|
General rules for the 2008 Lake Erie Walleye Trail
1. Rules and rule changes
These rules will remain unchanged unless otherwise notified during the rules meeting on the radio. Interpretation of the rules will be to the discretion of the Tournament Director. The rules and the interpretations of them will be final and not open to protest.
2. Sportsmanship
Entrants must conduct themselves in a true sportsman-like manner at all times. NO EXCEPTIONS. Courtesy and ethics of the highest standard are the norm, not the exception. Remember that you not only represent yourselves, but all tournament anglers and competitive fishing. Any rude or insulting type of behavior will be subject to disqualification or penalties enforced. Any team receiving a citation, for a violation in their boat, from any law enforcement agency on the day of the tournament will be disqualified for that tournament.
3. Severe weather
In the event of severe weather the tournament hours may be suspended or cut short. A tournament may be rescheduled or canceled at the discretion of the tournament director. All Saturday tournaments will have a blow day of the following Sunday unless otherwise noted.
4. Safety
Safety must be observed at all times. All contestants must wear Coast Guard approved PFDs while the boat is moving above trolling speed. Each contestant is to follow all Coast Guard regulations. No Alcoholic beverages or illegal substances may be consumed or in possession by teams during fishing hours.
5. Boats and equipment
All boat compartments and wells will be inspected prior to the start of that day of fishing. All boats must conform to the appropriate state, and USCG standards. Your boat must have all USCG safety equipment on board including a VHF radio. All boats will have an USCG or BMA plate attached by the boat manufacturer and the horsepower rating will not be exceeded by any means. Bait and tackle may not be passed between boats after the tournament has started. Only registered contestants are allowed to be on the boat during tournament hours. All boats must have liability insurance.
6. Marine radios and cell phones
You must also have a working VHF marine band radio. The official tournament channel will be channel 80. You may monitor any channel while fishing but cannot transmit by radio, cell phone or any other electronic equipment. Any type of transmission of information via any communicative device concerning any aspect of fishing is prohibited during the tournament.
7. Fishing
Water open to fish will be the Ohio waters of Lake Erie. Competitors must not come in contact with other boats during tournament fishing hours and until your fish have been weighed or your boat board turned in to tournament officials. Contact means physical touching or passing of equipment. The only exception to this rule is in an emergency situation. Talking between boats while in weigh in line is allowed. If a competitors boat breaks down another competitor MAY bring their fish to the weigh in and assist with a tow. Any disabled boat must notify the tournament director by radio or phone. Fish must not be combined between teams.
8. Dead fish
There is NO dead fish penalty. Fish do not need to be kept in a live well. Care should be taken that fish are put on ice immediately or otherwise cared for so as not to appear old if a live well is not used. Live wells should be functioning so as not to cause undue degradation of fish.
9. Weigh in
Teams must be past the official check in site before the end of tournament hours to weigh fish. Any team arriving late will not be allowed to weigh. Check in site will be announced at each tournament. Winners will be determined by the weight of their 5 largest fish. Big fish winner will be determined by the weight of single largest walleye. Only 1 fish per team is eligible for big fish. Teams must weigh their fish in as soon as possible after arriving past the check in point. Any delay in doing so will result in a half weight penalty being assessed for the total weight and big fish weight.
10. Protest
The tournament director or any contestant has the right to protest another team or contestant. The protest must be made to the tournament director before prize distribution begins and accompanied by a $150.00 fee. If the protest is upheld, the fee will be returned. If it is not, no refund will be given. The tournament director reserves the right to do random, onsite polygraph exams of any participating team in order to make sure the integrity of the event is being upheld.
11. Spirit of the rule
All rules have "loop holes". It is the intention of the Tournament Director to provide a sportsman like tournament. All questions or problems are to be referred to the Tournament Director. He has sole jurisdiction in determining the application of the rules.
12. Participation and eligibility
Fields will be limited to 44 boats and two man teams with 40 boats being considered a full field for payouts. All participants must be 18 or older and be members of the WBSA. Exceptions to the age limit will be made on a case by case basis and waivers will have to be signed by both parents or legal guardians if younger participants are accepted. Early bird entries will be taken from January 3rd until January 31st, 2008 and is for teams signing up to fish all 4 regular season events. Boat numbers for these teams will stay the same for the 4 regular season events and will be assigned based on finishing position in the 2007 team of the year points for teams that fished at least 3 events. The balance of the boat numbers will be assigned by order of entry. Starting February 1st single tournament entries will be accepted along with entries for the Migration Open event. Entries will be accepted until the start of the tournament or until the field is full. Refunds will be issued if the tournament has to be postponed due to weather and the team is unable to fish on the make up date. Those refunds will be issued the morning of the tournament only, after the decision to cancel that days event has been made, and at least one team member must be present to get the refund. If one member of the team is not present there will be no refund. All other refunds will be on a case by case basis at the tournament director's decision. The WBSA, LEWT or Tournament Director has right of entry refusal or expulsion from the tournament for any reason
13. Payback
Payback will be 80% of total entry fees, and will pay back to 25% of a full field of 40 teams. Plaques will be given to the top two teams. Big fish pot is $20 per team and will pay back 100% and is optional. 2 Plaques will also be awarded for the big fish winner.
14. Entry Fees
Entry fees are $150 per team per event. All entries received after 8 PM on the Sunday prior to the event will have a $50 late fee.
15. Points
Points will be awarded based on place of finish. For the first 4 events 200 points will be awarded to the team that finishes first and will drop by two point increments for each place after first. 100 points will be awarded to teams not weighing a fish. The last event of the year will be considered the Championship and that event will be worth 300 points for first and will drop by 3 point increments. Points champion will be based on points earned in each teams best 3 out of first 4 events and the Championship.
16. Substitutes
Substitutes may be used but they must not be a member of another team and one of the two original team members must be present.
17. Waiver and hold harmless
All contestants in signing an entry form agree to hold harmless any and all promoters, tournament directors, agents, agencies, and organizations assisting the WBSA and LEWT tournament operation. Furthermore, all contestants agree to waiver all responsibility for death, injuries, damage, liability, theft, fire or loss of any kind to entrants. I have read, understand and agree to abide by the above rules, and by signing the entry form is in fact signing a waiver form. Entries must be signed in order to participate.
| 
