2011 MS OT FJ Series Rules

MS Crappie.Com Fruit Jar Series Rules
2011

Interpretation and enforcement of these rules shall be left exclusively to the Tournament Committee. It is the Tournament Committee’s discretion to make a change where safety of the contestants is a concern. In the event of a rule violation, they may impose such sanctions, as they deem appropriate, including, without limitation, disqualification, forfeiture of prizes, entry fee, and prohibition from participation in subsequent tournaments. All Federal, State, and local laws must be obeyed and it is the contestant’s responsibility to know these laws.

1) Eligible participants. Participation in the C.C FJ Series is open to any one. There is no qualification to be registered on C.C. Children and grandkids are welcome and encouraged! Women folk too! (some of these guys could use the purtying up)

2) Alcohol and safety equipment. No alcohol may be consumed during or preceding tournament hours. Life jackets must be worn at all times while under way and on plane. All safety equipment required by law enforcement must be in the boat at all times.

3) Cancellation and Delay. In the case of extreme weather and/or water conditions, tournament officials reserve the right to postpone or cancel the event. In which case, all entry fees will be returned to the participants.

4) Tournament hours and ramps. Tournament fishing hours will be from 6:30 until 1:30 (7 hours of fishing time), although the actual start and stop time may vary slightly with the changing sunrise throughout the year. All participants will register at a designated ramp and are then free to proceed to their fishing locations and await the official “start fishing time”. Participants are allowed to trailer to alternative ramps as well. Participants must stop fishing at 1:30 (or the time designated) and be at the weigh in ramp no later than 2:00 (or the time designated) for the weigh in. Anyone arriving after 2:00 (or the designated time) will be disqualified.

5) Pre Tournament Inspection and Registration – Each team will register and pay the entry fee the morning of the tournament. Each team is responsible for having their coolers and livewells checked prior to launching or trailering to an alternate launch by one of the tournament officials, Sat, Torch, DonDon or Wannabe or our designees.

6) Practice – Pre-fishing or practice is allowed the day before any tournament, but is off limits from Midnight the night before until the official start time the day of the tournament.

7) Partners. – The only limit on the number of people allowed in each boat is that of the stated capacity of the boat. i. e. It is allowable to have 4 or more fishermen per boat in the case of a pontoon boat. It is allowable to fish by yourself.

8) Fishing Methods – Maximum pole limit is 10 poles unless the lake limit is less, such as Grenada where the maximum would be 6. This holds true even if more than 2 fishermen are in a boat. Live or artificial bait is allowed. In the case of a single man team, you are limited to the per person lake limit for that tournament, but not to exceed 10 in the case of Washington, which has no pole limit maximum. For a lake like Washington or Ross Barnett with no pole limit, a person fishing by themselves could fish 10 poles. On a COE lake, he's limited to 5 or 3 on Grenada.


9) Winners and Ties. Winning weights will be determined by the heaviest 7 fish of legal size. Hot Seat Provision – In order to avoid any ties, the first person to weigh in will be declared the leader in both total weight and big fish. The leader in both categories will be required to remain at the weigh in table with their fish until their weight in both categories is bettered by the next contestant. Fish do not have to be alive to be weighed.

10) Entry Fees. Entry fees will be $40 for each team plus $10 for big fish for each team., $5 of each team’s entry fee will be withheld from the payout for that tournament and carried forward to the Championship pot. Payouts for each FJ tournament will be 1 place for every 5 boats entered in each tournament. In the event of an odd number of boats, the entire entry fees for the odd boats will carry to the championship. (Example: 9 boats fish, 1 place will be paid and fees collected for 6th through 9th will go to the championship. 1st place in this example would pay $175 or 5 times $35 and $185 would go to the championship – 5 times $5 plus 4 times $40). The Championship payout will be 100% for 1st place.

11) Big Fish – Multiple fish (within reason) may be weighed to determine the largest among the allowed 7 presented at the weigh in. (Hot Seat Provision Applies) The big fish payout will be 100% to the single largest fish.

12) Pot Splitting – In the event of a team winning prize money or a big fish pot, any splitting of the prize money will be determined by that team at their discretion.

13) Tournament Series. Series will consist of 7 Tournaments and 1 Championship. Dates and Lakes were chosen by DonDon…if ya don’t like it, it’s his fault. Lakes will be Grenada, Enid, Sardis, Arkabutla, Washington and Ross Barnett. Dates will be chosen separately and the lake master (DonDon) will match the dates to each lake. The Championship lake will be chosen at a later date at the Lake Master’s discretion, but is not limited to the lakes we’ve already fished. Only areas open to the public and accessible by boat are allowed to be fished.

14) Championship qualification. To qualify for the championship, teams must fish at least 3 regular FJ tournaments. In the event that a person fishes with multiple partners and qualifies for the championship, that person can choose anyone that has fished at least one regular FJ to fish with them in the championship. In the event that a co-angler (non boat operator) fishes 3 regular season tournaments with other person, that co-angler also qualifies and can bring a boat and fish as an angler in the championship, however, that person’s partner (if he chooses one) would also have to have fished 1 regular FJ. Regular entry fees of $40 per boat plus an optional big fish pot of $10 will apply to the championship.

15) Tournament Officials will be the following:

Lake Master – DonDon (yeah, I know, but nobody else would do it) he will be responsible for picking the lake we fish for each tournament and the dates. In addition, it is his call to delay or reschedule the tournament due to inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances.

Weighmaster – Satdoc – He will be responsible for certifying the weights at each tournament. He is allowed to designate anyone he sees fit to help with the weigh in. In the event that he can’t be at a tournament, he will designate a substitute prior to it. In the event of a tied weight, the winner will be chosen by the single largest fish in the 7 fish limit, second largest and so on.

Tournament Director – Me….Wannabe – I will keep up with the official weights, records and hold the dollars.

Grand Poobah and Blue Paper Towel Quality Inspector – Torch – He will be responsible for keeping the official time, setting the time to be back for weigh in and assessing any late penalties. In addition, should any dispute arise, whatever ruling he hands down will stand with no appeal. In other words, whatever he says goes. In the event that he can not be there, he will designate a replacement prior to the tournament.

Wannabe Fan Club President and Official Cheerleader – CN - No Speck, you don’t qualify even though you have the outfit already.

Here's the highlights of the new stuff. Any questions, please start a new thread.

- Livewell check required, it's your own responsibilty

- Fish 3 to qualify for championship.

- Championship partners must have fished at least one regular FJ in some capacity.

- Everybody pays to enter the championship ie no waiver for placing during the year.

- "Hot Seat Provision" during weigh in - ie leaders must remain with fish at the weigh table until their weight is bettered.

- Weighing multiple fish of the 7 presented to determine biggest fish is allowed, within reason.