1/1/2026
"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.
The months of July and
December are omitted from the tournament year.
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
Membership fees must be current by the
end of the tournament
year. 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
A member will not be eligible for year-end
awards until all back membership fees are paid.
OUTREACH EVENTS
Tommy
Youngblood Memorial Fishing Classic*
Tentatively scheduled annually in the
spring and will be a non-point open tournament.
October/November
Outreach Tournament*
Tentatively scheduled annually in the
fall and will be a non-point open team tournament.
A committee should 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 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 and return by water to this location,
except when trailering for safety issues (e.g. high winds, etc.).
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. If there is
greater than 10 boats in the tournament, starting positions will 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 and bonus 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 and bonus 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