Team Bass

Rules 2023

Join Team Bass for the most exciting Bass Tournaments in East Texas.

  1. All protest should be taken to the tournament director before the weigh in line closes. All videos are welcome.
  2. The AOY will be the first boat to take off at each tournament.
  3. The AOY for the 2024 season will get to fish the 2025 season for free.
  4. Off limits will be Monday before the tournament. Official practice days will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, ONLY if you are preregistered for the tournament.
  5. Polygraphs will be administered for each division in 2024.
  6. Any member under the age of 16 must have their parent or legal guardians signature. 16 and under can fish for free in the individual and no membership dues are required.
  7. A team will consist of 1 or 2 anglers per boat. Only registered anglers may be in the boat during official tournament hours. A angler can fish alone as a single person team. Individual consist of one angler unless youths are fishing 16 years and below. Anglers can help youth land their fish. Youth cannot help angler on netting or landing fish.
  8. One substitution will be allowed during regular Team Bass events. There are no substitutions for the championship
  9. Championship tournaments will be 2 day tournaments. Championship lakes will be drawn at the last regular season tournament. The championship lakes will be 2 of the 3 regular lakes we fish for the season. Saturday will be the first lake drawn and Sunday will be the second lake drawn (Will not fish the same lake both days). Individual Championship will be drawn at the last individual tournament. Championship OFF Limits will be Monday through Wednesday. Official practice will be the Thursday and Friday before the tournament.
  10. Team Bass reserves the right to refuse any membership or tournament entry fees or entry forms for any reason.
  11. Team Bass entry fees: $206 online with convenience fee included(you can register online without making payment for 2024) or $200 at ramp with $20 of entry each entry going toward Big Bass.
  12. Individual entry fees: $124 online with convenience fee included (you can register online without making payment for 2024) or $120 at ramp with $20 of each entry fee going toward Big Bass.
  13. Championship entry fees will be the same for both divisions.
  14. Annual membership fee of $35 is required for all anglers.
  15. Team Bass will pay 1 place for every 5 places.
  16. Angler of the year will be the first boat out each tournament for the next season.
  17. Boat numbers will be drawn the evening before tournament for all preregistered entries.
  18. To qualify for the championship for Team division you must fish 4 of the 5 regular season tournaments or be in the top 50% in points in your division.
  19. To qualify for the championship for the individual division you must fish 4 of the 5 regular season tournaments or be in the top 50% in points.
  20. All tournament winners will be subject to a polygraph exam prior to prizes and points being distributed at each event. The tournament director reserves the right to waive any violation of these rules that are disclosed to him before the polygraph exam, in his sole and absolute discretion.
  21. Membership fees will go towards polygraphs and equipment. Any protest that is submitted will go to a polygraph. The angler that is protesting will be liable for the cost of the polygraph if the angler he is protesting passes.
  22. All live wells will be checked the morning of the tournament before you launch your boat.

Registration, Tournament Hours

  1. Credit card will be available online at any time. Cash only will be accepted on site.
  2. On-site registration will be available the morning of the event.
  3. Each team must register or check-in, in person at the designated site. A completed and signed entry form must be received before the start of the first tournament.
  4. Trailering is not allowed. All boats must leave the official check point by boat in the designated order designated at registration. Anglers may launch their boat at a ramp other than the designated take off location, but all anglers must come through the official weigh in location before leaving to fish. In the event of severe weather alternative take off instructions will be given at the registration site, at the sole discretion of the tournament director.
  5. Boat stalls, slips or beaching of boats is allowed the night before the tournament.
  6. Tournament hours will be sent out.
  7. It is the angler’s responsibility to get the official times from the tournament director.
  8. Only artificial baits may be used. No live bait or cut bait is allowed. Pork baits and Alabama rigs will be permitted.
  9. All bass must be caught alive and in a sporting manner. No intentional snagging. All bedding fish must be caught inside the mouth.
  10. Each angler may only use 1 rod at a time. No more than 1 line in the water at a time per angler.
  11. All fishing must be done from the boat. At no time may a angler leave his boat to retrieve a fish.
  12. Trolling with the combustion engine is not permitted.
  13. Anglers may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” or by local, state or federal officials.

Limits, Weigh in, Safe boating

  1. A limit of 5 bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth, Guadalupe, and spotted ) may be weighed in per team.
  2. No team may have no more than 5 bass in the livewell.
  3. Individual may have no more than 5 bass in the livewell.
  4. All fish must be a minimum of 14 inches unless on a slot lake short fish presented for weigh in will result in the loss of that particular fish.
  5. There will be a .50 penalty for each dead fish presented at weigh in. Culling of dead fish is prohibited.
  6. To count for Big Bass, your Big Bass must be alive. If it is dead it will not be counted as Big Bass.
  7. Weigh in will be at the official registration site and at the appointed time.
  8. The scales will be open before weigh in times for the purpose of keeping fish alive (call to check if scales are available before coming). If weighing in early, a team can only have up to the culling limit for the remainder of the tournament. The remaining culling limit is decreased by the number of fish weighed in early.
  9. Any team checking in after their appointed time will forfeit that days catch.
  10. All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation.
  11. Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each angler is required to wear a fastened (fully zipped and or all clasps fastened) U.S. coast Guard approved personal flotation device at any time the boat is above idle.
  12. Ramps may be changed and tournament hours may be shortened or cancelled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the anglers. This is at the sole discretion of the tournament director.
  13. In case of inclement weather it will be the anglers decision to stay and fish or seek shelter and or leave. Once the tournament fees are paid and the tournament has begun there will be no refunds for any reason.

Angler Of The Year

  1. Yearly point standings will be determined by a point, place and pound system.
  2. The team or individual that accumulates the greatest amount of points for the entire season will be declared “ Anglers Of The Year”. The AOY will be comp’d entry fees for the upcoming season.

Communication, Alcohol,
Laws

  1. Mobile communication devices are encouraged for safety reasons but their use is prohibited during tournament hours for the purpose of finding or locating fish.
  2. Consumption of alcohol or any non prescribed drug is prohibited during tournament hours.
  3. All boat operators must comply with the laws of the State Of Texas, for a complete list of laws please visit :
    http://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/boat/laws/pwc/

Media Disclaimer

  1. Team Bass, has the irrevocable right and permission to use photographs and or video recordings of tournament anglers on Youtube.com and other websites, as well as in publications, promotional flyers, or any other similar purpose without compensation.
  2. Photographs and/or video recordings of anglers may be placed on the internet. Anglers may be identified by name and /or title in printed , internet or broadcast information that might accompany the photographs and/or video recordings. All anglers waive their right to approve the final product. All such portraits, pictures, photographs, video and audio recordings ,and any reproductions thereof, and all plates, negatives, recording tape and digital files are and shall remain the property of Team Bass.
  3. Tournament anglers hereby release, acquit and forever discharge Team Bass, its owner and employees from any and all claims, demands, rights, promises, damages and liabilities arising out of or in connection with the distribution of said photographs and/or video recordings, including but not limited to any claims for invasion of privacy, appropriation of likeness or defamation.
  4. Protest must be made in writing before the official closing of the scales at each tournament.
  5. Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Director.
  6. All participants expressly assume all risk(s) associated with each tournament event and hereby release, indemnify and hold harmless Team Bass, the host, all sponsors and Tournament Directors from all claims orinjury and/or damage arising out of, or related to and/or incurred in connection with any Team Bass sponsored event.

Contact Us

Tournament director: Michael Sparks
Phone: 432-634-0151
Facebook: Team Bass
Web: https://teambass23.com

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