WTF LAST CHANCE FALL TOURNAMENT RULES
1. PARTICIPANTS | ELIGIBILITY
· Participation is open to all anglers. No Membership required.
· All boats must have a working livewell and the ability to keep their catch alive.
· Any angler under the age of 18 must have a parent or legal guardian signature.
· A team will consist of one or two anglers per boat; only registered contestants may be in the boat during official tournament hours.
· A contestant may fish alone as a single person team.
· Partner substitution is allowed. Points acquired are for each angler and not calculated as a Pair.
· WTF reserves the right to refuse any angler or tournament entry fees or entry forms for any reason.
2. ENTRY FEES | PAYOUTS
· Entry fee is $50.00 per team per tournament and includes Big Bass for Weekly Qualifying and $200.00 per team per tournament and includes Big Bass for Monthly Big Events.
· A Team is comprised of 1 or 2 anglers per boat.
· There will be $5.00 removed from each tournament entry that will be applied to the final Championship Tournament with the exception of Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament.
· $5.00 from each entry will be applied to the Big Bass Pot for each tournament.
· Each tournament will PAYOUT 1 in 7 places for the qualifying weekly tournaments and 1 in 10 places for the monthly Big Event with the exception of Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament. Each angler who participates in the Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament will receive ONLY points ( 200 ).
· All ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place’s money.
3. REGISTRATION | TOURNAMENT HOURS
· Registration for each tournament will be on-sight registration the day of the tournament.
· This is a Cash only trail.
· Contestants may launch their boat no earlier than 5:00am from any ramp, but must come through the official check point before leaving to fish. All Take offs will be done from one location.
· Trailering is not allowed. In the event of severe weather or other issues that may arise, alternate take off instructions will be provided by the Tournament Director.
· Tournament hours will always start at safe light which changes daily. Ending times will be posted for each event and will vary.
· It is the angler’s responsibility to get the official times from the Tournament Director.
4. PERMITTED FISHING METHODS
· Only artificial baits may be used. No live or cut bait is permitted (pork baits are permitted).
· All bass must be caught alive in a legal and sporting manner. No snagging.
· Each contestant may only use 1 rod at a time. No more than 1 line in the water at a time per angler.
· All fishing must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish.
· Trolling with the combustion motor is not permitted.
5. OFF LIMITS
· All WTF events have a 24 hour off limits period prior to the tournament. No contestant may be on designated tournament waters for any reason during the official off limits period.
· No contestant may launch their boat before 5:00am on tournament day
· No fishing information may be purchased, bartered or solicited from any person who entered official tournament waters during the established off limits period.
· If either partner enters tournament waters during the official off limits period such partner shall be ineligible for the event and may not enter or register for the event.
· Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” by state or federal officials, or within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat which was first in position unless an agreement is made by each boat. Any boat that violates the 50 yard rule will be disqualified.
6. SCORING
· Each team’s weight will be measured in pounds and hundredths of ounces. The highest weight of 5 fish will be declared 1st place and receive 100 points.
· Each descending weight will receive (1) point less than the previous weight. All teams that do not weigh fish will receive equal points of the last place team that weighs fish.
· If a team is disqualified for any reason they will receive (0) points for that tournament, BUT WILL RECEIVE CREDIT FOR FISHING THE TOURNAMENT.
· The team that accumulates the greatest amount of points for the entire season will be declared “Anglers of the Year”.
7. LIVE FISH | WEIGH-IN
· A limit of five bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth, Guadalupe, and Spotted) may be weighed in per team. No team may have more than the tournament limit (5 bass) in the live well at any time during the tournament except during the short time frame of culling a fish.
· All fish must be a minimum of 14 inches; short fish presented for weigh-in will result in the loss of that particular fish.
· There will be a (1) pound fish care penalty for each dead bass presented for weigh-in. Culling of dead bass is prohibited.
· Dead fish will not be eligible for Big Bass
· Weigh-in will be back at the official check point location according to the appointed time. All contestants must check in with a Tournament Director prior to weighing fish.
· The scales will be open during tournament hours for the purpose of weighing big fish. If weighing in early, a team can only have up to the culling limit for the remainder of the tournament. The remaining culling limit is decreased by the number of fish weighed in early.
· Any team not within 100 yards of the weigh-in location at the official tournament ending time will be assessed a (1) pound per minute penalty from their total weight and will be ineligible from any Big Bass award. Any team more than 5 minutes late will forfeit that day’s catch.
8. SPORTSMANSHIP | SAFETY
· All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation.
· Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened (fully zipped and/or all clips fastened) U.S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation device any time the boat is above idle. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver’s body any time the boat is above idle.
· Tournament hours may be changed, shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion.
· In case of inclement weather it will be the contestant’s decision to stay and fish or seek shelter/leave. Once tournament fees are paid and the tournament has begun there will be no refunds for any reason.
· Mobile communication devices are encouraged for safety reasons but their use is prohibited during tournament hours for the purposes of finding or locating fish.
· Consumption of alcohol or any non-prescribed drug is prohibited during tournament hours.
· All boat operators must comply with the laws of the State of Texas, for a complete list of Texas PWC Operation Laws please visit:
http://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/boat/laws/pwc/
9. CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION
· Anglers must fish at least 1 Weekly Qualifier to be eligible for the Monthly Big Event.
· To qualify for the Championship, each angler must fish 3 Weekly Qualifiers and 2 Monthly Big Events. Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament on October 28, 2023 will be considered a Big Event and DOES NOT require an angler to fish a Weekly Qualifier for October to enter.
10. WAKEPOINT BIG BASS TOURNAMENT
· Octobers Big Event will be the Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament on October 28, 2023.
· Each angler who enters this event will be receive a 200 Point Bonus.
· Rules for this event will follow the Wakepoint Big Bass Tournament Rules.
· Anglers who enter this event will be credited for a Big Event and are NOT REQUIRED to fish a qualifying weekly on LBJ to enter.
11. MEDIA DISCLAIMER
· Weekly Tournament Fishing, referred to as WTF, has the irrevocable right and permission to use photographs and/or video recordings of tournament anglers on Facebook.com, Youtube.com and other websites, as well as in publications, promotional flyers, or for any other similar purpose without compensation.
· Photographs and/or video recordings of anglers may be placed on the Internet. Anglers may be identified by name and/or title in printed, Internet or broadcast information that might accompany the photographs and/or video recordings. All anglers waive the right to approve the final product. All such portraits, pictures, photographs, video and audio recordings, and any reproductions thereof, and all plates, negatives, recording tape and digital files are and shall remain the property of WTF.
· Tournament anglers hereby release, acquit and forever discharge WTF, its owner and employees from any and all claims, demands, rights, promises, damages and liabilities arising out of or in connection with the use or distribution of said photographs and/or video recordings, including but not limited to any claims for invasion of privacy, appropriation of likeness or defamation.
