(New Rules) Tournament Rules

Tournament Rules

1. Rules Changes: The following rules will remain unchanged throughout the event unless State of local laws are in conflict. Interpretation and enforcement of these rules shall be left exclusively to the Tournament director. In the event of a rule violation, the tournaments Director may impose sanctions as he deems appropriate, including, without limitation, disqualification, forfeiture of prizes entry fee and prohibition from participation in subsequent tournaments. The decision of the Tournament Director and tournament officials shall be final in all matters. It is the Director’s discretion to make a change where safety of the contestants is a concern. All Federal, State and local laws must be obeyed and it is the contestant's responsibility to know these laws. All Protests must be made in writing within 30 minutes of the official check-in time of the final flight of each tournaments day.
2. (New Rules) Participants and Eligibility: To be eligible to fish a SABBA fishing tournament you must to live 150 mile away from the location that the tournament is hailed. Plus your SABBA membership has to paid and currant for that year of the tournament that you are trying to fish. SABBA membership is open to men and women aged 18 and above But you have to be affiliated with SABBA through a fishing club affiliated with SABBA or fished a SABBA fishing tournament in the passed or live 150 miles away from your first ever SABBA fishing tournament that you are trying to fish. (SABBA has the right to refuse membership to any person that is applying for membership) You can also be invited by SABBA board to fish any of SABBA fishing tournaments. But, if you are part of any affiliated fishing club and you live 30 mile or less from where SABBA is holding their fishing tournament and you have finished in the top 5 in any tournament that was hailed less than 30 mile from your address. You must fish the next SABBA fishing tournament that is 150 mile or more from your address to be eligible to fish another SABBA fishing tournament that is less than a 150 mile from you address. NO EXCEPTIONS!
3. Point Standings: No points are given in SABBA tournaments. 
4. Pre-Tournament Practice: Off limits for SABBA tournaments will be listed on SABBA web site. No guides, purchasing info or fishing with a non competitor 25 days before tournament on tournament waters. 
5. Registration and Pre-Tournament Meeting: Each contestant must register in person at the designated site during the official registration hours to pay entry fees and sign entry forms. If you do not sign your entry form before a SABBA tournament starts, you are not enter into that SABBA's tournament and your weight may not count. TBA local time the day before the tournament.
6. Safety: Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened, U.S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation device any time the combustion engine is in operation from boat check until weigh-in. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device that must be securely attached to the driver’s body whenever the combustion engine is in operation. At the discretion of the tournament director, tournament days may be shortened or cancelled due to unsafe weather or water conditions. 
7. Sportsmanship: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves. SABBA Tournament, sponsors, the sport of fishing and the efforts of SABBA Tournament to promote the sport. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to: Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverage or any kind of mind-altering substance during registration, the pre-tournament meeting or during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedures. Abuse of, or addiction to mind altering substance, conviction of a felony within the past 36 months. Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules can get you banded for life.
        In case of any conduct not complying with sportsmanship standards, SABBA Tournament shall have the right to refuse any application or to deny a confirmed application by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application or by disqualifying a contestant.
8. Boat and Horsepower Regulation: All boats must be a minimum of 15 feet in length. All boats must be equipped with wheel steering. No other steering device will be permitted. No barges or similar cumbersome crafts will be permitted. Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass by both contestants. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition must not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U.S. Coast Guard, but have a minimum of 40 horsepower rating plate attached to the boat by the manufacturer. The horsepower of the outboard engine must not exceed the rating specified on this rating plate.
9. Officials’ Boats: Officials will be on the lake for boat inspection and observation during tournament hours. Contestants are required to cooperate with all requests made by tournament officials.
10. Permitted Fishing Methods: All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only artificial lures may be used, with the exception of pork trailers. Only one fishing rod may be used at a time. Trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited.
11. Permitted Fishing Locations: Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat except for areas designated as “off-limits” or “no fishing” by tournament Director or by local, state/ federal officials; within 50 yards of a marina gas pump; or within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat, which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position). All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Contestants must leave and return to the official checkpoint by boat. The boat must remain in the tournament water during the tournament day. No tournament boat may be loaded on the trailer before the weigh-in except with the permission of the tournament director. In the event of equipment failure or emergency, there will be only two permitted methods of returning to the official check-in: (1) by both partners remaining in their boat and being towed by water or (2) by both partners entering the boat of another tournament contestant. Under these two conditions, the contestants’ catches may be counted without a penalty (except for late penalties, dead fish penalties or other penalties pertaining to other tournament rules). Contestants who elect to return to the official check-in by any other means than cited above will forfeit their day’s catch to that point in time of the tournament day. Any contestant returning to the check-in point will be eligible to restart and resume competition only under the supervision of the tournament director or his designated tournament official. It is the sole responsibility of contestants to locate the tournament director to request a restart. Partners must remain together at all times and within sight of each other until weigh-in slips are signed in order for their catches for that day to be counted. In the case of male/female partners sharing a boat, the momentary condition of being out of sight of each other for restroom breaks is permitted. If a contestant must violate any part of this rule due to an emergency or for any other reason, his catch for that day will not be counted.
12. Official Checkpoints: There will be only one official checkpoint for boat check-in each morning and one official check-in point each afternoon. Failure to go through boat check and check-out in the morning or failure to check in at the check-in point will result in disqualification. All fishing must ease upon check-in.
13. Late Penalty: Contestants who are not at the official check-in area at the appointed time will be penalized 1 pound per minute, which will be deducted from the total weight including any weight to be counted toward a big bass award. Any contestant more than 15 minutes late will lose credit for that day’s weight.
14. Live fish: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. SABBA Tournament recommends use of chemical live well additives that promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat. Three ounces will be deducted from the total weight for each dead bass presented for weigh-in.
15. Scoring: Scoring will be determined by the pounds and ounces of each contestant’s catch during each day of qualifying tournament. Only largemouth, spotted, red eye or smallmouth bass are accepted species. The limit will be five unless the state or lake limit is less than five, in which case the state or lake limit will prevail. Any contestant who possesses more than the tournament limit will have his catch for that day disqualified. The official minimum length limit for bass will be 12 inches unless the state or lake limit is more than 12 inches, in which case the state or lake limit will prevail. Bass presented for weigh-in that fail to measure the prescribed length limit will be penalized at the rate of one pound for each non-legal bass presented. Each contestant’s catch must be presented in an official weigh-in bag and verified by the contestant's signature on weigh in form both day 1 and day 2 of the tournaments. After day 1 weigh in. Weights will go back to zero for all contestant's after determine a day 1 winner. On day 2 of the tournament all contestant's will start at zero weight. After day 2 weigh in. We will determine a winner for day 2 by day 2 weight. 
16. Ties: If both teams have the same number of fish, then the contestant with the biggest fish will break the tie. If the tied contestants share the same number of fish and their largest fish have the same weight, then the Tournament Director will determine another method to break the tie.
17. Insurance: Liability insurance is required of all contestants in SABBA Tournament.
18. Polygraph: All contestants, winners and non-winners are subject to a polygraph test. Failure to submit to a polygraph test will result in immediate disqualification. Any contestant who fails a polygraph test for cheating in connection with the SABBA Tournament or whose polygraph results are inconclusive will not be eligible to compete in any SABBA fishing tournament for life. If contestant's polygraph results are inconclusive it will be up to SABBA tournament director to make the decision on counting the contestant's fishing weight for both days of the tournament or not.
19. Anyone who's income is 50% from sponsors or from fishing. Or if you are fishing guide. Is restricted from fishing SABBA tournaments. SABBA reserve the right to decline anyone from fishing a SABBA fishing tournament at SABBA discretion.