Tournament Rules of the
Carolina Christian BassMasters
2015 Tournament Trail
RULE CHANGES These rules will remain unchanged throughout the 2015
Interpretation of these rules shall be left exclusively to the tournament director.
too comply with any rule may result in disqualification. The decision
Tournament Director shall be final in all matters. Protests must be made in
within 30 minutes of the official check-in time in each tournament.
season.
Failure
of the
writing
PARTICIPANTS AND ELIGIBILITY Participation is open to active members of the
Carolina Christian BassMasters, guests of the same, and prospective members interested
in fellowship with the Carolina Christian BassMasters (including contestants in the
BassPastors Classic event). Tournament officials reserve the right to refund any
membership and/or entry fee, if they shall choose for any reason not to accept the
application for entrance.
PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE There will be no official practice period or offlimits period prior to a tournament.
REGISTRATION All members are required to register prior to, or at, the regularly
monthly meeting prior to the tournament. If meeting attendance is not possible, members
can contact Gerald Chapman (Tournament Director) prior to the monthly meeting. The
tournament director will perform tournament pairings and announce partners prior to
regular meeting dismissal and send out pairings electronically via e-mail.
TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEE Tournament entry fees will be collected prior to the
tournament blast off, preferably at the pre-tournament meeting. Other arrangements can
be made for collection of entry fees at the discretion of the Tournament Director.
LATE FEE There shall be no late fees for tournament entry.
SAFETY Safe boating conduct will be observed at all times. Each member must wear a
serviceable U.S. Coast Guard approved chest-type personal flotation device (PFD). The
PFD must be worn, strapped, snapped, or zipped any time the combustion engine
(outboard motor) is operating and until the combustion engine is shut off. Each non
boater/co-angler is responsible of his/her life jacket / PDF -3 (chest type). The boat
operator must have an ignition kill switch attached to his person when the combustion
engine is running.
SPORTSMANSHIP All members are expected to observe and exercise high standards
of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Violation of this principle shall be
reason for disqualification. No alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are allowed in the
boat at any time. Drunkenness at any official activity will be grounds for immediate
disqualification. No alcoholic beverages may be consumed at any time during a Carolina
Christian BassMasters event by any member, or guest of a member. Each contestant
must keep the waters clean and pack any rubbish back to the dock for proper disposal.
Water or environmental pollution of any kind will result in immediate disqualification.
Any violation of state, local or federal laws may result in immediate disqualification.
TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT Only artificial lures with the exception of pork rind
may be used. Only one rod and reel combination may be used at one time. No fly rods
or rods over 8 ft. are allowed. Trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited. All bass
must be caught alive and in a conventional sporting manner. All angling must be done
from the boat. Members are not permitted to leave the boat to land a fish, or leave the
boat to gain access to secluded waters. Each non boater/co-angler is limited to six rods
and one large or two small tackle bags/boxes. Citizen band radios, marine radios and
cellular phones are allowed in the boat for emergency use only. Any transmission of
information via any communicative device concerning any aspect of fishing is prohibited
during the tournament.
BOAT AND MOTOR All boats entered in the tournament must carry a $100,000
liability policy. This needs to be verified prior to fishing. Any boat considered
inadequate to safely fish two contestants for an 8-hour day will not be allowed.
Determination with cause is solely at the Tournament Director's discretion. The boat
operator must have an ignition kill switch attached to his person when the combustion
engine is running. No boat under 14 ft. may be used during tournament hours. Each boat
must also have a properly aerated or re-circulating livewell(s) to maintain a live limit
catch of bass by both members. Maximum horsepower for all outboards not to exceed
the maximum horsepower limitations for that specific watercraft set by the U.S. Coast
Guard in their ruling of November 1972.
BOAT OPERATION Any member registering as a boater for any tournament will be
expected to make that boat available for the tournament. Partners must discuss boat
operation and fishing locations prior to tournament start. Unless agreed upon by the
Boater and Co-angler, Boaters shall fish from the front deck and Co-anglers from the
back deck. Any member who, in the judgment of the Tournament Director, operates the
boat in such a manner as to unfairly handicap another member shall be disqualified. The
responsibility for a mutual agreement as to shared expenses for the day (recommended
$25) will rest with the members before start of the tournament.
PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS Members may fish anywhere accessible by
boat, except areas designated by federal, state or local officials or within 50 yards of
another member’s boat, anchored or not. Members invoking the 50-yard rule must hold
their boats steady. Any member that allows any other member to fish within 50 yards of
his boat has suspended the 50-yard rule and opened the water to all members.
OFFICIAL CHECKPOINT There will be only one official point for checkout and
check in as designated by the Tournament Director. Competitors not at the checkpoint at
the designated time will be penalized at the rate of 1 lb. per minute, deducted from his
total weight for the day. Any competitor more than 15 minutes late for check-in will be
disqualified for the day.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE The official CCB tournament schedule shall run for a
period starting as early as January and continuing thru June. A qualifying tournament is
one in which “Chapter members” compete for one of the 6 positions on the team to be
submitted to the SC Bass Federation’s state team tournament (a.k.a., the 6-Man
tournament). Due to this fact in all tournaments Chapter members will have priority
when non-boaters out number boaters, and in youth tournaments. Additionally, the
individual member scores shall be used to determine the angler to be designated Angler
of the Year. Additionally, Chapter/Sponsors members and Associate Sponsors must have
their annual dues paid in full prior to the first tournament of that year in order to receive
any score accumulation. Any Chapter/Sponsor members and Associate Sponsors not
paid in full forfeits all previous tournament points accumulated, and their 1 lowest score
will still be “dropped” from accumulation with any other scoring.
TOURNAMENT HOURS Official start and weigh-in times will be announced at the
regular monthly meeting prior to the tournament, and prior to tournament start by
Tournament Director or committee member. Our best effort will be given to allow at
least 8 hours fishing time. In the case of adverse weather conditions, the tournament
director will make alternate arrangements and attempt to contact all tournament
participants by phone. Members are expected to be at the ramp and ready to launch prior
to the official start time, but exceptions may be allowed at the discretion of the
tournament director.
SCORING Total weight of each member’s catch will determine tournament standings
and placement. Only largemouth, spotted, red eye, or smallmouth bass will be weighed.
The creel limit shall be five (5) unless the prevailing state limit is less. At no time shall a
competitor have in his/her possession more than the state limit. Culling must be
accomplished immediately. There shall be no culling at the ramp just prior to weigh-in.
Minimum length will be consistent with the rules and regulations for the tournament
waters being fished and not less than 12 inches. The method of measurement will be on a
flat board or “Golden Rule” with closed mouth and tail pinched. A penalty of 1 lb. will
be deducted from the total weight for each short fish and a penalty of 4 oz. (.25 ld.) per
dead fish will be deducted from the total weight. If big bass is weighed dead, a 4 oz. (.25
ld.) penalty is subtracted from the scale weight of the big bass. A member that presents
more fish than the tournament limit will be disqualified immediately. Mangled, mashed,
mauled or otherwise altered fish will be grounds for immediate disqualification. No
regurgitated baitfish will be weighed. Fish intended to be weighed for the tournament
will not be put on a stringer at any time. All fish must be returned to the water alive. All
fish presented at the weigh-in become the property of the Carolina Christian
BassMasters. All live fish will be returned to the lake and the Tournament Director will
properly dispose of any dead fish.
MEMBERS PAIRINGS With the exception of the BassPastors Classic event, and
situations where members have invited a guest or prospective member, all member
pairings will be determined by open draw, and all angling must be accomplished from the
boat. Paired members must stay on tournament waters and in sight of one another
throughout the tournament day from launch until weigh-in (Exception: Bathroom
Breaks). Any member refusing to take or go with another member in his/her boat will be
subject to immediate disqualification. The Tournament Director has no responsibility for
finding lost partners prior to the tournament. Each member is to meet his/her partner at
least 30 minutes prior to launch. The Tournament Director may reassign pairings prior to
launch to accommodate special needs or challenges. With prior approval, the
Tournament Director may allow unpaired boaters to fish alone or fish with other boaters.
When two boaters are paired together, boat operation and fishing locations must be
discussed prior to tournament start.
NON BOATER REQUIREMENTS Each non boater/co-angler is responsible of his/her
life jacket / PFD -3 (chest type) and is limited to six rods and one large or two small
tackle bags/boxes.
TIE In case of a tie, duplicate points will be awarded to tied competitors.
POINT SCORING SYSTEM Tournaments are worth 200 points. Points will be
awarded in 1-point decrements depending on place of finish. All members participating,
but not weighing fish, will receive 150 points. Five bonus points will be awarded for big
fish. Five bonus points will be awarded for each member with a five fish limit.
FEDERATION 6 MAN For consistency with the practices of the SC BASS Federation
recommendation the club will send its top six Chapter Members, determined by points,
with one drop. This will be accomplished by combining both the Boaters and Non Boater
into one group and establishing the top six point totals regardless of breakdown. The
exception would be a minimum of three boats.
ANGLER OF THE YEAR: Angler of the Year (AoY) will be determined on the basis
of total points accumulated throughout the tournament season (year), with one drop.
BASS PASTOR’S CLASSIC: With a very special format, the Bass Pastors Classic
(BPC) is a tournament to honor the men of God who serve so faithfully, and many cases,
tirelessly. The format is as such:
 Team tournament five fish limit.
 The Pastor (non-boater Guest) is required to weigh in a minimum of two fish
landed by them toward the team limit or 40% of the team’s total catch.
 A boater (member) may contribute no more than three fish toward the teams five
fish limit.

A boater may hook a fish, and hand off the rod immediately to the Pastor (nonboater Guest) to complete the landing of the fish.
As we are Christians, we will not question anyone as to whether their pastor actually
caught the fish claimed. The tournament is about the pastors, not about the fish.