1/1/2025
"Be
Ye Fishers of Men, You Catch Them, He Will Clean Them"
PURPOSE
The Aiken Christian Bass Anglers was formed to provide for
the enjoyment of tournament bass fishing with the main emphasis on Christian
fellowship. That by our conduct and attitudes we provide a Christian witness to
all who we come in contact with.
GENERAL
Tournament Year
First scheduled tournament in the calendar
year through November 30th of the same calendar year.
Review and Changing of Rules
The rules shall be reviewed for change at the end of the
tournament year (usually November).
Tournament Dates
Tournament events shall be voted on at
the monthly pre-tournament meeting prior to the next month's tournament. The
goal is to select dates that maximize participation.
Members unable to attend a meeting
can vote for the next month tournament date, location, and ramp using the ACBA
club e:mail. Meeting attendance points will not be earned. This notification must
be done 24 hours prior to the pre-tournament meeting that the member cannot
attend.
DIVISIONS
The tournaments are divided into two separate divisions
(ADULT AND YOUTH).
Adult is 16 yrs. and older. Youth is 15 yrs. and under. If
16th birthday is prior to the first tournament of the tournament year,
participation is in the Adult division.
MEMERSHIP FEES
Monthly membership fees when fishing.
Adult Youth
$15.00 $10.00
Fees must be current for any club awards. Guests are not
required to pay membership fees, but are not eligible for points or awards.
10% of the club’s annual gross income will be given to Tommy
Youngblood Memorial Fund to support international missions to train pastors on
the mission field.
Back Fees
If a member gets two months behind in fees, the member will
not be eligible for year-end awards until back fees are paid.
OUTREACH EVENTS
Tommy
Youngblood Memorial Fishing Classic*
Will be scheduled annually in the spring and will be a
non-point open tournament.
October
Outreach Tournament*
Will be scheduled annually in the fall and will be a
non-point open team tournament.
A committee will be formed no later than the last day of May
to start the planning.
* Monthly point
tournament scheduling during the same month as the outreach events will be
voted on during the previous month tournament meeting.
TOURNAMENT PARTICIPATION AND
PARTNER DRAW
Partner Draw
Partners can be pre-arranged or drawn at the monthly meeting
before each tournament determined by majority vote.
Youth are not included in the draw. Youth participation
shall be pre-arranged by the parent/guardian of the youth with an adult boater
(21 years of age or older) prior to the meeting. The following addresses the
protocol used when boaters and non-boaters are not pre-arranged.
a. Boaters: All members have the option
to use their boat. Members have the option to be removed from the draw. Members
wanting to participate in the draw will be assigned a number to be placed in
the draw.
b. Non-boaters: Each non-boater will draw a boater number to
determine the pairings. Non-boaters have the option to redraw if they draw the
same person two (2) consecutive tournaments.
c. Open boats: Following the draw, remaining
open boaters have the options to; 1) fish open, 2) pair-up with other open
boaters or 3) bring a guest.
Guests
Invited guests are the responsibility of the inviter for
obtaining boat space.
TOURNAMENT RULES
Boating
Equipment
Only boats and motors complying with state laws will be
permitted in tournaments.
Life
Preservers
Each competitor is required to wear
a Coast Guard approved life vest, securely fastened, with kill switch connected
at all times while the boat is being propelled by the combustion engine and on
plane.
Accessory
Equipment
Electric trolling motors, depth finders and graphs (paper,
LCR's, & CRT's) location markers, temperature, oxygen, and pH monitors, and
other accepted electronic equipment may be used.
Lures
Only artificial lures may be used. No live bait or prepared
baits are allowed except commercial pork baits.
Tackle
All fish must be caught on a rod & reel. Only one type
of rod may be fished at one time. Other rods may be pre-rigged and available
for immediate use.
Fishing
Methods
Fish must be caught in an accepted conventional manner (no
trolling with gas motors). Fish must be hooked inside the mouth when sight
fishing.
Competition
Fish
Adult - Any black bass will be counted.
Youth - All legal species of fish will be counted.
Minimum Size
Limit
Largemouth
Bass, Redeye Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass
Statewide except the water bodies
listed below: Minimum 14 inches in total length.
Yonah,
and Savannah Rivers
TL=total
length measure; Tip of snout with mouth closed to tip of tail. Tail should be
pinched.
Stringer Limit
Five (5) fish per person.
All culling must be done at the time
the 6th fish is caught; no person may continue fishing with more
than the tournament limit in the live well at any time during the tournament.
Boat Operation
and Expense
Operating a boat in negligent or unsafe manner or in
violation of any state or federal law will result in the immediate and final
disqualification. Adult partners will agree about the expense sharing.
Headquarters will be designated by the tournament committee.
Boats must leave (except for unforeseen circumstances) and return by water to
this location, except when trailering or extreme high wind conditions.
Tournament
Hours
Tournament hours are 8 hours from voted blast off time,
unless a different tournament duration is voted on at the monthly pre-tournament meeting.
Blast-off
Tournament
blast-off time will be voted on at the pre-tournament meeting. Each boat should
exercise good judgment in the interest of safety at blast-off. Starting positions can be determined by a drawing of
all participating boats just before the closing of the pre-tournament meeting.
Participants not in attendance will be assigned a starting position at the back
of the line. Contestants
electing to trailer for safety issues shall not leave the parking lot before
the first boat blasts-off.
Weigh in
Will be at
Leaving the
Tournament Early
If a contestant decides to leave a tournament early because
of a pre-arranged agreement or unforeseen circumstances, he should notify (cell
phone, text, note, etc.) or tell another contestant that he is leaving the
tournament. If a note is left, it must be left on another contestant’s vehicle
at the weigh-in site.
If the contestant leaving the tournament early has fish to
weigh, another club member will be notified to witness the weight. If leaving
for an emergency, weight will be accepted by the honor system.
Alcohol and
Profanity
Alcohol
is absolutely prohibited. Profanity will not be tolerated.
Sportsmanship
Each
contestant is expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, and
Christian attitudes. No boat may fish within 50 yards of any other boat which
is anchored with the trolling motor up;
furthermore no boat may fish within 25 yards of any other boat without the
other boater’s permission. Permission may not be granted to any boat at the
exclusion of any other boat. No hole sitting by a non-competitor or by
another competitor, to aid a tournament participant will be allowed. Violators
will have their catch disqualified.
PENALTIES AND PROTESTS
The following penalties will apply to all tournaments.
Late for Weigh
In
A one (1) pound penalty of total weight will be assessed for
each minute late up to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, no fish will be weighed.
Too Many Fish Weighed-In
For each fish over the five (5) fish limit placed in the
weigh in scales, the string will be culled beginning with the largest fish down
to a five (5) fish limit.
Small Fish
A short fish will not be weighed, and the
contestant will loose one (1) pound for each fish under the legal limit that is
presented to the tournament committee to be weighed-in.
SCORING SYSTEM
The following system will be used to determine the standings
for Aiken Christian Bass Anglers:
Tournament
Weigh-In Points
Placement in tournament (individual or team) will be
determined by official total weight at the scales. First place receives 100 points.
Points per place is set to 1. All members attending the tournament and not
weighing in fish will receive 10 points less than last place weighed points. Tags will be awarded to the top
three places in the adult and youth divisions.
Tournament Tie Breakers used
1 – Big Fish
2 – Number
of fish weighed in
Tournament Bonus Points
Big Fish 5
points
Limit of Fish 5
points
Attendance
Points
Each Meeting Attended.............10 points
Members attending church functions and cannot attend the meetings will receive the bonus points if prior notification is given to the tournament officials concerning fishing arrangements for the tournament (e.g. boater, open boat, assignment of boat #, etc.).
Year-To-Date
Standings
Standings for active members will be determined by combining
the following:
·
Individual
tournament place points
·
Meeting bonus
points
Year - To - Date Tie Breakers used
1 – Number of fish caught
2 – Most
Weight
Dropping
Events
All participants must drop the 2 lowest tournaments for the
year. This will include all place points for the 2 tournaments. Dropping
tournaments will only be active after the completion of 7 club tournaments.
Awards
The following awards will be presented at the close of the
tournament year (A minimum of 5 tournaments shall be fished to be eligible for
year-end awards):
Adult Division
Big Bass of the Year
Highest Total Weight for the Year
Youth Division
Big Fish of the Year
Highest Total Weight for the Year