Walleye Searchers of Minnesota Club Tournament Guidelines

Last Updated: 01/21/2008 by Bill Harwick
 
1. These Tournament Guidelines are in effect for all club tournaments except for Family Day.
 
2. By participating in a club tournament, said participant agrees to abide by all of the guidelines for club tournaments.
 
3. All participants in club tournaments agree to abide by all of the laws, rules and regulations of the governing body of any location where the tournament may be held.
 
4. The member whose boat is used to fish in the tournament will be paid $20.00 by the other member for the use of the boat. Dock fees and bait are to be divided equally between the two fisherpersons, unless otherwise agreed upon
 
5. There will be eight tournaments a year that will count towards the overall point’s total. Each person’s best five tournaments will be used for the final score of the season.
 
6. Only Walleye, Sauger or Saugeye shall be allowed to measure and counted for points. Any further reference to "FISH" within these guidelines is to mean Walleye, Sauger or Saugeye.
 
7. The vice president is the official Director of all club tournaments. It is the members  responsibility to get the official tally count to the vice president by the return time (refer to section 11 & 12 for late returns.). The count will be tallied and points will be award as follows in section 10. 

8. A length limit of fifteen inches per fish shall be in effect at all tournaments. A person having a “SHORT”  fish will not be allowed. Fish are to be measured with their mouth closed and touching the “zero”  reading on the ruler, and then pinch the tail to obtain the longest reading. All fish will be measured by using the official “Judge ruler” . This may be purchased from the walleye searchers or any location that sells them. A ruler may be used if calibrated for accuracy by the official ruler and an officer is a witness to the accuracy. The fish will be given points by use of the conversion chart, listed at the bottom of the guidelines.

9. Ties in club tournaments shall be broken by “The team measuring the longest fish”; therefore, the longest fish shall be the largest recorded fish at each tournament. A member of the team will select which fish will be the big fish out of their catch.

10. Points per place system shall be as follows:

1st - 140 points            2nd - 120 points           3rd. 100 points
 
4th - 80 points             5th - 60 points              6th - 50 points
 
7th - 40 points             8th - 30 points              9th - 20 points
 
1. Each member who fishes a tournament but fails to catch any fish shall receive 10 points.
 
2. If you are forced to fish alone for any good reason you will be awarded 25% bonus of your total weight. If you elect to fish alone you will only be awarded the exact weight.
 
3. The team bringing in the Big Fish of the day will be awarded an additional 5 points.
 
11. As a guideline, the start of each tournament shall be 7:30 AM and the return shall be at 3:30 PM. Local conditions and participating members majority decision shall take precedence over start and end times. The location of the launch site shall be the site to launch and return, unless announced by the tournament official prior to the start of the tournament. Late returns shall be as follows:

1. Up to five minutes: Deduct 1/2 the total weight.
 
2. Over five minutes: No points awarded
 

12. The Vice President shall be the official timekeeper and will signal the start of the tournament. A boat towing another boat due to mechanical problems shall have no points deducted from any member involved in the assistance of the disabled boat, including the members in the disabled boat.
 
13.  A member who wishes to fish a tournament but is unable to attend the meeting prior to the tournament shall notify a club officer or member prior to the meeting, if a member decides to fish a tournament after a club meeting they must notify a club officer at least 12 hours before the start of the tournament.
 
14. A member who has been drawn to fish a tournament but is then unable to fish shall notify a club officer. Failure to notify someone, unless there is a valid reason, will result in that person being ineligible to fish in the next club tournament.

15. If a member’s boat mate fails to show at the start of the tournament, the member may fish alone or may fish in another boat.
 
16. Tournament format:
 
1. Partners
 
2. Tournament boat mates will be drawn at the regular meeting prior to each tournament. Pairing of boat mates will be a random drawing except that a new member, fishing their first tournament, can choose their partner. The chosen partner may only be chosen under these circumstances, once in a year.
 
3. There will be no boater or non-boater category, all members who wish to fish will be placed in the drawing. If two non-boaters are drawn as boat mates, the last pairing of two boaters will be split to include the non-boaters. These pairings will also be done by random drawing. If the last fisherperson is not paired, they will fish alone, if two boaters are paired and no decision can be reached on who's boat will be used, a coin toss will decide the boater.
 
4. If the selected parings have fished in a previous tournament together, the second name drawn will be placed back in the drawing and a new name will be drawn. This will eliminate the same people fishing as boat mates in the tournaments all the time. These tournaments are supposed to be fun as well as a chance for each of us to try and learn new fishing techniques. By not fishing with the same person all the time, each person may learn something new.
 

5. A total of the top five fish per team will be in effect for each tournament.
 
6. There will be no set limit on the number of fish caught, but they must abide by the measurement rules in section 8 and may not exceed any limit set fourth under state and local laws of the fishing waters.

7. There will be no boundaries for the water. You may fish anywhere that you would like. It is up to the team in the boat to determine where they fish, but will follow the guidelines of section 10, 11. This includes all boundary waters and contributories. You must follow the state and local laws for fishing in inland waters if you decide to fish inside of the train tracks on the Mississippi river.
 
17. Trophies or plaques shall be awarded as follows:
 
1. Small plaques for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place team members at each club tournament.
 
2. A large plaque to the three members amassing the most points during the tournament schedule (best 5 tournaments used). In the event of a tie based on points from the best 5 tournaments, the total weight from those 5 tournaments used in the point total will be used as a tiebreaker.
 
3. A plaque to the member, who catches the largest fish in a club tournament,
 
4. A plaque for "Rookie of the Year'' to a new member amassing the most points during the year. To be eligible for this plaque, the member must not have fished in more than one club tournament in any prior year.
 
5. The plaques shall be inscribed with the persons name and year. 

 

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