Club Rules

SOUTHERN UTAH BASS ANGLERS

Bass Fishing Tournament Rules – Revised January 2021

1) RESPONSIBILITY

It is the responsibility of each Member or participant in the Club to know these rules. Ignorance of the rules is not a defense for violation of them. Club officials shall apply penalties for rule infractions. Club officials may assess a penalty/disqualification without a written protest. The decision of club officials is final in all matters regarding these rules and is not subject to appeal, unless a protest is made in writing within 30 minutes of the official check-in time of the tournament for any infraction observed during the tournament. The results of any event where protests have been filed or penalties or disqualifications have been assessed shall be considered unofficial until the SUBA Club officials have conducted a review of the incident. Club officials shall make all final decisions as to any disqualification and their joint decision shall be Final.

2) PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY

Participation is open to all members of the SUBA Club or their invited Guests.  At least one (1) partner of each team shall be 18 years of age or older for all “SUBA Club Tournaments”. Those anglers under the age of 18 years must have written consent of parent or guardian. No one under the age of 18 may fish alone. A team that consists of two contestants that are under 18 years of age may fish if they have a chaperone (someone over the age of 18) accompany them throughout the tournament, including check-in and final awards.  Designated chaperone may not fish at all during tournament hours. They are not permitted to net fish for anglers or assist the anglers in any way that would provide a clear advantage to the team.  They are to follow all club rules that pertain to safety, boating and sportsmanship.  Chaperones will be required to fill out a membership and liability form at their first tournament, but will not be required to pay a membership fee unless they desire to fish in a contest at some point during the year.    All SUBA tournaments are “Team Tournaments. A “Team” consists of two anglers, and we will try to make sure there are complete teams in all events. Club officials shall make all final decisions regarding participation in Club Tournaments prior to beginning of tournament. 

3) LICENSES

All participants in any tournament shall have an appropriate fishing license for the waters being fished. Anyone not properly licensed will be disqualified.

4) SPORTSMANSHIP

Any contestant, who displays poor sportsmanship, violates these rules or violates the state fishing laws or lake rules may be disqualified. Also, any fisherman using a cell phone or radio to relay any “fishing” information to another team while on the water during official time will be disqualified. (Official time is described as: “The time of official blast off until the official time due in for weigh-in, first and second half”).  Cell phones are permitted for general use during official tournament hours. Club officials shall make the final determination on all sportsmanship complaints or violations.

5) NO ALCOHOL or DRUGS

No alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are allowed during tournament hours. Tournament hours start at boat check-in until your boat is out of the water at the end of the tournament. No alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are allowed in any boat during the tournament. If alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are found in any boat during the ramp inspection or at any time during the tournament, Club officials may disqualify the team or contestant.

6) BOAT INSPECTION

Boat inspection instructions will be given at the sign-up site. Club officials may conduct an inspection of each boat at the ramp prior to blast-off and after each weigh-in.  The inspection may include: live-well inspection, safety equipment, and verification that no alcoholic beverages are on board. Failure to comply with an inspection by a club official may result in disqualification.

7) BOAT AND HORSEPOWER REGULATION

There are no minimum length or minimum horsepower requirements to compete in SUBA tournaments. No internal combustion engine is required. Each boat must contain all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated or re-circulation live-well to maintain a team limit of fish alive. Ice chests with an aerator are acceptable upon approval of club officials. Any vessel deemed “unsuitable” by club officials, will not be allowed to participate in the event.

8) SAFETY

All boats must meet Coast Guard regulations. Boat owners must carry proper liability insurance according to state law. Safe boating shall be observed at all times. During competition, each contestant is required to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket anytime the boat is “on plane”.  During night tournaments boats will not be allowed to go “on plane” after official sunset or at specific times designated by club officials at the meeting prior to starting tournament. Official sunset will be announced at all night tournaments. Anyone found operating a boat in an unsafe manner in the opinion of club officials may be disqualified. It is recommended that boats be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which should be securely attached to the driver’s body whenever the combustion engine is in operation. All boats 16 ft. or larger must have a floatation cushion on board. Each contestant is responsible to have proper safety equipment to meet state and local regulations. Each contestant shall provide their own on-the-water assistance if needed. For safety, each contestant should inform another contestant as to the location(s) that they will be fishing and have that contestant check to assure that the other contestant has returned safely at the end of the contest and have a plan for assistance if needed. If you are leaving the tournament early and choose to not weigh-in, you will receive a zero-weight score for the weigh-in or weigh-ins you have missed. You must also inform an official of your early departure. If you do not inform an official of your early departure you will be disqualified from the tournament and will not receive any participation points towards Angler of the year. 

9) PERMITTED FISHING METHODS AND TACKLE

All fish must be caught live in a conventional and sporting manner. Trolling is prohibited. Cast and retrieve methods of ripping and jerking are legal. Only artificial lures may be used with the exception of pork rind or deer hide. No prepared or live bait may be used. The intentional snagging of fish is strictly prohibited. Landing nets are permitted. (All smallmouth bass caught on Quail Creek Reservoir, Gunlock or Sand Hollow must be immediately dispatched as soon as you have weighed them in. Any and all smallmouth caught that are not going to be weighed in must be dispatched as well) Only one “rod and reel” may be used at a time. Rods may not exceed 8’6″ in length.

10) PERMITTED FISHING WATERS

Contestants may fish anywhere accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” by club officials, local, state or federal officials or within 50 yards of any marina gas pump. 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. No contestants are permitted to leave their boat in an effort to propel or float their boat to fishing waters they could not otherwise reach; however, the use of push poles is permitted. The boat must remain in the tournament waters during the tournament day. Contestants must leave and return to the official check-in by boat.

11) ENCROACHMENT

A “25-yard rule” is in effect at all times during competition. No contestant’s boat may move within 25 yards of another contestant’s boat at any time for the purpose of fishing without the consent of all contestants involved. A boat moving from one area to another may infringe upon this zone as long as the parties that are moving do not fish and do not intentionally disrupt the area. Judging distance is very difficult on the water. As a general rule of sportsmanship all anglers should give all others enough room to make a reasonable cast to fish an area. Exception: In the case of fishing docks or piers, no contestant’s boat may “tie up,” or “protect” more than a single dock at one time regardless of the distance involved.

12) EQUIPMENT FAILURE OR EMERGENCY

In the event of equipment failure or emergency, contestant’s boat may be towed to the check-in. If it is necessary to transfer fish to another boat, it must be another contestant’s boat. At least one member of the team must accompany the fish to the weigh-in site.  A club official should be notified immediately if this takes place.

13) FISHING HOURS AND LATE PENALTY

Official fishing hours will be announced at the tournament meeting prior to each event. All contestants must check in at the designated area; even if they do not plan to weigh fish. Contestants who are not at the official check-in area at the appointed time may be disqualified. DON’T BE LATE!  No culling of fish in the host marina or weigh-in area. A penalty of one (1), pound per minute will be assessed up to 15 minutes late, after-which you will be disqualified. Example: Check in is at 3:00pm, 3:01pm will be a 1-pound penalty, 3:02pm will be a 2-pound penalty…)

14) LIVE FISH

Contestants shall make every effort to keep all fish alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. We strongly recommend the use of chemical additives in live wells. One half pound (0.5 lbs) will be deducted from the total weight for each dead fish. Club officials will make all judgments of fish mortality.  You will be required to release your fish in front of a club official. Any fish released without verification from a club official will count as a dead fish and a penalty will be assessed. Culling of dead fish is prohibited and may result in disqualification. Any fish struggling during the tournament may be field weighed by a club official. Any fish field weighed must be counted toward your limit and cannot be culled at weigh ins.  (All smallmouth bass caught on Quail Creek Reservoir, Gunlock or Sand Hollow must be immediately dispatched as soon as you have weighed them in. Any and all smallmouth caught that are not going to be weighed in must be dispatched as well)

15) SCORING

Scoring for Team tournaments will be determined by the total weight of a four (4) or five (5) fish, depending of the body of water. Depending on the regulations of each body of water, we will be fishing 2 separate halves, 2 fish per half. The official State laws shall govern the size limit in effect for the tournament location. Waters may have different limits that will be announced at the Tournament meeting prior to blast-off. If a slot limit is present, Bass will be measured lying down, mouth closed, with tail pinched on a FLAT board.  Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed minimum length, shall be removed from the catch and a penalty of one, (1) pound will be deducted from the remaining weight. The “Team” with the most weight will be the Winner. The biggest fish will break all ties. The payout schedule for each tournament is dependent on the number of registered contestants. (See the Payout Schedule). Points will be awarded to all participants as follows: 100 points for First Place, 99 points for Second Place, 98 points for Third Place and so on for all teams who catch fish.  Points for teams who blank will be scored as average points for tied places (example:  10 boats, 5 blank, all 5 teams who blanked get 93 points.  You add the places (95+94+93+92+91) = 465 then divide the total by the number of teams tied 465/5 = 93 points for each team.  Points will be awarded to both the Boater and the Non-Boater individually. Disqualifications will result in a zero score for that tournament.

Qualifications for AOY:

All anglers that fish at least 7 tournaments throughout the year will be eligible to compete for angler of the year.

The angler with the most points at the end of the tournament season will be awarded AOY.  Only the anglers best 7 tournaments will count toward their total points.  (Example: Angler fished 8 of the 10 Tournaments, said angler will take their highest seven tournament points and will drop one (the lowest tournament score will be dropped).

The point standings will be maintained and published for each tournament during the year on our website. Awards will be given at the Annual Year End Club Banquet. A tie-breaker, will be by total pounds caught for the seven tournaments counted in the point total. The number of fish caught, up to five, as well as the total pounds caught will be maintained and published for each tournament fished.

In a tournament if only one team brings fish in to a weigh in and all other teams have blanked, the team having caught fish will only be paid 1st place money and 1st big fish they will not get other places money or other big fish!  And in that case the money left over will go to the club for the end of the year banquet!

16) WAIVER AND RELEASE

Each Member or participant in any tournament shall sign an Insurance certificate and waiver at the beginning of each year or before fishing in any tournament.

17) PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE (PRE-FISHING)

Pre fishing is allowed, until 4:00 p.m. the day prior to the tournament. Pre-fishing for away tournaments is allowed until dark the day prior to a tournament. If caught on the water fishing after this time you will be disqualified from the tournament. A Contestant may not participate in SCUBA diving or snorkeling during or within thirty, (30) days before the tournament days, however underwater cameras may be used during the pre-fish period, but may not be used during any tournament. Moving of fish from one spot to another is prohibited in practice (7) days prior to a tournament on lake of said tournament. Fish caught in practice must be immediately released and not stored in live wells. Any infractions must be reported in writing prior to the start of the tournament. Any reports filed after the tournament Blast-off, will not be considered.

18) CITATIONS

A contestant cited by officers for violation of State or Federal fishing or boating regulations may be disqualified. Club officials shall jointly make any final ruling with regards to disqualification.

19) TOURNAMENT TEAMS AND DRAW

• Any team that wishes to fish together in any tournament may do so.  Both must be active members of SUBA prior to start of event to fish together.  
• If club members do not have a partner and would like to be put in the random draw, to be connected with other club member looking for a partner, they are to contact club president a least 2 weeks prior to tournament date.  Please let us know if you are a boater looking for a non-boater or a non-boater looking for a boater.  We will make every effort to connect anglers.  If there are more than two members that call in, then a random draw for fishing partners will take place 1 week prior to tournament date to determine partners.  If there are insufficient Non-boaters or boaters to pair up for any tournament, the members that do not end up being selected will be given priority for the next tournament.  Please call in early to allow plenty of time to make connections as club officials will make every effort to fill all available fishing slots.

*** Non-Boaters should offer and make arrangements with their Boater partner to share in the operating expenses of the boat for the tournament, especially for the “Large Lake” and long-distance tournaments.  This is not required but HIGHLY encouraged. 

20) BLAST-OFF ORDER

A random draw for blast-off order will be done after the teams are determined. The last boater in the blast-off order calls the blast-off launch in an orderly and safe manner. The blast-off order will be announced at the pre-tournament meeting before the tournament.

21) TOURNAMENT FEES AND PAYOUT SCHEDULE

– Tournament fees and the payout schedule are as follows for all “Team Tournaments”:

– Tournament entry fees are $40.00 per person OR $80.00 per team.

– Team Tournaments – (All SUBA tournaments are “Open Team Tournaments”)

– All participants, Boaters and Non-boaters pay their own entry fees for

  all tournaments. 

– Big Fish fee is $5.00 and is included in the entry fee.

– Plaques and/or payouts will be given for the top 3 teams and Big Fish.

22) TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & ELECTIONS

• The tournament schedule will be published and voted upon by the members of the Club at the Year End meeting. The Club Presidency will try to keep the schedule intact to their best ability but may change the location and dates of tournaments if events out of their control, present themselves. Notification of the Club Members will take place at least two weeks in advance of any change if at all possible. 
• New officers including: President, vice president, assistants and secretary/web master will be nominated and voted for during the Year End Club Meeting. 

23)MEMBERSHIP

The membership fee for new members of SUBA is $25.00. Members will be required to pay annual dues of $25.00 before participating in any event.  Approximately ten ($10.00) dollars of the annual dues is for liability insurance for the Club. All Members must be willing to sign an Insurance liability waive form, annually, prior to fishing any tournament. The Club dues are payable at the first of each calendar year or before a member fishes in any tournament, no matter how late in the year a member desires to fish a tournament. 

24) REVOCATION OF CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Any club member caught cheating in a SUBA tournament, (or any official fishing tournament), will have their club membership revoked indefinitely. Membership and/or tournament fees for that year will not be refunded. Person(s) may be considered for reinstatement after all legal obligations have been met. Reinstatement will only be considered at the end of year meeting by way of vote. Only active members may vote. Only members present at the meeting may have their vote counted for or against reinstatement.

Members that show a pattern of breaking rules or an obvious disregard for other members and/or sportsmanship may have that year’s membership revoked. This will be determined by club leadership. Individual(s) will automatically be eligible for reinstatement at the beginning of the next tournament season, unless otherwise decided by members at the end of year meeting. 

25) DISQUALIFICATION

There will be an automatic team DISQUALIFICATION for any fish brought in to the live weigh-in not meeting the lake’s slot limits. Any team bringing in more than the 4 or 5 fish limit designated for that body of water will automatically be disqualified. Culling of dead fish is prohibited and may result in disqualification. You must also inform an official of your early departure. If you do not inform an official of your early departure you will be disqualified from the tournament and will not receive any participation points towards Angler of the year. You will also be disqualified for any reasons stated in previous rules.

26) AQUATIC NUISANCE TEST AND CERTIFICATE

If you are fishing any Utah waters, you must have this certificate in your boat at all times. Non-boaters must have this certificate on them at all times too. Take the 4-question quiz and print out the certificate.  The rangers will be checking boats.

Here is a link to the Aquatic Nuisance Test and Certificate:

https://dwrapps.utah.gov/wex/dbconnection.jsp?examnbr=505728

27) FISHING NON-UTAH WATERS

If the club holds an event on non-Utah waters, all fishing and boating rules for designated water must be followed. Ignorance is no excuse.  Specific changes that will affect weigh-ins or other tournament process/procedures will be posted on the SUBA website as well as prior to the event beginning.