Century BASS Club BY-LAWS

CENTURY BASS CLUB TOURNAMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS (2025)

1 RULE CHANGES: 

1.1 Great effort, study and research have gone into the formulation of these rules. The tournament rules and regulations will remain unchanged, except as provided for in the Club by-laws, and interpretation of these rules shall rest exclusively with the Officers and the Board of Directors. 

1.2 Rule changes will be voted on by the membership only once a year at the regular, October meeting. Any changes will go into effect November 1st of current year. 

1.3 The decision of the Board of Directors shall be final in all tournament matters. 

2 PARTICIPANTS AND ELIGIBILITY: 

2.1 Participation in the tournament is open only to the members and guests of the Century Bass Club. 

2.2 Each member desiring to enter the tournament must have notified the Tournament Treasurer at or before the Club meeting immediately prior to the tournament. 

2.3 Each member will be allowed to bring One (1) guest per tournament. A person wishing to fish as a guest may only fish One (1) tournament as a guest per year. The guest must pay the entrance fee, will be entered as a non-boater and may participate in the payoff, if he qualifies. Guest are excluded from the 5lb Even Pot.

2.4 The sixty dollar ($60.00) entry fee must be paid in cash only, no checks please. 

2.5 Once the drawing of partners has started, there shall be no refund of entry fee, except in case of emergency; Board of Directors will approve or disapprove the refund. If a pairing mistake happens after the draw has been announced the error will be corrected by moving a non-boater to the first alternate spot and if needed the boater to the last spot. 

2.6 The $60.00 entry fee will include ($10.00) for Big Bass/Heavy Boat Pot and $2 for 5lb Even Pot. 

2.7 Paid guides may not fish a tournament that they have guided on tournament waters within the last 30 days prior to a Century tournament. NO EXCEPTIONS!! 

2.8 A boater or non-boater not showing up for the tournament, either Saturday or Sunday, without contacting a member or their partner will be fined One Hundred (100) points after drops on their first violation and on their second no-show will be dismissed from Century Bass Club. The officers and directors will meet and make the final decisions on any questionable no-show. 

2.9 The boater or non-boater affected by a no-show will be given the option to fish the tournament or to have his entry fee transferred to the next tournament. If the no-show occurs at the last tournament, the entry will be refunded, if requested. If a refund is granted the person receiving the refund will not be able to fish the tournament. 

2.10 The no-show will not have his entry fee refunded or transferred to the next tournament. The Board of Directors will make the final decision.

2.11 No member may pay the entry fee with the intent of not fishing the tournament in order to receive Fifty (50) points. 

2.12 Any member who gets Two (2) new members to join the club and have paid their dues will receive free entry into one tournament. Both members must join during the same tournament season. 

3 PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE 

3.1 TWO DAY TOURNAMENTS: The tournament waters shall be off limits to all tournament participants starting at midnight of the Sunday prior to the first day of the 2-day tournament, unless Monday is a National Holiday. If this is the case, pre-fishing will cease at Midnight on the Monday prior to the first day of the tournament. For regular season 2-day tournaments, the Friday preceding the first day of the tournament will be a practice day. Friday practice hours will start one hour before sunrise and end no later than 30 minutes after sunset. 

3.2 ONE DAY TOURNAMENTS: The tournament waters shall be off limits to all tournament participants starting at midnight of the Sunday prior to the first day of pre-fishing on Saturday, unless Monday is a National Holiday. If this is the case, pre-fishing will cease at Midnight on the Monday prior to the first day of the tournament. Saturday practice hours will start one hour before sunrise and end no later than 30 minutes after sunset. 

3.3 NIGHT TOURNAMENTS: Overnight tournaments are permitted but not required. If a lake is selected for a night tournament it must be within 100 miles of the center of Dallas. 

4 SPORTSMANSHIP: 

4.1 Participants in Century Bass Club tournaments are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. 

4.2 Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principals may be deemed cause for loss of day’s weight and review by the board of directors. Temperance in the use of alcoholic beverages is expected. 

4.3 Maximum courtesy will be expected at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of non-participants. Any act of a participant, which reflects unfavorably upon Century Bass Club, shall be reason for review by the board of directors. 

4.4 This includes following all Coast Guard, Federal, State and local laws and includes specific waterway requirements.

5 TACKLE / EQUIPMENT / METHOD OF FISHING: 

5.1 Only artificial lures may be used. No “live bait” or “prepared bait” will be permitted, with the exception of pork rinds, strips, etc. 

5.2 Only One (1) casting, spin casting or spinning rod and reel may be used at a time. All other types are prohibited. Other rigged rods may be in the boat ready for use; however, only One (1) is permitted in use at any given time. 

5.3 All bass must be caught live and in conventional sporting manner. 

5.4 “TROLLING” with the gas motor is prohibited. 

6 BOAT AND MOTOR:

6.1 Fishing boats may be used that are 16’ or longer. No barges or similar watercraft will be permitted. 6.2 There is no horse power limitation; however horsepower may not exceed Coast Guard rating. An electric trolling motor may be used for slow maneuvering.

6.3 All boats must meet all Coast Guard, Federal, State, and local standards, and must be equipped with a working aerated live well and an operational Kill Switch. 

6.4 All participants must wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket and the driver must have the kill switch attached anytime the gas motor is running excluding loading, unloading and emergencies. 

6.5 Participants may use their own boat and motor if allowed under these rules. A participant not having or bringing a qualified boat will be paired with someone who does. 

7 BOAT OPERATION AND EXPENSE: 

7.1 A full discussion must be held between the boater and non-boater prior to departure as to the schedule of fishing waters. Each contestant shall retain the right to select the fishing waters for one half of the tournament day, including travel time. 

7.2 Any contestant operating the boat handicapping his partner shall be considered to be acting in an un-sportsman manner and may have his weight zeroed for the day and be subject to review by the Board of Directors. 

7.3 In view of the large expense involved in operating, cleaning, and maintaining a tournament bass boat, it will be the responsibility of the non-boater to pay the boater the minimum sum of Twenty (20) dollars a day for each day he fishes. 

8 PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS:

8.1 Fishing on the tournament waters is permitted anywhere except: A) within Fifty (50) yards of another participant's boat, which is anchored and has the trolling motor in the up and stowed position B) within Fifty (50) yards of the first days fish release site on the second day of a two day tournament C) Marked no access areas or D) Areas designated by the Tournament Director. 

8.2 No participant shall permit selected competitors to fish within Fifty (50) yards claimed by him to the exclusion of any other competitor. 

9 OFFICIAL CHECKPOINT: 

9.1 There shall be only one official point for check-out/take off in the morning and check-in, in the evening. 

9.2 The Tournament Director at the Century Bass Club meeting prior to the tournament shall designate this point. At the time of checkout, all participants and their boats shall be in full compliance with all rules set forth by Coast Guard, Federal, State law, and Local standards and laws. 

10 TRAILERING OF BOATS: 

10.1 The tournament director must be informed prior to the start of the tournament of the intent to trailer, and the tournament director must approve the selected ramp for use. Only public ramps are allowed for approval.

10.2 Trailering boats may leave the designated tournament headquarters/ramp at the launch of the first boat. Trailering boats must return to the official ramp by trailer for weigh-in or may return and relaunch at the official ramp prior to weigh-in. Boats and trailers must be at the official ramp at the end of tournament hours.

11 SCORING AND PERMITTED FISH:

11.1 All the entries not weighing fish will be awarded Fifty (50) points on the basis of their participation in the tournament. Any participant finishing with a negative total weight will receive the Fifty (50) participation points only. 

11.2 One hundred (100) points will be awarded to first place. Ninety-nine (99) to second (2) place, and so on, until all points are awarded. 

11.3 The individual with the highest amount of points at the end of the year (after two drops) shall be awarded fisherman of the year. 

11.4 The points of each participant’s catch shall determine tournament standings, final winners, and awards during the days of the tournament. 

11.5 Total points can be accumulated for Eight (8) of the Ten (10) tournaments during the tournament year and is for the purpose of selection of the fisherman of the year, Classic qualifiers, and State Championship Qualifiers. 

11.6 Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye or Smallmouth bass will be weighed. There will not be any roadrunner tournaments. All tournaments will be on a single lake for each tournament day.

11.7 The limit shall be Five (5) of the above fish per day or session, unless otherwise regulated by State Law. All competitors are bound by prevailing statutes and regulations of the various lakes that they fish. 

11.8 Only bass which measure Fourteen inches (14”) or more in length shall be presented for weigh-in. Bass presented for weigh-in which fail to measure Fourteen (14) inches with mouth closed, on a flat board, shall receive penalties at the rate of One pound (1lb) for each non legal bass, plus loss of the short fish. 

11.9 When fishing a slot lake, current State law for the slot on the tournament lake applies. No distinction is made for Spotted Bass. 

11.10 Any bass that appears to have been mangled, mashed or otherwise altered will be weighed and credited ONLY at the discretion of the tournament officials. 

11.11 A contestant having fish in excess of maximum limits shall have the weight of his largest fish deducted from their total, plus loss of big fish. 

11.12 There will be a penalty of One half lb (.50 lb) deducted from each dead fish presented at weigh-in. Dead fish may not be culled in accordance with state law. Anglers are responsible for lawful and sportsman like disposable of all fish that are presented dead or that cannot swim away from the weigh in site 

11.13 A Contestant may allow another Contestant in the same boat to net their fish under the following conditions, A) all contestants must remain in their boat when landing a fish, no contestant may leave the boat to untangle a hooked fish regardless of whether that fish was hooked by them or their partner, B) Contestants may not use any outside assistance in landing or untangling a hooked fish and, C) Fish lost because of improper netting by either contestant may not be protested. 

11.14 Each competitor, or his designee, must present his catch to the weigh-in officials in person. After the competitor, or his designee, has delivered his catch to the weigh master, he may not touch said catch until the weigh-in procedure is completed. The Board of Directors shall decide all controversies. 

11.15 A courtesy board will be available to check fish prior to delivery to the weigh master. 

11.16 A Director will assist in the weigh-in and must measure all small fish. 

11.17 All Tournament participants must check-in at weigh-in, in person, or notify a club Officer or Director. Any Participant not checking in will receive a score of Zero (0) for the tournament, and be subject to review by the Board of Directors. 

11.18 The Club will have an official measuring board. The Tournament Director and Board of Directors will decide on this board. It will be used for the entire year. 

11.19 In the event of a tie for the State Championship qualifiers, ties will be broken by (in order): 

1.Total weight of Eight (8) qualifying Tournaments. 2. Total Fish weighed in for Eight (8) qualifying Tournaments. 3. Coin Flip. 

12 LATE PENALTY:

12.1 Competitors or his/her designee who are not in the launch area at the appointed time shall be penalized at the rate of One half pound (.50 lb.) per minute, deducted from the total weight of the catch for that day or session. 

12.2 Any competitor(s) more than fifteen minutes late shall lose all credit for that day. There shall be no excuse for tardiness, and in no case shall a competitor be allowed to make up lost time.

12.3 For multiple day tournaments, after the tournament begins, fishing is prohibited except during tournament hours. Exact starting and weigh in hours will be announced at the meeting.

13 PAIRING OF CONTESTANTS: 

13.1 The drawing will begin after 7:15 pm. All members wishing to participate must have entered their name by the cutoff time to be eligible for the draw. Late entries will not be accepted. Drawing's will pair boaters with non-boaters and assign order of takeoff. Pre-paired, guaranteed non-boaters are allowed.

13.2 When there are more boaters than non-boaters at the draw, pairings will be made until the last boater and non-boater are paired. All remaining boaters will be able to fish by themselves; however they will not be entitled to the non-boater fee. If there are more non-boaters than boaters at the draw, the following rules will be used to try to accommodate as many entries as possible: 1) Ask for any non-boaters to switch to boater position if they have a boat. 2) Ask for any non-boaters willing to skip this tournament 3) Ask for any volunteers to fish 3 people to a boat. All 3 must agree. 4) Choose which non-boaters can fish in order of point standings, then by # of tournaments fished, and then by seniority. 

13.3 No Two-(2) contestants will fish together more than one day of a Two (2) day tournament. Exceptions for pre-paired Guaranty participants.

13.4 Members cannot draw the same person more than Two (2) times per year. Pairing as a result of pre-paired guaranty participants is exempt.

13.5 Tournament officials shall have no responsibility in finding missing partners. 

13.6 It is the boater’s responsibility to pick up the non-boater at the tournament headquarters, unless an alternate time and place is designated by mutual agreement of both parties prior to the tournament take off. 

13.7 Boaters paired the prior month are exempt from pairing unless all open seats are filled.

14 PROTEST: 

14.1 Any member wishing to protest a fellow contestant must do so in writing and submit the protest to the Tournament Director within Thirty (30) minutes after the official check in time. 

14.2 A protest relating to the conduct of a member during any club function shall be submitted to the Board of Directors in writing. 

15 TOURNAMENT FISHING HOURS: 

15.1 Tournament Director will determine competition hours for each tournament. Weigh-in times for single day tournaments will be no later than 4:30 pm. Weigh-in times for Two Day tournaments will be: Saturday determined by the Tournament director. Sunday no later than 2 pm. 

16 SAFETY: 

16.1 Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a chest type Coast Guard Approved personal flotation device and a kill switch properly attached to the operator when the gas motor is running excluding loading, unloading and emergencies. 

16.2 All boats must meet U.S. Coast Guard, Federal, State and Local regulations. 

17 PAYOUT PERCENTAGES FOR MONTHLY TOURNAMENTS: 

17.1 Payout is $35 from each entry fee, minus ten (10) percent (which goes to the club general fund). 

17.2 When Fifteen (15) or less members fish a tournament, Three (3) places will be paid. For every additional Five (5) members above Fifteen (15) that fish a tournament, an additional place will be paid up to a maximum of Six (6) places being paid per tournament. 

17.3 On one-day tournaments, half of the $10.00 Big bass pot will go for big bass, the other half of the pot will be split by the boat with overall combined heavy stringer. 

17.4 On two-day tournaments the pot will go for big bass one each day. 

17.5 Free entry, $60, will be awarded each tournament by conducting a drawing from all members present at club meeting. Free entry is for use at a future tournament excluding the Classic.

Places      1st        2nd        3rd        4th        5th        6th

3 paid     50%      30%       20%        X           X           X            

4 paid     45%       28%       17%        10%        X           X  

5 paid     40%       26%       15%        11%         8%         X 

6 paid     35%       25%       15%         11%        8%         6%

18 ELIGIBILITY FOR THE GRAND FINALE (CLASSIC):

18.1 To be able to fish in the Grand Finale (CLASSIC) Tournament, you must A) Be in the top Twenty (20) of the points standings, after drops and after the last tournament, or B) Have fished Eight (8) of the Ten (10) tournaments or Six (6) of Ten (10) for members Sixty-five (65) and older, or C) Competed in Seven (7) of the Ten (10) tournaments and participated in a club approved/sponsored conservation or community event. 

18.2 Any new member may qualify to fish the classic by fishing 80% of the remaining tournaments of the year, with a minimum of Six (6) tournaments to qualify.

19 LAKE FOR THE CLASSIC: 

19.1 At the Wednesday meeting prior to the Classic each participant present shall have One (1) ballot to vote for the Lake that they prefer to fish. 

19.2 No proxy ballots will be accepted 

19.3 All ballots will be counted and the 3 lakes with the most number of votes will be entered into a random draw to determine the lake we fish that year. 

19.4 In the event of a tie, a coin toss will determine the selection of the lake to fish. 

19.5 The selected Lake will be off limits to all participants Thursday and Friday. 

19.6 The Classic Lake must be chosen from the lakes Century has fished the past Two (2) tournament seasons, including the lake fished during the last Classic. 

19.7 The Century Classic will be a 2-day tournament. 

20 CLASSIC PAYOUT PERCENTAGES: 

20.1 1st Place 25% 2nd Place 16% 3rd Place 13% 4th Place 10% 5th Place 9% 6th Place 8% 7th Place 6% 8th Place 5% 9th Place 4% 10th Place 4% 

21 LAKE CHANGES:

21.1 The Tournament Director and Board of Directors may, with cause, change any tournament lake during the year. 

21.2 Two-week advance notice is required, except where events prevent such notice.

22 TEXAS BASS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: 

22.1 Century Bass Club will pay the entry fees (up to $900)  for the Six (6) fishermen who represent Century Bass Club at the Texas BASS State Championship Tournament