LANIER STRIPER CLUB RULES
1. Sportsmanship – Honesty and Sportsmanship are the cornerstones of a fair tournament. Tournament partcipants’s will always abide by the tournament rules and conduct themselves in an honest, sportsmanlike manner or risk disqualification.
2. Eligibility to Participate – Tournament participants and Captains must be Members in good standing, and their club membership dues must be current at the time of participation in the tournament to earn points as noted herein.
a. Members whose memberships have lapsed or those not current with the payment of their membership dues at the time of participation in tournaments may not qualify retroactively with respect to earning points or innings for tournaments fished while their membership lapsed or while dues were not current. It is the responsibility of the members to be aware of the status of their membership dues.
b. Members who have violated tournament rules by exhibiting behavior inconsistent with honesty and sportsmanship in the LSC, or in any other fishing tournament, shall be barred from future participation in club tournaments for a period to be determined, on a case-by-case basis, by the voting membership or in accordance with LSC Bylaws. Any member barred pursuant to this section shall forfeit all points and standings for the current season in progress.
c. To fish in club tournaments, appropriate tournament entry fees for each Boat/Team must be paid in advance of the tournament.
d. All team members fishing in the tournament must have a valid fishing license.
e. Tournament Dates – Club tournaments will begin on the date and at the time designated by the Tournament Director and approved by the Club membership.
3. Conduct of Boats – Boats operating in an unsafe manner may be disqualified.
a. All boats participating in the tournament will be required to have completely functional and legal functioning light systems and be equipped with appropriate USCG approved safety equipment.
b. Each Captain will be allowed as many people in his or her boat as he or she wishes provided the capacity of their boat is not exceeded and safe operation is not compromised.
c. Life jackets should be worn by all aboard a tournament vessel whenever it is moving faster than idle speed.
d. A participating boat shall maintain a distance of no closer than 50 feet or make physical contact of any kind with another boat, without the consent of all participants involved. Boats shall not act in such a way as to interfere with the effort of any competing boat.
e. Boats may launch in any area of the lake for the tournament.
4. Fishing – All legal Fishing requirements and limits shall remain in effect before, during, and after the tournament. It is the responsibility of the Team participants to know those legal responsibilities and limits. To violate these limits shall result in disqualification of the entire Boat/Team from the tournament. To violate any Federal, State, or other local or County Law during the tournament disqualifies the Boat/Team in question for that Tournament. Upon disqualification, all entry fees paid by the Boat/Team are then forfeited.
a. Each Boat/Team will appoint a Captain of their Team. The Team members may vary from Tournament to Tournament.
b. The Weigh-in location and method will be determined by the Tournament Director.
c. All tournament fishing will be from boats.
d. Only the following species will be eligible for weigh-in in any club, open or special Tournament: Striped Bass, Hybrid Striped Bass, White Bass. The only exception to this rule is for the optional Big Spot Pot that only includes the species Spotted Bass and Large Mouth Bass.
e. Any tournament within a tournament or contest will be held at the discretion of the Tournament Director. These tournaments or contests may only be entered by any Boat/Team in compliance with the General Rules. The results of the overall larger tournament will be used to award points in the club tournament. Members may vary from club tournament rules only to the degree to which they conflict with the rules of the overall tournament.
f. Anglers may not utilize the paid services of a professional guide nor fish from a paid guide’s boat. A paid guide shall mean a professional guide who is being paid by a member or other person to be part of a team’s crew in any tournament. It shall not mean a professional guide who is unpaid or a club member that is a professional guide. Members who are guides may submit fish caught while guiding.
g. Fish must be caught during the active hours of the tournament.
5. Tournament Entry Fees – Tournament entry fees will be as follows, unless amended by the Tournament Director, President, and Vice President:
a. Tournament fees per boat - $35; this includes a Big Fish pot of $7 and a Spot Pot of $3.
b. When a fishing app is not the designated weigh-in method for a given tournament all tournament entry fees must be paid prior to the Start Time. An exception to this rule can be made by the tournament Director if a team has made payment arrangements with the director prior to the start time of the tournament.
c. $5 dollars of the total $25 tournament fee will be collected to be included at the end of the year participation incentive as described below.
6. End of the Year Participation Incentive – Each paid fishing team that enters eight or more tournaments during the tournament year (May-April) will receive one raffle ticket for a Hammonds Gift Card equal to the amount collected throughout that current tournament year. If you would like to be eligible for the raffle; the tournament fee structure will be:
a. $35 tournament fee ($5 will be saved for the end of the year raffle, the remaining $20 will be split per exisƟng rules…1st, 2nd, 3rd)
b. $7 Big Fish (included as part of the tournament fee)
c. $3 Spot Pot (included as part of the tournament fee)
d. A TEAM DOES NOT NEED TO PLACE IN A TOURNAMENT TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE GIFT CARD DRAWING BUT MUST PAY THE $35 TOURNAMENT FEE AND PARTICIPATE.
7. Tournament Start Times – The Tournament Director is the keeper of the designated Start and Weigh-In times for the tournament. It is the responsibility of every participant to check how the director’s time is set. The standard is network time based on the time displayed on Cellular telephones. When an app is used for measuring and submitting fish, the time displayed in the app will be used to determine the time.
a. All tournaments shall have a given start time and a final weigh-In time, which will be given in advance of the tournament even if only just before the tournament. Start time means no lines in the water until after the start time is reached.
8. Weigh-In – “Weigh-In” shall be defined to include “measurement” in tournaments for which a fish is submitted by physical measurement. The location and method of the weigh-in will be designated by the Tournament Director. To encourage catch-and-release fishing and to help the lake’s fishing population, the actual weigh-in process will be a virtual weigh-in using pictures to show the total length of the fish.
a. A team member must bring clear pictures of the fish to the weigh-in location or submit photographs electronically to earn points or place in the tournament. The use of an approved app to submit photographs of fish shall be used when designated as the method of virtual weigh-in. The sum of the length of the two pictures presented to the Tournament Director is counted as the total tournament length for the team.
b. When an app is not used as the designated method to submit fish, a unique tournament code will be provided to all the teams fishing the tournament just prior to the start of the tournament. Typically, the director will send a text out to the team captains with the monthly tournament’s code. If a team does not receive the code prior to the start of the tournament, they can call the Tournament Director to get the code. This code must be included and must be visible in each of the fish pictures presented for weigh-in for the measurement to be eligible.
c. To avoid discrepancies, all participants are expected to arrive at the weigh-in location prior to the weigh-in time to ensure their pictures are available to the Tournament Director. If a team arrives late to the weigh-in location, they forfeit their ability to present their pictures for weigh-in.
d. All electronic submissions must be received by the Tournament Director by the designated tournament end time. Submissions received after the designated tournament end time shall not be counted.
e. In the event of an emergency (mechanical break-down, accident, etc.) it may be acceptable for a team to send in their weigh-in pictures electronically by contacting the Tournament Director prior to the weigh-in time. This exception is at the discretion of the Tournament Director and will typically be limited to 1 or 2 instances per team each year.
f. Submitted fish must be alive, and not mangled, mashed, mauled, or otherwise altered. Fish that exhibit signs that are inconsistent with a live catch at the time of submission may be disqualified by the Tournament Director.
g. If a picture is used by a team to secure a winning placement in the monthly tournament, that picture must be submitted to the Tournament Director for posting on the club’s web page. These pictures include both pictures used to win a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place position in the tournament plus the big fish and big spot pictures. These pictures can be submitted to the Tournament Director via text, email, or other forms of electronic transfer. The Tournament Director requests that the pictures be submitted within 24 hours of the weigh-in so the tournament results can be promptly posted to the club web page. The tournament payouts at the following monthly club meeting will not be distributed to a team if their pictures have not yet been submitted.
9. Measuring Fish – All fish are measured for the tournament using pictures that are presented to the Tournament Director via the designated weigh-in method (No pictures – no points). The pictures must conform to the rules outlined below:
a. All fish to be measured for this event must be measured on an approved measuring board. It is recommended that the measuring board be at least 38” long. If your board is too short for the fish, please show the additional length with a tape measure.
b. The approved measuring board is the Check-It Stick.
c. All fish will be measured in the same manner. The nose of the fish must be touching the front of the board at the 0” mark.
d. The mouth of the fish may be either open or closed.
e. Measurements are calculated by noting the last ¼” tick mark on the board that the tip of the tail fully touches or crosses when the nose of the fish is touching the bump stop at the 0” mark. If the tip is between two adjacent ¼” tick marks, the measurement will be rounded down to the nearest ¼ of an inch.
f. The angler will not use a towel to hold the fish to the measuring board.
g. A lip gripping device, hands, fingers, or other methods will not be used to grip the fish by the mouth or lip during measuring.
h. A picture of the fish, including the tournament number if used, must be clearly visible and show the entire fish. Specifically, the lip of the fish touching the bump stop and the tail of the fish touching the final measurement mark shall be clearly visible in the photograph. It is suggested that the tip of the tail be on the measuring board to reduce errors due to extrapolation.
i. It is the team captain’s responsibility to ensure the picture is clear and that it meets all the requirements above.
j. A team may catch and measure as many fish as possible; however, overall tournament results will be determined based on the combined total length of a team’s two longest fish.
k. The submission of all fish caught is suggested to provide a fallback position in the event a submission is later disqualified and for survey purposes.
l. If two or more fish measuring to the same ¼ inch are contending for the Big Fish award, the fish will be deemed to be tied, and the Big Fish Pot will be split evenly according to the number of contesting fish deemed to be tied. The same process will be applied in the case of the overall total length measured.
m. If two or more teams submit two fish with identical total lengths in a single tournament, the team with the largest of the submitted fish shall place ahead of the other team(s). If only one fish of equal length is submitted by each team, the teams shall be deemed to be tied for that tournament.
10. Tournament Payouts – Payouts will be made to the Captain of the team/boat. The Captain may then distribute Payout funds (at his or her discretion) to other crew members. The number of places paid out, and the distribution of the tournament pot is determined by the number of boats entered in the tournament as described below:
a. 1 to 5 Boats - 1st place 100% of tournament Pot
b. 6 to 10 Boats - 1st place 60% of tournament Pot, 2nd place 40% of tournament Pot
c. 11 to 20 Boats - 1st place 50% of tournament Pot, 2nd place 30% of tournament Pot, 3rd place 20% of tournament Pot
d. More than 20 Boats - 1st place 48% of tournament Pot, 2nd place 27% of tournament Pot, 3rd place 15% of tournament Pot, 4th place 10% of tournament Pot
e. Tournament Big Fish: 100% of the tournament Big Fish Pot.
f. Tournament Spot Pot: 100% of the Spot Pot.
11. Team of the Year Point Race – The Point Race is an accumulation of team points earned through tournament competition and meeting activities for the complete club year that runs from May through April. The points race is used to award the team with the most accumulated points at the end of the club year with the “Team of the Year” status. Points are earned each month as defined below:
a. 5 (five) - Participation points are earned for each team that fishes in the monthly club tournament.
b. 1 (one) – Weigh-in point is earned for each inch of a team’s two fish weigh-in total for the monthly club tournament, measured to the quarter-inch in accordance with the measuring rules. (Note: Only the ten best monthly weigh-in point scores are summed to calculate Team of the Year Standings).
c. 10 (ten) – Big Fish points are earned for the team winning the Big Fish pot in the monthly tournament. In the event of a tie for Big Fish, the points shall be assigned to the team with the next-largest submitted qualifying fish. If none of the tied teams have a second fish, the points will be distributed equally.
d. 5 (five) – Points are earned by each team that fishes in a monthly tournament and submits the results of their catch to the Georgia DNR through their Striper Survey. Teams must actually fish in the tournament and complete the survey by the close of the monthly meeting immediately following the tournament. Teams that do not catch fish are eligible for points upon completion of the survey. Survey completion will be verified by a designated club member and submitted to the tournament director each month for the determination of points awarded.
e. 10 (ten) - Meeting points are earned for each team that has one or more team members in attendance at the preceding monthly club meeting. (Note: a team can earn meeting points in any month even if they do not fish in the tournament. (Also, be sure to sign into the Tournament Directors “Team Sign-Up Sheet” to be awarded the meeting points even if your team is not fishing).
12. Non-Boater Program – In the interest of helping promote the LSC tournament participation and to help LSC members who are new to striper fishing, the club runs a non-boater program that is integrated into the club's monthly tournaments. Non-boaters are placed on a team’s boat to fish during the monthly club tournament. Through participation in this program, the non-boater has the opportunity to learn fishing techniques, boat rigging techniques, sonar reading techniques, etc. all while participating in the tournament experience. The non-boater program is also a great way to get to know other club members and start to build a network of fishing “friends.”
a. An eligible non-boater is a Lanier Striper Club member in good standings who is within his first year of tournament participation. A member can sign up to be a non-boater at the monthly club meeting by talking to the Tournament Director, who has a non-boater signup sheet. It is expected that a non-boater will help cover the team's cost for the tournament (bait, gas, etc.). The team captain will work out these details directly with the non-boater on an individual basis.
b. The Tournament Director will ask for volunteers from the teams participating in the monthly tournament to take out any non-boaters who have signed up for the tournament.
13. Cancellation and Adjustment of Tournament Hours - Cancellations will be decided jointly by the President, Vice President, and the Tournament Director.
a. If a tournament must be canceled, even at the last minute or during a tournament in progress due to dangerous weather or other hazards, Members should check their email or texts and look for a message from the Tournament Director.
b. Based on dangerous weather conditions or other hazards, the Tournament Director may elect to adjust the hours or the day of the tournament. Members will be notified as stipulated in the section regarding cancellations.
14. Appeal Process - Members may appeal violations of tournament rules or disqualified fish submissions by informing the Tournament Director within 24 hours of the close of a tournament in which a violation has been called. The Tournament Director will then notify the president and vice president, and together, with consultation with the appealing member, render a final, binding determination as to the suitability of the violation.
a. Complaints and appeals – Complaints related to the tournament results will be made to and decided by a committee consisting of the Club President, Vice President, and the Tournament Director. All decisions are considered final.