Please click the rule links below for printable versions of the rules.
2009
Spring Team |
Fall Individual |
Big Bass |
Open Team |
| Championship |
Spring Team |
Fall Team |
Fall Solo |
Open / |
Championships |
|
Abilene Tyler Div |
Lake Tyler Div |
|
East Team Championship |
2010 BUD LIGHT TRAIL TEAM TOURNAMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS
These rules allow for trailering at all events to help minimize the ramp traffic at the registration check in sites, keep angler fishing times equal, and allow anglers to return to the lake weigh in sites by water when possible or to trailer back when they desire.
RULE CHANGES: Great effort, study and research have gone into the formulation of these rules. In the event of a rule violation, the Tournament Director (TD) may impose such sanctions as he deems appropriate, including without limitation, disqualification, and forfeiture of prizes, entry fees and prohibition from participation in subsequent tournaments. The decision of the TD is final.
PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY: Participation in BLT team tournaments are open to contestants who are 16 years of age or older. A wavier must be signed by a parent or guardian for contestants under the age of 16. The BLT TD will reserve the right to disqualify entries. During tournament hours, every boat must have Boat Liability Insurance with effective dates. This will be a polygraph question.
PRE- FISHING, FISH LOCATING and POLYGRAPH: Contestants may not fish the morning of the tournament before the start fishing time. Start, stop and weigh in cut off times are posted on the BLT web site www.budlighttrail.com for early entries and provided to late entries at the registration check in location. Otherwise, pre-fishing may be done on any day prior to the tournament day. During the tournament hours contestants may not have the assistance or advice of anyone for the purpose of locating or catching bass other than from another contestant. No one is permitted to hole sit for contestants. Communication devices may be used in the event of an emergency or for reasons other than catching or locating bass. By entering the BLT each contestant agrees to abide by all BLT contest rules, Federal, State and Local laws. All contestants are subject to a polygraph examination which may be administered to winners, randomly, or in the event of a protest, or risk disqualification.
OFFICIAL DESIGNATED OBSERVER AND OR FILM PERSON(S): The BLT may request that an observer and/or film crew is allowed to follow or ride in a contestant’s boat during tournament hours. The contestant(s), by signing the entry form, agree to let BLT use any film, photos, audio and or written accounts of the activities during the BLT tournament, weigh in, and award presentations for reasons relevant to the BLT program.
SAFETY: Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by tournament contestants. During tournament hours, each contestant is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life preserver. This life preserver must be worn anytime the combustion engine is operating. The preserver must be strapped, snapped or zippered securely and maintained in that condition until the contestant reaches his fishing location and the combustion engine is shut off. The TD may cancel and reschedule the tournament based on severe weather or other factors that might endanger the safety of the contestants. Contestants will be notified for the BLT team tournaments on the www.budlighttrail.com web site. It is the contestants’ responsibility to check the web site.
SPORTSMANSHIP, FISH ALTERATIONS or CHEATING: Contestants are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification. During all Tournament/Contest hours, no contestant shall use alcohol or drugs other than those prescribed by a physician. This will be grounds for immediate disqualification. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially in the vicinity of any other boaters. Alteration of a fish from its natural state is prohibited during a contest. The adding of weights, modifying fish tails or any other method used to alter fish length, stuffing foreign substance(s) into the fish or other alterations is prohibited during a contest. It will be the contestant(s) responsibility to notify the TD of hooks, weighted hooks etc. left inside the fish before the fish is weighed; or risk disqualification.
TACKLE, EQUIPMENT and LANDING FISH: Dip nets are allowed and team members may land each other’s catch. Vinyl or rubber coated nets are recommended. Only artificial lures may be used. No “live bait” or prepared bait will be permitted, with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. Only one rod and one reel may be used, with bait in the water, by each contestant at any one time. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner. Anyone guilty of snatching or snagging visible fish will be disqualified. All visible or bedding fish must be hooked inside the mouth. No gaffing or grippers may be used to land fish. During tournament hours, contestants cannot leave the boat to land a fish but may leave the boat to retrieve a bait or for other necessary reasons.
HORSEPOWER REGULATIONS: No boats may exceed the maximum Coast Guard rating. No altered motors to increase the horsepower over the factory rating allowed.
BOAT, MOTOR and BREAKDOWNS: For the safety of all, boats must be equipped with some type of ignition kill switch. This device must be attached to the driver any time the combustion engine is operating. All boats must be 15 feet or more in length. Jet drive or air boats are prohibited. Raised platform or decks higher than the gunnels are prohibited. An electric trolling motor may be used for positioning only. Trolling for the purposes of fishing is prohibited. Only manufacturer approved gas tanks are permitted. Stick steering boats are prohibited. In the event of a break down, contestants may contact another contestant to bring their catch back to weigh in. One contestant from the disabled boat must accompany the catch back to the weigh in. Contestants may contact the TD by phone or wave down other boaters to ask for assistance. However, the contestants’ disabled boat catch must be brought back to the weigh in location by another tournament contestants’ boat either trailered or by water before the weigh in cut off time.
BASIC BOAT EQUIPMENT: Contestants boats must have all required safety equipment. In addition, it must have a functional bilge pump and live well space, properly aerated, to adequately maintain a limit catch of bass.
PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: All contestants may only fish on the tournament lake specified on their entry form. No fishing within 25 yards of another contestant’s boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position with the trolling motor out of the water. BLT contestants must be at least 25 yards away from all tournament contestants when the trolling motor is down. All such boats are required to advise any other contestant of being too close. Contestants cannot use this rule in boat lanes or other narrow passages to block passage to commonly fished areas. All angling must be done from the contestants’ boat. Contestants cannot leave their boat to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Contestants must observe all posted Federal, State and local off limits areas.
TRAILERING: Contestants will be allowed to trailer at all BLT tournament lakes.
CANCELATION: For emergency reasons due to weather, lake level or other severe reasons, the TD may cancel a tournament. If this is done, the rescheduling information will be posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site.
CONTESTANT REFUNDS: Contestants may get an early entry refund if approved by the TD before the tournament date. No refunds will be made on the day of the tournament.
OFFICIAL REGISTRATION & WEIGH IN LOCATION & TIMES: Official registration sites will be noted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site and a tournament official(s) will be there by 5am the morning of every tournament. There will be only one official weigh in location and a tournament official will be there by 1pm and will accept contestants’ catches until the 4pm weigh in cut off time. Official time will be set to match cell phone time for early and late entry contestants. All contestants must be registered to obtain boat numbers and to get start fishing, stop fishing and weigh in cut off information. Boat numbers will be assigned in the order received by mail first and then resumed on the morning of the tournament at the tournament registration location. BLT Team Tournament Early Entries, post marked by Monday before the tournament, may get their information prior to the tournament date off the www.budlighttrail.com web site and do not have to come by the morning registration location. Tournament officials suggest early entry contestants print a copy of their information or write it down. Contestants will need their assigned boat numbers at the weigh in. If contestants mailed their paid entry but are not posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site before the tournament date, the contestants can call the TD to resolve the problem. If the situation cannot be resolved with proof of paid entry, before the Monday post marked date, the contestant(s) must come to the morning tournament registration location and register again. Whatever caused the problem will be cleared up at tournament registration or as soon as possible at a later date. BLT contestants who enter the BLT tournament on the morning of the tournament will be charged an additional $10 late entry fee per team.
REMOTE OR OFF LAKE REGISTRATION AND WEIGH IN LOCATIONS: The BLT Team Tournaments may use remote or off lake registration and weigh in sites for some lake tournaments. The same registration and weigh-in procedures will apply.
START AND STOP FISHING TIMES: Official time will be set to match cell phone time. Contestants who are posted on the BLT team tournaments www.budlighttrail.com web site as early entries may leave their launch sites on the tournament day at any time prior to the start fishing time. All contestants may start fishing at the “Safe Light” start fishing time given on the www.budlighttrail.com web site and at morning registration. Contestants who are registering on the morning of the tournament will get their boat number, start stop fishing times and weigh in cut off time at the registration location beginning at 5:00 AM.. All contestants must stop fishing by 3pm and be checked in by the tournament official, at the official weigh in line with their catch, before the 4pm weigh in deadline. All three times are given out at the morning registration. Early entries may write down or print off their boat numbers, start stop fishing times and weigh in cut off time information from their BLT Team Division www.budlighttrail.com web site. All contestants will check in at weigh in location by assigned boat number. Contestants will be disqualified if they are late checking in at the weigh in site with their catch after 4pm. Polygraph questions will be asked regarding start and stop fishing times. We caution contestants to be careful, if they choose to travel on the water before safe light.
FISH CARE: The contestants should weigh in, as soon as possible, upon returning to the weigh in site. To insure live release of the fish, please do not wait to the last minute to enter the weigh in line. All fish will be put in chemically treated aerated tanks and returned to the tournament lake at the conclusion of the weigh in. Contestants may use their own weigh bags or get one to use at the weigh in location. Fish will be taken from the weigh bag by a tournament official and placed in a mesh bag to be weighed.
SCORING AND DEAD FISH PENALTY: Contestant(s) standings and final winners will be determined by only the contestants’ team catch weights on tournament days. Weights will be documented in pounds to the nearest one hundredth of a pound. Only Largemouth, Smallmouth and Spotted Bass will be weighed. The limit shall be 5 bass per day. At no time shall a team have more than 5 bass in the live well. Culling is allowed. State law does not allow culling of a dead fish. Only bass 14” or larger, measured from closed mouth to squeezed tail by the TD or tournament official, will be allowed. A courtesy measuring board will be available at the weigh in site for contestants to check their fish before weighing in. If a short or slot fish is measured by a tournament official at the weigh in, a 5 lb penalty will be subtracted and the short or slot fish will not be weighed. There will be a .25 lb penalty for each dead fish presented at the weigh in.
TIES: In case of a tie, all cash money will be split between the contestants involved. In the event of a tie where a boat or other prize is awarded that cannot be split, the contestant(s) with the largest bass will be awarded the prize. If this is not possible, the TD will flip a coin and the winner will be awarded the prize.
PROTESTS: All protests must be signed and submitted in writing within 10 minutes of the final weigh in time.
PRIZES: All prizes and angler results will be posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site. Pay out schedules and angler prizes are determined by the number of paid entries and sponsor participation. Contestants who are eligible for prize money should not leave the weigh in location before the weigh in is completed without notifying the TD. The Prize money will be handed out at the conclusion of the weigh in and polygraph examinations.
These rules allow for trailering at all events to help minimize the ramp traffic at the registration check in sites, keep angler fishing times equal, and allow anglers to return to the lake weigh in sites by water when possible or to trailer back when they desire.
RULE CHANGES: Great effort, study and research have gone into the formulation of these rules. In the event of a rule violation, the Tournament Director (TD) may impose such sanctions as he deems appropriate, including without limitation, disqualification, and forfeiture of prizes, entry fees and prohibition from participation in subsequent tournaments. The decision of the TD is final.
PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY: Participation in BLT team tournaments are open to contestants who are 16 years of age or older. A wavier must be signed by a parent or guardian for contestants under the age of 16. The BLT TD will reserve the right to disqualify entries. During tournament hours, every boat must have Boat Liability Insurance with effective dates. This will be a polygraph question.
PRE- FISHING, FISH LOCATING and POLYGRAPH: Contestants may not fish the morning of the tournament before the start fishing time. Start, stop and weigh in cut off times are posted on the BLT web site www.budlighttrail.com for early entries and provided to late entries at the registration check in location. Otherwise, pre-fishing may be done on any day prior to the tournament day. During the tournament hours contestants may not have the assistance or advice of anyone for the purpose of locating or catching bass other than from another contestant. No one is permitted to hole sit for contestants. Communication devices may be used in the event of an emergency or for reasons other than catching or locating bass. By entering the BLT each contestant agrees to abide by all BLT contest rules, Federal, State and Local laws. All contestants are subject to a polygraph examination which may be administered to winners, randomly, or in the event of a protest, or risk disqualification.
OFFICIAL DESIGNATED OBSERVER AND OR FILM PERSON(S): The BLT may request that an observer and/or film crew is allowed to follow or ride in a contestant’s boat during tournament hours. The contestant(s), by signing the entry form, agree to let BLT use any film, photos, audio and or written accounts of the activities during the BLT tournament, weigh in, and award presentations for reasons relevant to the BLT program.
SAFETY: Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by tournament contestants. During tournament hours, each contestant is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life preserver. This life preserver must be worn anytime the combustion engine is operating. The preserver must be strapped, snapped or zippered securely and maintained in that condition until the contestant reaches his fishing location and the combustion engine is shut off. The TD may cancel and reschedule the tournament based on severe weather or other factors that might endanger the safety of the contestants. Contestants will be notified for the BLT team tournaments on the www.budlighttrail.com web site. It is the contestants’ responsibility to check the web site.
SPORTSMANSHIP, FISH ALTERATIONS or CHEATING: Contestants are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification. During all Tournament/Contest hours, no contestant shall use alcohol or drugs other than those prescribed by a physician. This will be grounds for immediate disqualification. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially in the vicinity of any other boaters. Alteration of a fish from its natural state is prohibited during a contest. The adding of weights, modifying fish tails or any other method used to alter fish length, stuffing foreign substance(s) into the fish or other alterations is prohibited during a contest. It will be the contestant(s) responsibility to notify the TD of hooks, weighted hooks etc. left inside the fish before the fish is weighed; or risk disqualification.
TACKLE, EQUIPMENT and LANDING FISH: Dip nets are allowed and team members may land each other’s catch. Vinyl or rubber coated nets are recommended. Only artificial lures may be used. No “live bait” or prepared bait will be permitted, with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. Only one rod and one reel may be used, with bait in the water, by each contestant at any one time. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner. Anyone guilty of snatching or snagging visible fish will be disqualified. All visible or bedding fish must be hooked inside the mouth. No gaffing or grippers may be used to land fish. During tournament hours, contestants cannot leave the boat to land a fish but may leave the boat to retrieve a bait or for other necessary reasons.
HORSEPOWER REGULATIONS: No boats may exceed the maximum Coast Guard rating. No altered motors to increase the horsepower over the factory rating allowed.
BOAT, MOTOR and BREAKDOWNS: For the safety of all, boats must be equipped with some type of ignition kill switch. This device must be attached to the driver any time the combustion engine is operating. All boats must be 15 feet or more in length. Jet drive or air boats are prohibited. Raised platform or decks higher than the gunnels are prohibited. An electric trolling motor may be used for positioning only. Trolling for the purposes of fishing is prohibited. Only manufacturer approved gas tanks are permitted. Stick steering boats are prohibited. In the event of a break down, contestants may contact another contestant to bring their catch back to weigh in. One contestant from the disabled boat must accompany the catch back to the weigh in. Contestants may contact the TD by phone or wave down other boaters to ask for assistance. However, the contestants’ disabled boat catch must be brought back to the weigh in location by another tournament contestants’ boat either trailered or by water before the weigh in cut off time.
BASIC BOAT EQUIPMENT: Contestants boats must have all required safety equipment. In addition, it must have a functional bilge pump and live well space, properly aerated, to adequately maintain a limit catch of bass.
PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: All contestants may only fish on the tournament lake specified on their entry form. No fishing within 25 yards of another contestant’s boat which was first anchored or secured in a fixed position with the trolling motor out of the water. BLT contestants must be at least 25 yards away from all tournament contestants when the trolling motor is down. All such boats are required to advise any other contestant of being too close. Contestants cannot use this rule in boat lanes or other narrow passages to block passage to commonly fished areas. All angling must be done from the contestants’ boat. Contestants cannot leave their boat to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Contestants must observe all posted Federal, State and local off limits areas.
TRAILERING: Contestants will be allowed to trailer at all BLT tournament lakes.
CANCELATION: For emergency reasons due to weather, lake level or other severe reasons, the TD may cancel a tournament. If this is done, the rescheduling information will be posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site.
CONTESTANT REFUNDS: Contestants may get an early entry refund if approved by the TD before the tournament date. No refunds will be made on the day of the tournament.
OFFICIAL REGISTRATION & WEIGH IN LOCATION & TIMES: Official registration sites will be noted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site and a tournament official(s) will be there by 5am the morning of every tournament. There will be only one official weigh in location and a tournament official will be there by 1pm and will accept contestants’ catches until the 4pm weigh in cut off time. Official time will be set to match cell phone time for early and late entry contestants. All contestants must be registered to obtain boat numbers and to get start fishing, stop fishing and weigh in cut off information. Boat numbers will be assigned in the order received by mail first and then resumed on the morning of the tournament at the tournament registration location. BLT Team Tournament Early Entries, post marked by Monday before the tournament, may get their information prior to the tournament date off the www.budlighttrail.com web site and do not have to come by the morning registration location. Tournament officials suggest early entry contestants print a copy of their information or write it down. Contestants will need their assigned boat numbers at the weigh in. If contestants mailed their paid entry but are not posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site before the tournament date, the contestants can call the TD to resolve the problem. If the situation cannot be resolved with proof of paid entry, before the Monday post marked date, the contestant(s) must come to the morning tournament registration location and register again. Whatever caused the problem will be cleared up at tournament registration or as soon as possible at a later date. BLT contestants who enter the BLT tournament on the morning of the tournament will be charged an additional $10 late entry fee per team.
REMOTE OR OFF LAKE REGISTRATION AND WEIGH IN LOCATIONS: The BLT Team Tournaments may use remote or off lake registration and weigh in sites for some lake tournaments. The same registration and weigh-in procedures will apply.
START AND STOP FISHING TIMES: Official time will be set to match cell phone time. Contestants who are posted on the BLT team tournaments www.budlighttrail.com web site as early entries may leave their launch sites on the tournament day at any time prior to the start fishing time. All contestants may start fishing at the “Safe Light” start fishing time given on the www.budlighttrail.com web site and at morning registration. Contestants who are registering on the morning of the tournament will get their boat number, start stop fishing times and weigh in cut off time at the registration location beginning at 5:00 AM.. All contestants must stop fishing by 3pm and be checked in by the tournament official, at the official weigh in line with their catch, before the 4pm weigh in deadline. All three times are given out at the morning registration. Early entries may write down or print off their boat numbers, start stop fishing times and weigh in cut off time information from their BLT Team Division www.budlighttrail.com web site. All contestants will check in at weigh in location by assigned boat number. Contestants will be disqualified if they are late checking in at the weigh in site with their catch after 4pm. Polygraph questions will be asked regarding start and stop fishing times. We caution contestants to be careful, if they choose to travel on the water before safe light.
FISH CARE: The contestants should weigh in, as soon as possible, upon returning to the weigh in site. To insure live release of the fish, please do not wait to the last minute to enter the weigh in line. All fish will be put in chemically treated aerated tanks and returned to the tournament lake at the conclusion of the weigh in. Contestants may use their own weigh bags or get one to use at the weigh in location. Fish will be taken from the weigh bag by a tournament official and placed in a mesh bag to be weighed.
SCORING AND DEAD FISH PENALTY: Contestant(s) standings and final winners will be determined by only the contestants’ team catch weights on tournament days. Weights will be documented in pounds to the nearest one hundredth of a pound. Only Largemouth, Smallmouth and Spotted Bass will be weighed. The limit shall be 5 bass per day. At no time shall a team have more than 5 bass in the live well. Culling is allowed. State law does not allow culling of a dead fish. Only bass 14” or larger, measured from closed mouth to squeezed tail by the TD or tournament official, will be allowed. A courtesy measuring board will be available at the weigh in site for contestants to check their fish before weighing in. If a short or slot fish is measured by a tournament official at the weigh in, a 5 lb penalty will be subtracted and the short or slot fish will not be weighed. There will be a .25 lb penalty for each dead fish presented at the weigh in.
TIES: In case of a tie, all cash money will be split between the contestants involved. In the event of a tie where a boat or other prize is awarded that cannot be split, the contestant(s) with the largest bass will be awarded the prize. If this is not possible, the TD will flip a coin and the winner will be awarded the prize.
PROTESTS: All protests must be signed and submitted in writing within 10 minutes of the final weigh in time.
PRIZES: All prizes and angler results will be posted on the www.budlighttrail.com web site. Pay out schedules and angler prizes are determined by the number of paid entries and sponsor participation. Contestants who are eligible for prize money should not leave the weigh in location before the weigh in is completed without notifying the TD. The Prize money will be handed out at the conclusion of the weigh in and polygraph examinations.
