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2009 Michiana Walleye Association, Inc

Is sponsoring a Team Tournament Trail.

 Come join the Michiana Walleye Association and fish our exciting tournament trail. You will have the opportunity to match your angling ability with some of the areas top anglers. At the same time enjoy a day of fellowship chasing the ever elusive Walleye.  Regardless of your current tournament experience, the MWA offers a challenging and rewarding way to sharpen your angling skills.

 RULES AND RULE CHANGES

These rules will remain unchanged unless otherwise notified at the Captains meeting. Interpretation of the rules will be to the discretion of the Tournament Director and the Rules Committee. The rules and the interpretations of them will be final and not open to protest. Safety rules may be changed at any time.


PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY

It is the contestant’s responsibility for knowing and abiding by all MWA, local and state regulations, which pertain to the MWA tournament waters. Any person, 10 to 17 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. All contestants must posses a valid fishing license for the waters fished.


ENTRY INFORMATION

A $25.00 club membership must be purchased before entering any MWA tournament (each contestant must purchase a membership, unless team partner is a family member “spouse or child ages 10 – 17 yrs old”, family memberships are $40.00). All participant memberships must be up to date and current to participate in any MWA tournament. All tournament entries should be received prior to the Wednesday before each tournament. Late entries will be accepted up to but not after the captains meeting on tournament day, a late fee of $5.00 will be added to the entry fee. The entry fee will be $50.00 per boat, which includes $10.00 of the entry going to the big fish pot. The Michiana Walleye Association Inc. reserves the right to accept or reject any applications for any MWA event.


FISH AND FISHING

A dead fish penalty of .25 pounds per fish will be levied for each fish that is deemed non-releasable. All state or Federal fishing regulations and rules will be observed unless the Tournament Director specifies more stringent regulations. A maximum of Five (5) walleye, sauger, or saugeye in any combination, caught on hook and line in a conventional sporting manner, will be accepted for weigh in. Both artificial and live bait can be used. All fish must be kept in aerated live wells or coolers to keep fish alive and as fresh as possible for release. Use of stringers, wire fish baskets, boat bags, etc. is prohibited. Any fished mauled, frozen, stringered, injected with water or other fluids containing foreign matter to add weight or showing white gills, soft flesh, sunken eyes, or gills that won’t bleed, may result in disqualification from the tournament and/or other MWA events. This determination is made at the discretion of the Director and rules committee. Culling of dead fish is prohibited. Bringing undersize fish to the scale will result in that day’s loss of total weight. All contestants are prohibited from fishing tournament waters after 5 PM, on the day prior to the tournament. All boats will be subject to inspection on and off the water by tournament officials, state, local or Federal authorities. There will be no re-weighing of fish, the weight stands that reads on the scales and is at the discretion of the weigh master only “No exceptions”. Only one fish per team may be weighed for big fish, so make be sure to pick the right one.

CAPTAINS MEETINGS, FLIGHTS AND LAUNCHING

Each team will be responsible for any ramp / launch fees when applicable. All boats must be inspected, launched and ready for the day by 30 min prior to the start of the tournament. The Launch Master will give the launching direction. Any boats not ready to launch or boats that are creating a bottleneck will be sent off line until ready (this means each boat needs to be ready to go when it is their turn comes). There will be mandatory captains meetings (no exceptions) held 15 min. prior to the tournament the meeting place will be at the launch site. It is required that one team member must attend and sign in. Teams returning late from fishing will forfeit their weight for that tournament. A third party observer may be used at any time and for any reason so deemed by the MWA. Boundaries for any tournament are available upon request. There will be no early weigh in.

POINT DETERMINATION

All points are determined by the net weight brought to the scale by each boat at each tournament. Team placement for the individual tournament is determined by this net weight. This net weight will be converted to points, split among the anglers in the boat and represents the individual “Angler of the Year” points. One point is awarded for one ounce of net weight. The individual’s points will accumulate through out the local tournament season for a year end grand total. All awards will be distributed at the year end MWA Awards Tournament Banquet.

Pay Out Breakdown

The breakdown for the monetary awards will be the following:
A) $10.00 from each entry at each tournament will be awarded to the “Big Fish” pot for that specific tournament.
B) 80% of remaining entry fee will be distributed to the contestants that weigh fish for that specific tournament (everybody that weighs fish gets a check at year end no matter where they place)
C) The remaining 20% will go to the angler(s) of the year pot.
All payouts and prizes will be awarded at the year end MWA Awards Tournament Banquet (sometime in November).

SPORTSMANSHIP

Entrants must conduct themselves in a true sportsman like manner at all times. NO EXCEPTIONS. Courtesy and ethics of the highest standard are the norm, not the exception. Remember that you not only represent yourselves, but all tournament anglers and competitive fishing. Any rude or insulting type of behavior will be subject to disqualification.

SAFETY

Safety must be observed at all times. All contestants must wear Coast Guard approved PFDs while the boat is moving above trolling speed. Each contestant is to follow all Coast Guard regulations. All boats are required to have, and in working order, an emergency cut off switch that must be securely attached to the driver whenever the boat is above trolling speed. No Alcoholic beverages or illegal substances may be consumed or in possession by teams during fishing hours.

BOATS AND EQUIPMENT

All boats will be inspected prior to the start of that day of fishing. A “boat identification board” will be issued after inspection. Teams are responsible for returning the boat boards at the end of the day. This is for safety to show that all boats have returned from fishing. All boats must conform to the appropriate state, and USCG standards. All outboards used in a MWA tournament must not exceed the horsepower rating set by the USCG ruling November 1, 1972. All boats will have an USCG or BMA plate attached by the boat manufacturer and the horsepower rating will not be exceeded by any means. Kill switches must be in working order.

SEVERE WEATHER RULE

In the event of severe weather, the tournament hours may be suspended or cut short. A tournament may be cancelled at the discretion of the staff at the event. “If you see lightning, take shelter!”





PROTEST

The tournament committee or any contestant has the right to protest another team or contestant. The protest must be filed with the Tournament Director, in writing, within 1/2 hour following the tournament end time.


SPIRIT OF THE RULE

All rules have “loop holes”. It is the intention for the Tournament Director and the committee to provide a sportsman like tournament. All questions or problems are to be referred to the Tournament Director and the Rules Committee. They have sole jurisdiction in determining the application of the rules. The committee will be identified at each tournament site. Any disqualification will result in the loss of all points for that event. If disqualified, no refund will be granted.

WAIVER AND HOLD HARMLESS

All contestants, in signing an entry form, agree to hold harmless any and all promoters, tournament directors, agents, and organizations assisting the MWA / Michiana Walleye Association Inc. in the tournament operation. Furthermore, all contestants agree to waiver all responsibility for death, injuries, damage, liability, theft, fire or loss of any kind to entrants. I have read, and understand the above rules, and by signing the entry form is in fact signing a waiver form. No unsigned entry will be processed for competition.