OFFICIAL 2010 – 2011 OCONEE MARINE
TOURNAMENT RULES
TO PROTECT THE INTEGTITY OF OCONEE MARINE AND OUR ANGLERS WINNERS WILL BE SUBJECTED TO A POLYGRAPH EXAM BEFORE CHECKS ARE DISTRIBUTED. A ONE TIME $10.00 POLYGRAPH FEE WILL BE CHARGED PER PERSON.
1. RULE CHANGES: Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively of the Tournament Director. Protest must be made in writing before blast-off or within 10 minutes of official closing of the scales at each tournament. There will be a $100 protest fee charged for any protest made.
2. PARTICIPATION / ELIGIBILITY: All Oconee Marine Tournaments are open to all anglers. Any person under the age of 18 must have a signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the official entry form. All contestants are required to have a valid fishing license. Any person who has ever failed a polygraph in a prior tournament will not be eligible to fish this trail.
3. PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE: All Oconee Marine qualifying team events have no off-limits period.
4. REGRISTRATION TIMES: Registration for all Oconee Marine team events will be held at 5:15 A.M. the morning of the event. Each team must register in person at the designated site of official registration. If you are in our membership we only need your signature on the entry form before the start of each competition day. If not in the membership a completed entry form must be signed. Teams will be sent out in the number they register. There will be 10 minutes intervals between flights. Numbers will be given out the week prior to each tournament with credit card or cash payment only.
No checks will be accepted at the tournament site.
5. SAFETY: Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened U. S. Coast Guard approved flotation device any time the combustion engine is in operation from take-off until check-in. All boats must be equipped with a emergency ignition shut-off device which must be securely attached to the drivers body any time the combustion engine is in operation. The driver must be seated in the drivers’ seat any time the combustion engine is engaged in gear. Tournament days may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors. The decision to shorten the tournament days will be the decision of the Tournament Director.
6. PERMITED FISHING METHODS: All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only artificial lures may be used with the exception of pork trailers. Only one fishing rod pre angler may be used at one time. Additional rods may be on the boat and ready for use; however each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine is prohibited. Switching or sharing fish with other teams or individuals will result in immediate disqualification. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. You may retrieve a lure from a dock as long as one foot remains in the boat.
7. SPORTMANSHIP / CONCUCT: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, conservation, and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves and Oconee Marine, sponsors, and the sport of fishing. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include but are not limited to the following: 1) Consumption and or possession of alcoholic beverages or mind altering substances during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure, 2) Abuse of, or addiction to mind altering substances, 3) Conviction of a felony within the last 12 months, 4) Any other words, conduct or actions reflection unfavorably upon Oconee Marine, Oconee Marine Tournaments or the sponsors of those tournaments or reflecting upon the efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition, and compliance with tournament rules. If conduct does not comply with the standards set forth, Oconee Marine and its director shall have the right to refuse application, or deny a confirmed application by returning the deposit or entry fee to a previously accepted application, or disqualify a contestant. Oconee Marine reserves the right to place an official observer in the contestant’s boat any time during competition hours.
8: BOAT OPERATION: During hours of competition, contestants may not receive assistance from any non-competitors, follow a non-competitors boat, participate in the practice of “hole sitting”, or placing of markers by any non-competitor. The use of mobile communication devices such as cell phones, mobile radios, walkie talkies, CBs etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited.
9. BOAT AND HOURSEPOWER REGULATION: Each boat must have all U. S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain properly aerated live well space to maintain a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as set forth by the
U. S. Coast Guard. By signing the entry form each contestant agrees to submit their boat and/or motor to an inspection. Falsifying information on entry forms to altering horsepower numbers on the motor rating plate will cause for disqualification for the tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter any Oconee Marine Tournaments. No contestant may have a platform, raised deck, or a ladder which is higher than the gunwale of their boat. Standing on fishing seats or outboard motors will not be allowed.
10. PERMITED FISHING LOCATIONS: Contestants may fish anywhere on the tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing by state or federal officials i.e. Gas Docks or within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position), or within 25 yards of a non-anchored competitor’s boat. The act of moving bass from one area of the lake to a confined area of the same lake is not permitted.
11. OFF-LIMITS AREAS: Off-limit areas will be established and announced at each registration. Contestants fishing inside the established off-limits area will be immediately disqualified. Contestant’s boats must remain on the tournament waters during the event.
12. TRAILERING IS NOT ALLOWED: All contestants must leave the official check point in order designated by registration. Contestants may launch their boat at a ramp other than the designated take-off location but all contestants must come through the official check-in point before leaving to fish. In the event of sever weather; alternate take off instructions will be given at the registration site. In the event of sever weather you may also receive alternate take-off instructions by calling 706-816-1896 within 30 minutes of safe light. There will be a recorded message with alternate take-off and weigh-in instructions.
13. OFFICIAL CHECK POINTS: There will only be one official check-in point for boat inspection during the morning and one official check-in point in the afternoon. During the morning check-out all teams are required to idle 100 feet before putting the boat on plane or if you are in a no wake zone take off after you are out of that zone.
It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to arrive at the designated check-in location on time. You must be at idle speed and in sight at you designated check-in time. All fishing must cease upon check-in. Flight times will be 10 minutes apart, and there will be 30 boats per flight.
14: SCORING: Will be determined by pounds and ounces of each anglers catch during the tournament. Only Large Mouth, Spotted, Red Eye or Small Mouth Bass are accepted species. The limit will be five bass per team or individual. When the sixth fish is caught either angler or both may be involved in culling a fish and a fish must be culled at the time of that catch. Never will there be more that five fish in the live wells. One angler may continue to fish while the culling is in process. Any contestant who possesses more fish than the tournament limit will have their catch for that day disqualified. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a One Pound Penalty to the remaining weight. Each contestant’s catch must presented in an official weigh-in bag and verified by the signature of at least one team member.
15: LIVE FISH: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of properly aerated live well. The use of chemical live well additives, (such as “Please Release Me”) which promotes healthy return of bass to their natural habitat is recommended. Any team who weighs in a dead fish for the Big Bass award will receive a Half Pound penalty for the total Big Bass weight. Their assigned check-in
16: LATE PENALTY: Contestants who are not in the area of the official check-in point at the appointed time will be assessed a One Pound per Penalty from the total weight including any weight to be counted towards a Big Bass Award. Any contestant more than 10 minutes late will forfeit that day’s catch. In the event of a mechanical breakdown, a contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a ride from another contestant or tournament official only. The contestant must return to the official check-in location by their assigned check-in time to avoid late penalty.
17: CLOSING OF THE SCALES: Scales will close 30 minutes after the last flight is due in. due to certain weight-in locations this time may be lengthened or shortened at the tournament director’s sole discretion. Any change to the above stated official scale closing time will be announced during registration and during boat check-out. It is the angler’s responsibility to verify the official scale closing time and to be in the weigh in line by that time.
18. WEIGH-IN: Fish must be weighted before the boat is removed from the water. Team partner may remove the boat while fish are being brought to the scales.
19. TIES: All other ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the other place’s money.
20. CLASSIC: All teams who pre-enter by paying up front for five of the eight tournaments will qualify fro the Classic. To receive a permanent number for the season the team must pre-pay for all eight tournaments. Classic entry fee will be $240.00.
21: ALTERNATES: There can be designated alternate per team and may be used three times. The original team must fish five tournaments to qualify for the classic. If an alternate is used in the first tournament it must be declared at the time of registration. A team may use different alternates but not more than three times.
22: ANGLER(S) OF THE YEAR (AOY): The team or individual that accumulates the greatest amounts of weight for the entire season will be awarded the prestigious “Angler of The Year” title. Angler of the year will recieve $5000.00 guaranteed by Skeeter Boats.
