1. OFFICIAL 2024 EVENT RULES:

(a) Decisions of the tournament director/committee are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the tournament director/committee in his sole and absolute discretion. Each competitor agrees to report any rule violation to the tournament director immediately upon discovery of the violation. The violation of the tournament rules may result in loss of weight, the loss of weight up to a specific time during the tournament day, total loss of weight of the particular day, the ineligibility to participate in future AFS events, or any other penalty deemed appropriate by the tournament director/committee in his sole discretion. Protests must be made in writing within 15 minutes of the official closing of scales at each tournament.

2. ELIGIBILITY:

(a) All Local, State and Federal penal code laws shall apply at all times.

(b) All Local, State, Coast Guard, and Federal boating regulations shall apply at all times.

(c) This tournament series is for aluminum bass fishing boats only, with no horsepower restriction (unless otherwise determined by division director).  Fiberglass rigs are also NOT eligible.

(d) Each person must be a paid contestant of the tournament and abide by all tournament rules and regulations. It is the contestant’s sole responsibility to review the official rules prior to the start of any tournament. Entry into the event online serves as acceptance of all tournament rules and regulations.

(e) Non-contestants are not allowed in paid contestants’ boats at any time during official tournament hours. The only exception to this rule would be an official observer, tournament staff and/or a cameraman, or captain as part of an underage team (see section (2) (h).

(f) All bass caught by contestants will be disqualified if any contestants are found to be in violation of any tournament rules and regulations.

(g) Any contestants found to be in violation of any tournament rules and regulations will be subject to disqualification from the tournament and all future events.

(h) Contestants under 18  years of age must be accompanied by a parent or adult with written parental permission.

(i) Tournament officials reserve the right to refuse any entry for any reason. This is not subject to appeal.

(j) One team member must be the OWNER of the aluminum boat used during competition days, and should be ready to provide evidence if awarded any prizes as a result of the competition.

3. ONLINE REGISTRATION:

(a) Registration must be done online via the website for each individual event.  

(b) Refund Policy: includes 100% of entry fee for having to miss an event, at the applicable team’s request, prior to the checks being cut for the tournament in question.  Once checks have been cut typically the night prior to an event, a team is eligible for only 50% refund of the entry fee under qualifying conditions at the discretion of the AFS President. Refund does not apply to any additional fees paid on top of the entry/lunker fees.  The other option is an electronic request that the registration be transferred to a future event of the same calendar year, at the discretion of the AFS President.  

4. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES/ILLEGAL DRUGS/ETC:

(a) During tournament hours no alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are to be consumed by tournament contestants or allowed in contestant’s boat, and will result in disqualification from said event, with potential for disqualification in future events, as determined by tournament director and committee. 

5. SAFETY (THE FOLLOWING IS MANDATORY):

(a) All boats must be equipped with some type of emergency ignition cut-off device (kill switch) on any remote steered outboard while the main engine is in use. Ignition cut-off device (kill switch) must operate properly, which means when the kill switch is activated the outboard main engine must stop running immediately. The ignition cut-off device (kill switch) must be attached to the boat operator at all times while the outboard main engine is in use. However, kill switches are not required on boats that were not manufactured with one.

(b) U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets are required for each person on board and must be worn anytime the combustion engine is in operation, from blast off to on-the-water check in, prior to weigh-in.  The driver must be seated in the driver’s seat anytime the combustion engine is engaged in gear.

(c) In the event of inclement weather, competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter, at which time no fishing may occur.

(d) In the event of equipment failure or emergency, the tournament director must be notified as soon as it is safe to do so. There are then two permitted methods of returning to check-in: (1) by both anglers remaining in their boat and being towed by water, or (2) with permission from the tournament director, by one or both anglers entering the boat of another tournament contestant. Under these two conditions both contestants’ catches may be counted without a penalty (except for late penalties, dead-fish penalties or other penalties pertaining to other tournament rules) provided each team’s fish are adequately marked so as to provide clear distinction to the tournament director. Contestants who elect to return to check-in by any means other than those cited will forfeit their day’s catch to that point in time of the tournament day. Abandoning a boat and leaving it adrift without proper tie-off or anchoring after a mechanical failure may result in disqualification of that day’s weight.

(e) No boat shall have a motor of higher horsepower than the approved Coast Guard maximum, unless otherwise accepted by the tournament director.

(f) Every boat must have all required safety equipment. It must also have a functional bilge pump and adequate livewell space, properly aerated and integrated into the boat hull, to adequately maintain a live limit catch of bass.

(g)  Liability insurance for each contestant boat shall be at the discretion of tournament director.  

6. PERMITTED FISHING AREAS/METHODS/ETC:

(a) Fish must be caught on the tournament lake during official tournament hours deemed by the tournament director.

(b) Only artificial lures may be used with the exception of Berkley Gulp products and pork rind trailers. Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however, each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast is attempted or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. Switching or sharing fish with other teams or individuals is a violation of these rules and will result in immediate disqualification. All bass must be caught alive, in a conventional, sporting manner. When sight fishing for bass, all fish must be hooked inside the mouth to be counted as a legal fish.  Defer to state/lake regulations for rules not discussed here.

(c) Limit fish length is determined by the lakes rules & regulations for a legal limit size of bass.

(d) Contestants may leave from any launch site on tournament day at any time, but must be present at launch site for morning meeting, livewell check, and registration. Official start time will be determined by the Tournament Director.

(e) No one may leave his or her boat to fish or land a fish.

(f) Contestants are limited to use of a primary boat only. No canoes, rafts, or flotation apparatuses.

(g) Pre-tournament practice officially ends at 5pm the day before an event, unless otherwise determined by the tournament director.

(h) No electronic tracking devices (implanted microchips) may be used to locate fish for tournament purposes (depth-finders and graph charts are the only exception.)

(i) Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off-limits” or “no fishing” by state or federal officials.  

(j) OFF-LIMIT areas will be established and announced at the briefing meeting for each open event. Contestants may not fish inside the established “off-limits” area. Violation of the rule will result in immediate disqualification. Contestants’ boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event.  Off-limits areas will be based on lake rules for specific seasons.

7. WEIGH-IN – SPORTSMANSHIP AND CONSERVATION:

(a) Sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and bass conservation are required from every participant.

(b) All bass weighed in will be released back into the lake alive if possible.  The tournament director will communicate any additional release rules based on state regulations (for example, in NH, fish cannot be released on the shoreline and must be released a minimum of 150 feet from shore). 

(c) Trailering a bass to a weigh-in site during tournament hours is not permissible.

(d) For conservation reasons, all bass brought to the official fish inspection station must be in a weigh-in bag with adequate water. If a contestant does not have a weigh bag one will be provided by tournament staff.  Limits will be weighed in mesh bags provided by the tournament organization.

(e) Bass must be weighed in by the contestant(s) who originally caught the bass and it must be in said contestant’s actual physical possession at the weigh-in line.

(f) Any artificially weighted or preserved bass will result in immediate disqualification and the contestant may be subject to prosecution under federal law.

(g) Any questionable fish may be subject to inspection by a marine biologist or similarly qualified expert.

(h) Only black bass species will be weighed in. Specific lake minimums and/or slot requirements must be followed and it is the responsibility of the contestant to abide by all local, state, and federal rules for the host event lake(s).

(i) Tournament officials have the right to inspect a contestant’s livewell prior to registration and/or tournament start time.

(j) Any contestant found to be in possession of any illegal substance will be disqualified.

(k) Any contestant attempting to manipulate the outcome of a tournament(s) or defraud the Aluminum Fishing Series LLC (AFS) will be disqualified.

8. DECISIONS:

(a) All protests must be registered in writing with the Tournament Director within fifteen (15) minutes from when the last boat weighs their limit of bass (15 mins from the end of weigh-in, as designated by tournament director).

(b) The interpretation and enforcement of these rules will be the sole responsibility of the Tournament Director/Committee. Decisions of the Tournament Director, and Tournament Staff are final in all matters, and are not subject to appeal.  In the event of a discrepancy between print or digital version of the rules, the official rules listed on the AFS website at the time of the event will prevail.

9. PENALTY POINTS:

(a) DEAD FISH PENALTY – For each legal dead bass presented to weigh-in, the competitors shall be penalized 8 ounces (0.5 lbs) to be deducted from their daily weight, unless otherwise decided by the tournament director.  Any dead fish cannot be weighed as a lunker/big fish.

(b) If a short fish is weighed, boat/team will be penalized by disqualification of biggest fish (along with short fish).  Courtesy measure must be requested when weigh-in bag is placed in the inspection station tub.

(c) The tournament director and his designated appointees shall have sole authority for accessing penalty points.

(d) Any contestant who weighs more than the tournament limit will be penalized by disqualification of biggest fish and an additional 2 pound penalty. 

(e) Competitors who are not in the official checkpoint area as described by the tournament director at the appointed time shall be penalized at a rate of 1 pound per minute to be deducted from the total weight of their daily catch, including any weight to be counted toward a “lunker award”, for each one (1) minute the team is late.  Any competitors more than 15 minutes late shall lose all credit for the days catch.  Tournament director’s decision on late penalty is final.

12. OTHER:

(a) In case of a tie for total weight, the following tie breakers will be used in order:

          The team with the largest number of legal LIVE fish weighed in during competition

          The team with the largest LIVE weighed bass

(b) In case of a tie for big fish, all parties shall split the pot for that specific species

(c) In the unlikely event that the tournament remains tied after these tie breakers are employed, then the winner will be determined by a means decided on by the tournament director/committee and/or majority committee vote.

(d) All State Fish and Game or DNR Laws / rules will apply (interstate waters / restricted season).

(e) Bass must not be stringent at any time during the tournament.

(f)  Any rules not outlined will defer to BASS Nation blanket rules, and enforced by tournament directors and committee.