fish weighed by club officials. Fish will be brought to the scales in your own bags, but it is asked to limit the number waiting in line to a maximum of six teams.  (The less time the fish spend in plastic bags, the greater their survival rate.)  Anyone bringing a bag with more than five (5) fish per bag will be refused weighing until Rule No. 12 is complied with.  No fish will be brought to the scales with clips or other items attached.

 

14. All bass weighed in must follow new TWRA length limits.  You may ask an officer prior to weigh in if in doubt about identifying spotted bass.  Guntersville size limit is 15" for all bass.

      Boone – small mouth & large mouth 15”, spots 12”

      Cherokee- small mouth 18”, large mouth 15”, spots 12”

      Douglas – small mouth 20”one per angler, large mouth 12”, spots 12”

      South Holston – small mouth 15”, large mouth 12”, spots 12”

      Watauga – small mouth 15”, large mouth 12”, spots 12”

 

15.  Fish will be measured with mouth closed on the Golden Rule board. Two official keeper boards will be available prior to weigh-in. Fish brought to the scales more than 1/4" short of the size limit will result in the loss of short fish plus one pound from the creel weight per short fish. Fish become the property of the ERC Hunting and Fishing Club once in weigh-basket and the above rule will be applied.

 

16.  Participants arriving late to the designated starting area at the conclusion of the event will be penalized as follows: up to 5 minutes late results in loss of biggest fish, 6 – 10 minutes loss of next biggest fish, after 10 minutes disqualification will occur.   You must have boat on the trailer, or be at the ramp waiting to take boat out of the water at official end time.  A tournament official will announce the official end of each tournament at the ramp.  After this, you will be considered late if you are not at one of the before mentioned areas.

 

17.  Any protest must be made to a club officer at official weigh-in time.

 

18.  If there is a rule infraction, a meeting of club officers and tournament committee members present will be held. Their decision will be final before any finishing positions will be determined or money handed out.  Violations of tournament rules will be subject to disqualification without refund.

 

19. The point system and payoff will be determined by total boat weight.  Points awarded as follows:
      1st Place Boat - 100 Points per angler
       2nd Place Boat - 99 Points per angler
      3rd Place Boat - 98 Points per angler
1 Bonus point will be awarded to the member with the Big-Fish of the tournament.  All contestants that are present to fish a tournament but zero will be awarded 1 point less than the last boat to weigh in fish.

 

20.  Payoff of tournament winners will be made by the following schedule:
      Place and Percentage                             1st        2nd       3rd       4th       
      1-5 Boats                                              100%

            6-10                                                      55         45

            11-15                                                    44         33         23

16+ Boats                                             40         30         20         10
       

21.  The best nine (9) tournament scores will count toward the year end point total. Trophies will be awarded to the top member according to the point totals. The contestant who catches the "Big-Fish" of the year and "Classic" winner(s) will also be awarded trophies.

 

22.  The "Classic" will be held in the same calendar year as the tournament schedule. To qualify for classic, you must pay entry for 9 tournaments or finish in top 20 in points. The tournament date will be decided by the tournament committee. The participants will decide on the lake to be fished by majority vote.

 

23.  All rules apply for "Classic" except there will be an off-limits rule starting on Monday, November 26, 2012 on the designated lake.  Classic will be judged by total boat weight, 5 fish limit per boat.  You may choose to fish solo if you choose.  Payout will be as normal and will be per boat.  There is no charge for entry into event, but side big fish pot for classic will be $10 per person for Big Smallmouth or Big Largemouth of event. The big fish pot must be paid by the end of the last regularly scheduled tournament to qualify. Top 4 boat weights will paid at a rate of 40, 30, 20, and 10 %. The classic will be an honor start and weigh in will be at 4pm.  

24.  There will be no changes in the tournament schedule during the season except in emergency situations

*Indicates rule change or clarification for 2012