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RULES
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RULES
APPLY TO BOTH “WEEKEND TEAM SERIES” AND “SENIORS”. SOME EXCEPTIONS FOR SENIORS ARE NOTED AT
THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
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1.
CHEATING. Cheating will no way be tolerated. Deceiving tournament
officials or doing any act in order to obtain an unfair
advantage will lead to disqualification.
By signing the entry, contestants agree to
submit to a truth verification test ( polygraph or
voice stress test.
At the conclusion of each tournament a truth
verification test will be administered to two teams Placing
in
the top ten.or catching Big Bass award. Should a team placing in
the top ten or catching big bass leave the
tournament site
making themselves unavailable for the truth test, their catch will
Be disqualified. Hoosier Open Inc. reserves the right to
request any contestant to submit to a truth test
Within seven days
of the conclusion of the tournament. Failure to submit to a test when requested
or failure
of the same shall
result in disqualification and banishment from future tournaments.
2.
REGISTRATION. There will not be a mandatory meeting as long
as fishermen
read the rules and adhere to details given at
registration. At least one team member
is encouraged to
register in person, however, if registration is by proxy (cannot be a
tournament official), that team is responsible for all
information provided. Registration
will be from
at a site noted on the entry. All pre-registered teams shall draw for a
starting position. All entries
received with a postmark after the Saturday one week prior
to the event will be considered
a late entry. Late entering teams will receive a starting
position according to when entry is received.
Teams may enter the tournament as late as
all late entries must pay a $20 late fee. No entries will be taken on morning
of tournament.
3.
PARTICIPANTS. Everyone (male/female) is welcome to enter,
however,
Hoosier Open
reserves the right to refuse entry from any contestant. Anyone
under 18 years of age may fish only with parent or legal
guardian or with other adult, if
a signed statement is provided. Anglers may NOT fish alone.
4.
CANCELLATIONS OR POSTPONEMENTS. Tournaments are rarely
cancelled or postponed.
If in doubt, call Hoosier Open or check web site.
5.
CONFIRMATIONS. A confirmation indicating that your entry has
been received will
be mailed to the
team-member who sends entry/check.
6. BOAT REGULATIONS. All boats must be equipped with a
lanyard-type kill switch.
Boat must be at least 14 feet in length. Trolling as a method of catching fish is
prohibited.
Stick steering is considered dangerous and
shall not be permitted. Tiller steering
is legal.
Every boat must
have an aerated live well large enough to maintain a live limit of fish.
Altering a boat from factory
specifications to gain length or height is not permitted.
7.
HORSEPOWER REGULATIONS. Your motor must not
exceed the B.I.A.,
Coast Guard, or manufacturer’s
horsepower
rating for your boat. Jet drives are
allowed, however motor power head rating must still comply.
Questions call
Hoosier Open.
8. TACKLE
AND EQUIPMENT. Only artificial lures may be
used. No live
or
prepared bait will be permitted with the exception of port strips or rinds,
etc.
Only one rod and reel may be used at any one
time, however, several may be
rigged and ready for
use. Rods shall not be more than 8 feet in length.
9.
SAFETY. Safe boating conduct should be observed at
all times. Competitors must
have a US
Coast Guard approved PFD (life preserver) on and secured anytime the gas engine
is running.
Violation of this rule shall be
reason for disqualification. An
operating lanyard-type kill switch
must be attached to
boat and operator when gas engine is in operation. Boat operator must
test kill switch
prior to each tournament.
10. PERMITTED FISHING
LOCATIONS. Fishing on tournament waters is
permitted anywhere except areas designated by state or
federal officials; within 50 yards
of another
competitor who is anchored, or any other water determined by tournament
officials.
A boat is considered anchored if the trolling
motor is out of the water and is tied to an anchor
on bottom or a stationary object that is attached to the
bottom. A boat must be anchored before
another competitor is within the 50 yard radius. Anchored boat shall not permit selected
competitors inside the 50 yard radius nor shall it
deny others passage to a fishing location.
All angling must
be done from the boat and one shall not leave the boat to land a fish.
All angling must
be done from the boat. Anglers
shall not leave the boat to land a fish
or gain access to fishing waters.
Anglers must be in contact with the boat at
all times except in case of emergency.
In an
emergency a team may return to tournament headquarters with
their catch in another competitor’s
boat or with a
tournament official or state/federal official.
In case of boat trouble, a competitor may
pull boat from water
for repairs or switch boats, however, boat must be inspected and authorized
for a
“re-start.” Trailering
of boat during tournament hours is prohibited.
There shall be no
trailering
of fish during weigh-in.
11. SCORING/PENALTIES. According to place of finish, teams will be awarded
points for each qualifying tournament. First place team shall receive 100 points,
second place 99 points,
etc. through 100
places. Points will be accumulated through
all seasonal events to determine the classic
qualifiers. Only largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass
will be weighed. At no time shall a team
have
more than a limit of six
(6) bass in their live wells. Doing so
is grounds for disqualification. The
length for
fish shall be 12
inches or otherwise regulated by the state.
Fish will be measured with mouth closed on a
“Golden Rule.” As solely determined by tournament officials,
undersized fish will be penalized at the rate
of one pound per
fish and dead fish at the rate of three tenths of one pound per fish. The dead fish penalty
applies only to the
total creel weight and not towards any big fish weights/awards. A team who arrives at
the official
check-point area after prescribed check-in time will be penalized at the rate
of one pound per
minute. After 15 minutes all weight shall be lost for
that day. Late penalties do apply to any
“big bass” weights.
At no time shall a bass be stringed and doing
so will lead to disqualification.
12. RULINGS.
The tournament officials shall reserve all right for rule
interpretations
and to refuse an entry.
Furthermore, tournament officials have the authority to announce or
present
any rule revisions
(printed or not) as deemed appropriate. Violating a rule of a Hoosier Open
tournament
may be reason for
disqualification.
13. PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE.
There are no
off-limits prior to qualifying
events.
Except for navigation and lodging, all competitors must be off the
tournament waters by
sunset the day of registration and remain
off until take-off the following day.
Practice after registration is allowed.
14. SUBSTITUTIONS.
A team may substitute only one time during qualifying
events.
Said substitute must be identified on entry. Substitutes do not receive points, only the
team
for which he/she is fishing. Specific
substitution rules will be made available to classic qualifiers.
15.
SPORTSMANSHIP. Competitors are expected to follow high
standards
of
sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Alcohol and abused drugs are not permitted
in
a boat during tournament hours. Fish
must be caught in a sporting manner, therefore, snagging
fish
is not permitted. (example would be snagging fish
while spawning)
16.
TIES. All monies will be totaled and split
equally. A coin toss will decide who
gets
plaques.
17.
PROTEST. Protest against another competitor must be in
writing, signed and in
the
hands of tournament director within 15 minutes after scales are closed.
18.
REFUNDS AND TRANSFERS. Your entry may be refunded or
transferred only if Hoosier Open
is
notified prior to Sunday’s take off. Unless withdraw reduces a full field.
Call Hoosier Open for
details. There is a $12 charge for all
refunds/ returned checks and
a
$5 charge for transfers.
19.
Liability Insurance.
Adequate liability insurance is required of all contestants using their
boats in
Hoosier Open Tournaments. Call Willsey Agency for insurance quotes (see ad)
OFFICIAL RESULTS: Unless requested
by individuals, tournament results will NOT be mailed.
Results and
standings will be posted on our website.
(Compliments of Willsey
Insurance)
NEWS RELEASES : Please provide us
with a hometown newspaper and email of sports writer/editor.
EXCEPTIONS FOR SENIORS:
·
All
contestants must be at least 50 years of age
·
Teams
must be off tournament water by sundown on Tuesday before each event
·
Tournaments
will be eight (8) hours in length beginning at official daylight
·
Pre-entry
deadline will be a Thursday postmark prior to each event
·
Two
(2) subs will be allowed per six (6) qualifying events
·
Fishing
alone allowed only in an emergency and with approval from director
·
Boat
check begins 11/2 hours prior to takeoff.
Late entries should arrive early.
·
Entries
received after deadline and morning of tournament will be accessed a
$20 late fee and will receive a starting position at the end
of the field in order received.
·
There
will be an on the water meeting 15 minutes prior to takeoff.
.