Rules/Bylaws

July 12, 2008
Killens Pond
5:30AM Show Time
6AM-NOON

Last updated: 07/07/08

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Rules subject to change, if you have any suggestions please visit our message board.

2008 Bylaws, rules not final and still being drafted.
Article I. Membership
Section 1.01 Club Dues
(a) Club dues is $15
(b) Club dues can be paid at first tournament, guest fishing with the club to earn membership will be responsible for paying member dues at there first tournament after receiving a vote in.
Section 1.02 Earning Membership
(a) Membership is obtained by fishing as a guest at least once as a nonboater (fishing in a members boat) or allowing a member to fish in your boat and receiving a majority vote in by current members, once voted in the member will receive any points earned by fishing as a guest.
(b) Depending on the boater/nonboater ratio in the club (club shall remain at least 60% boaters) nonboaters may not be considered for membership.
(c) To contact us about membership please use the message boards.
Section 1.03 Maintaing Membership
(a) Obey the Dover Bass Club Code of Conduct
(b) Members should attend scheduled tournaments as your schedule permits. Members are required to attend a minimum of 10 tournaments during the scheduled tournament year or risk forfeiting their membership for the year. Members should also participate in tournaments they have signed up for, failure to come to a tournament signed up for without notifying the club by 3 PM the day before the tournament will result in a 5 point penalty deducted off of the members total season points.
(c) Nonactive membership may be offered to Dover Bass Club members who cannot compete in 10 tournaments due to an unavoidable situation that prevents them from fishing (such as a health issue). Nonactive members must still pay member dues and may only remain in nonactive status for one season. Abuse of this system will result in forfeiting membership.
Section 1.04 Membership Benefits
(a) Entitled to end of season awards
(b) List of members shall be posted on the members page.
(c) Help change club rules including: lakes fished, tournament dates, and points structure.
(d) All members are guaranteed an open spot in all tournaments, no nonmember/guest will take the place of a member.
Section 1.05 Code of conduct
(a) Exercise good conduct during tournaments.
(b) Obey all rules to Dover Bass Club, along with all local and lake laws during tournaments
(c) Boaters must allow nonboaters an opportunity to fish in their boat and should reasonably consider the nonboater’s suggestions for places to fish on the lake (if the nonboater knows a good spot on the lake it helps both the boater and the nonboater!).
(d) Prefishing is not allowed from the day before a tournament to tournament start.
(e) Any action that does not break a specific rule can be addressed by our catch all rule: "There shall be no actions detrimental to the sport of bass fishing."
Section 1.06 Revoking Membership
(a) Club members vote weather to remove a member form the club for the following reasons:
1) violation of any rule to the club
2) representing the club in a negative way
3) posting anything inappropriate or offensive in the message board
(b) Club dues will not be refunded to an angler who has had their membership revoked.
Section 1.07 There are no formal club meetings, all business will be conducted on the Message Boards.
Article II. Tournament Rules
Section 2.01 Lakes Fished
(a) Lakes must be within a 45 min drive from Dover, DE.
(i) No official events shall be held at lakes with boat limitations that prevent any member from being a boater.
(b) Lakes will be chosen by club members.
(c) In the event that something prevents the club from fishing a tournament, then another lake/date will be chosen that is agreed upon.
(d) The club may hold exhibition tournaments that reward no points and do not include the same rules for points events with the exception of the code of conduct.
Section 2.02 Tournament Process
(a) Tournament Director
(i) This member will be in charge of a sign in roster to keep track of who is fishing and tournament fees. All livewells will also be checked prior to start.
(ii) Controls the weight in.
(b) Show time for tournaments is 30 minutes prior to start time. If member shows up late they must find the tournament director on the lake to pay the tournament fee and livewell check.
(c) Minimum of 6 anglers will qualify as an event; max 20.
(d) Tournament length will vary from 4 1/2 hours to 6 hours.
(e) Tournament will begin at the scheduled start time regardless if boat launching is delayed.
(f) All anglers must be at boat ramp at completion time. Five minute leeway is given but only if angler is visible from the ramp and not fishing. Violation of this rule will result in a 4 ounce penalty per minute until the boater is visible from the ramp and not fishing, if the angler did not catch a fish the penalty will be 1 point per minute; this penalty applies to all anglers on board the boat and will be deducted from final season points.
(i) If angler cannot stay they can be excused with no penalty. If this occurs then angler must find tournament director or club president on the lake to log the weight. The angler who leaves early will still compete against the other anglers and any awards will be presented at the next tournament.
Section 2.03 Guest
(a) Guest may fish with the club as a space available basis only, they will compete for tournament awards.
(b) Guest tournament fees are $10, with the lunker pot included into the fee. 100% of all fees collected by guest will be added into the tournament pay out and lunker award.
(c) Nonboater guest may fish with the member who brought them, guest who are boaters must allow a nonboater to boat with them if space is needed.
(d) Guest must obey the Dover Bass Club code of conduct or risk banning from future events.
Article III. Fish Limit
(a) Only the Panfish family of Bass will be counted, limit is three. Total weight of catch will determine where you place in the event. All bass must be caught within the start and complete time.
(b) Dead fish will have a 4 ounce penalty.
(c) Only 3 fish will be allowed to weight in.
(d) Tie Breakers
(i) If anglers have the same combined weight of bass then the angler with the largest fish will assume the highest position. Next tie breaker will be length of fish.
(e) If anglers do not have bass to weigh in then 5 points will be given.
(f) In the event that no one catches a fish then the awards pot will be added to the next event.
(g) Awards will not be given to those who do not catch a fish, if 1st place is the only position that has a fish for weigh in then the full tournament awards will be presented to that angler.
Article IV. Fishing Rules
(a) Bank fishing and boat fishing allowed, however angler must have a system in place to keep fish alive, i.e. livewell or stringer.
(b) Maximum of two anglers per boat unless waived by the boater.
(c) Members who are nonboaters must randomly draw names/numbers to determine who they will boat with. This excludes any family members who are both club members, in which case family is allowed to boat with each other with out need for a random draw.
(d) Only one line in water per angler. Does not include line/lures from hanging rods off the side of boat for storage purposes.
(e) No trolling for fish: defined as the intent of catching a fish by using the motion of the boat.
(f) No live bait: Berkley Gulp and other similar type worms, pork trailers, and natural scent are allowed.
(g) There shall be no actions detrimental to the sport of bass fishing.
(h) Penalty for any infraction above result in disqualification. Any other violation with out a clear penalty in the rule book will be decided by the tournament director/asst director & club president. Basic penalty is 4 ounce subtraction from total weight or points deducted from total season standings.
Article V. Tournament Fees and Awards
Section 5.01 Fees
(a) Tournament fees are $5 per tournament
(b) Voluntary lunker pot of $1 per angler will be collected and 100% goes back out to the participant who catches the largest bass.
Section 5.02 Fee Disbursement
(a) 80% of all fees collected will go toward the tournament awards pot.
(b) 20% of fees will go toward end of season awards pot.
Section 5.03 Tournament awards
(a) 1st place 50% from tournament awards pot.
(b) 2nd place 30% (rounded to the nearest dollar) from tournament awards pot
(c) 3rd place 20% (rounded to the nearest dollar) from tournament awards pot
(d) Additional awards may be given out but is not guaranteed.
Article VI. Point System
Section 6.01 5 bonus points given for largest bass
1^st place: 75 pts
2^nd :70
3^rd: 65
4^th: 60
5^th: 55
6^th: 51
7^th: 47
8^th: 43
9^th: 39
10^th: 35
11^th: 32
12^th: 29
13^th: 26
14^th: 23
15^th: 20
16^th: 18
17^th: 16
18^th: 14
19^th: 12
20^th: 10
Article VII. Article V. Season Awards
(a) A members best 10 tournaments are used for total points.
(b) Awards payout percentages are the same as tournament awards but from the end of season awards pot.
(c) Award will be given to the angler who catches the largest fish of the points season.
Article VIII. Club Treasury
(a) Member dues will be added to the club treasury
(b) May pay for web site, scale, and/or any item needed by the club to function. Any extra funds will be used to buy awards.
Article IX. Rule changes and amendments
(a) Rules can be changed or amended by club officers with support of club members. Dover Bass Club message boards are the best place to recommend rule changes or amendments.

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