Tournament Rules

1.             Eligibility: To be eligible to fish the Hook, Line & Sinker tournaments, you cannot be sponsored by any major boat manufacturer, or have won $5,000 or more, in bass tournaments, in the current or previous calendar year, or be a licensed guide on the Delta.

2.             Entry Fee: Entry fee is $50.00 per team. Money is paid back to the top 7 places and plaques are given to the top 5 places.  There is an option pool available for $5.00 Big Fish and $10.00 Option.  There are no late fees and you may sign as late as the morning of the tournament, prior to blast-off, and your blast-off number will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

3.             Blast-off:  There will be no waiting for any team.  If you are not in the water and in line when your blast-off number is called (three times), you will blast off last.  Please make every effort to be in the water 30 minutes prior to blast-off.  All live-wells will be checked by a tournament official at the launch ramp, prior to blast-off.  Please present your blast-off card to tournament officials for signature, prior to the live well being checked.

4.             Fishing Methods:  All bass must be caught live in a conventional and sporting manner, using only artificial lures, with the exception of pork trailers.  Only one fishing rod may be used at a time by each angler, and no rod over 8 feet in length may be used.  Trolling is prohibited.

5.             Restrictions:  Participants may fish anywhere accessible by boat, except areas designated as "Off Limits" or "No Fishing" by federal, state and local agencies, or within 50 yards of any marina gas pump, or another contestant.  There will be no alcoholic beverages consumed during the tournament in any boat or by any tournament participant.

6.             Boat Requirements:  All boats must be equipped with wheel or tiller steering.  No other steering devices will be permitted.  Boats must contain a properly aerated or recirculating live-well space to maintain alive your catch.  Life jackets must be worn any time the main gas engine is running.

7.             Scoring:  Only large mouth, spotted or small mouth bass are accepted species.  The tournament limits will be 7 fish per team, unless a team partner is fishing alone in which case the limit is 5 fish.  The required length for bass will be 13" mouth open hanging on a Wil-E-Go board.  We will swish the tail.  When presenting fish to be measured, the contestant may not touch the fish while the tournament official takes the measurement.  Any team who possesses more than the tournament limit will lose their biggest fish weight plus 1 lb.  Any team, presenting bass at weigh-in, which fail to meet the required length, will be penalized 1 lb., in addition to the loss of the short fish weight.  Hook, Line & Sinker strongly recommends the use of proven chemical additives designed for live-wells, to insure the health of the fish. No dead fish may be culled out of your catch.  A loss of 1/2 lb. will be deducted for each dead fish weighed in.  In the case of a tie, positions will be combined and divided equally.  The trophies will be awarded by the flip of a coin.

8.             Late Penalty:  All contestants must check in with the check-in boat located inside the 5 mph buoys at, or prior to, their designated weigh-in time.  A loss of 1 lb.per minute late, up to 5 minutes, will be deducted from the total weight.  After 5 minutes the team will be disqualified.

9.             Protests:  All protests must be made in writing, within 30 minutes after the conclusion of the weigh-in.

10.           Liability Release:  Any contestant fishing a Hook, Line & Sinker event will release Hook, Line & Sinker, Russo’s Marina, their owners, officers, agents, employees, sponsors, tournament staff, from any and all damages, claims, demands, costs or expenses relating to injury of any persons or damage to any property, or theft which you may sustain or may be caused by reason of participating in or connection with this or any other Hook, Line & Sinker event.

11.           Tournament of Champions:  To qualify for the TOC, the same team must fish a minimum of 3 tournaments.  If you win a tournament your team automatically qualifies for the TOC, provided you fish the 3-tournament minimum.  There will be a total of 85 points, plus 2 show-up points per tournament.  The TOC will consist of the first place team in each of the 6 tournaments, plus the top 30 point leaders, and one team drawn from the remaining teams that fished all six tournaments.