Southeast Region - 2012
Official Tournament Rules

1. Rule Changes: The following rules shall remain un-changed  throughout the events, but the
tournament director shall have the right to make
changes for safety considerations. All decisions of
the tournament director are final in all matters.

2. Participation & Eligibility: Anyone who is 16 years old or older, a member in good standing  with B.A.S.S., a member in good standing with the Texas BASS Federation Nation and a member in good standing of a Texas BASS Federation Nation affiliated club in the Southeast Region may fish the Southeast Region tournaments and accumulate tournament trail points.  Individuals who are not a member of a Texas BASS Federation Nation affiliated club in the Southeast Region but are members of B.A.S.S. and the Texas BASS Federation Nation may pay the tournament fee and participate as a “Guest”.  Guests will not accumulate tournament trail points.  Only members and immediate family, or persons under the age of 16 are allowed in the boat during tournament hours. Contestants must fill out a complete personal information form before fishing the first tournament for the computer standings program.

3. Alcoholic Beverages & Drugs: No alcoholic
beverages or drugs (unless prescribed) are allowed
in the boat or to be consumed during tournament
hours.  Tournament hours are concluded for a contestant when their weigh-in slip is signed.

4. Sportsmanship: Any contestant(s) who displays poor sportsmanship, violates the rules of any federal state or local laws or brings unfavorable publicity to the sport of bass fishing will be disqualified and shall forfeit all entry fees and/or prize money. The use of communications devices for the purpose of locating fish is prohibited.  Contestants must remain 50 ft. from another contestant with the trolling motor down and 100 ft from contestants that are anchored with the trolling motor up.

5. Boats & Motors: All boats and motors must meet U.S. Coast Guard and State regulations. No motor shall exceed the BIA rating for that boat. The maximum horsepower allowed for any contestant’s boat will be 250 hp. Minimum boat length for any contestant’s boat is 16 ft. All boats must have a working kill switch and an adequate aerated live well. All boats will be inspected by a tournament official prior to the start of the tournament.  It is required that all contestants carry a minimum $300,000 of liability insurance coverage for a boat used in a Texas BASS Federation Nation tournament.  A copy of the certificate of insurance must be presented on request by tournament officials or the contestant will not be allowed to fish in that tournament.

6. Safety: U.S. Coast Guard approved life preservers must be worn and fully fastened by all boat members at all times that the combustion engine is in operation and the kill switch must be attached to the operator.

7. Tackle & Equipment: All fish must be caught in a legal and sporting manner on artificial lures. No trolling  with the combustion engine or snagging fish is permitted. No live or prepared bait is permitted with the exception of pork rind. Liquid fish attractants are allowed. Only one rod may be used at any one time. A cast must be fully retrieved before another rod is picked up. Only rods shorter than 8 feet in length may be used. The use of electronic tracking equipment is not allowed at any time. Nets WILL be allowed.

8. Protests: All protests must be submitted in writing, to the tournament director, within 15 minutes of the final weigh–in.

9. Polygraph: All contestants are subject to a
polygraph examination at the request of the tournament director. Failure to submit to or pass a polygraph examination will result in immediate disqualification and forfeiture of entry fees and claims to any prizes.

10. Officials: All contestants are required to
cooperate with all requests from all tournament officials, on and off the water.

11. Scoring: Will be based on points plus pounds
(Example: 250 points plus total weight for 1st place, 249 points plus total weight for 2nd, 248 points plus total weight for 3rd and so on through the placements). Contestants with no weight will be given points equivalent to ten points less than last point placement. Each contestant may weight in a 5 fish limit with a minimum length of 14 inches (using official tournament measuring board) unless minimum length for that body of water is greater. Any contestant bringing a fish to weigh–in that is short of legal length will lose his entire weight for that day as this constitutes a violation of state law.  A dead fish penalty of 0.50 pounds per fish will be deducted from the total weight for that contestant.  Each contestant is required to leave from and return to the designated checkpoint. Any contestant returning to the checkpoint late will be penalized at the rate of one (1) pound per minute up to 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, no weight will be allowed. Culling of fish is each contestant’s responsibility and no more than 5 fish may be kept in the live well. Only Largemouth, Small- mouth and Kentucky Spotted Bass will be weighed in.

12. Ties: In case of a tie, the following tiebreakers will be used:
1) The individual with the most fish weighed in.
2) The individual with the largest single fish.
3) If a tie still remains, a flip of the coin will determine the winner.  Big bass will be penalized 0.50 pounds if weighed–in dead due to this being a separate prize.

13. Championship: “Angler of the Year” will be
decided by the total points of the angler’s best 4 tournaments. $5.00 from each Regional Circuit entry will go into a special jackpot fund for the “Angler of the Year”. In the event of a tie, the angler with the highest place finishes during the year will be named “Angler of the Year”. The Southeast Region State Team Representative (angler who goes to the Divisional Tournament) will be determined at a draw format tournament after the Regional circuit is concluded. This tournament will be held at a lake outside of the S.E. Region. Contestants for this tournament must fish 4 of the 6 Regional tournaments. The top 40 points leaders will comprise the field. See Official Region Championship rules for a full description of rules
pertaining to this event.

14. Club Championship: $1.00 from each Regional Circuit entry will be given to the “Club of the Year”.

15. Guides: No guides will be allowed 30 days prior to practice day.

16. Registrations: Contestants may register by mail addressed to the tournament director if postmarked no later than Friday of the week prior to the tournament date, or at the host marina or other designated place from 4 PM to 6 PM on the Friday prior to the tournament. A contestant who has registered by mail, but is unable to attend the tournament, may cancel his registration by notifying the Tournament Director or other Region Officer by the close of registration on Friday. The entry fee of any such contestant shall be applied to the next tournament on the schedule. Entry fees for Region
Directors are waived.

17. Conservation: This is the primary concern of the Southeast Region of the Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation. All fish caught during a Region tournament become the property of the Region and will be live released if possible. Contestants will be furnished weigh–in bags at each tournament. Fish will not be weighed in brought to the scales in bags not furnished at the tournament.

18. Starting Position: Contestants will receive their starting position the Sunday after each tournament as assigned by the Tournament Director or his designee. Boat numbers will be randomly assigned to those contestants already pre-registered for the upcoming tournament. Thereafter, boat numbers will be assigned in sequential order as registrations are received. Online registration will end at midnight on the Wednesday prior to the tournament.  Any contestant who starts prior to his number being called by the starter will be disqualified from that tournament.