2010 Rules

General

THIS IS A CATCH AND RELEASE TOURNAMENT. We ask that all fish caught, and of which are of a size to consider "measurable" (as well as all fish) are handled with care.

Promoters and organizations hosting/assisting in the tournament operation, their agencies, and agents are not responsible for death, damage, injury, liability, theft, fire or any loss to any entrants or their families and friends. Each entrant will be required to sign a waiver form before being allowed to participate in any SAWT function. Once signed, this waiver will be in affect for the whole of the SAWT 2009 season.
Eligibility

All persons competing in the tournaments must be a registered member of SAWT. Memberships are available at all tournaments and are ten ($10.00) dollars each (per calendar year).

Tournament fees are set by the tournament officials per team of two (2) entrants. Entrants may be any person sixteen (16) years of age or older. An angler may be under sixteen (16) years of age but must fish with a parent or guardian. 

If one of the team members is unable to complete, he/she may be replaced with another angler of choice by the remaining member. Tournament officials must be notified.
Requirements

All anglers must possess (where required by law) a valid Alberta fishing license. All anglers must comply with all Alberta fishing regulations.

Each boat will be required to pass a boat inspection each day of the tournament. All boats required to have a personal flotation device (PFD), a bailing bucket, a sounding device, oars and a live-well. All boats must have an "accepted" live-well. Officials will determine whether each live-well is acceptable or not. All boats will be required to meet Canadian Safety Standards. Cellular phones are allowed in a boat but must only be used for business or emergency purposes and not communication between teams. 2-way radio use is not allowed and must be disabled or removed before the tournament start.

Any boat found to have alcohol bottles or cans, either full or empty, or illegal narcotics, at any given time will be immediately disqualified from the tournament.

All teams entered in the tournament will have to have at least one (1) member of their team present at Friday's rules meeting. Fridays rules meeting will start after registration has been completed. Registration will start at 6:00pm.
Boat Start-Fishing Hours

Pre-fishing may occur up until 3:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the start of the tournament.

Teams will be assigned a number at the rules meeting Friday night. This number will be in the order in which you leave the starting line the first day and a reverse starting order will take place on the second day. All boats will be required to display/carry an identifying decal with your number in order to identify them as tournament anglers.

Each team's boat will be required to travel between a set of two (2) buoys in a "no wake" zone. Once clear of the buoys, you may throttle up. Slower boats are asked to immediately turn and travel closer to the shoreline.

Above all, SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT. Do not follow directly behind another boat under full throttle. Watch for possible motor failures of other boats.

Boat inspection will begin at 6:00 a.m. each day. The tournament fishing day will commence at 7:00 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m. each day. In the event we register more than 40 teams for an event we will run 2 start flights. The second flight will commence at 8:00 a.m. and conclude at 4:00 p.m. Flights will be reversed on the second day. Teams will be required to pass through the same set of  two (2) buoys before 3:00 p.m. or 4;00 p.m., depending on start flight, to conclude each day's fishing. If a team has fish to weigh they must pass through the buoys FIRST before 3:00 pm or second flight 4:00 pm. then proceed to a weigh station to weigh in.

Teams who return later than the cut-off time of 3:00/4:00 p.m. will be lose that day’s weight.

Fishing

All fish must be alive to be measured and counted. Only walleye, sauger and saugeye will be eligible for tournament fishing. There will be a minimum size limit of 5 mm greater than the length limit set for the water body being fished. Example. 505 mm on a water body where a 500 mm size limit is in place.

All fish will be measured in millimeters (mm) and will be translated to a pound (lb) measurement for purposes of calculating heaviest fish and total weight of all fish entered.

All fish will be measured by tournament officials on the water and at predetermined areas (e.g., at the main boat launch). All measurements by officials are final.

Any fish presented to be measured is to be removed from the livewell and placed on the weigh board by one of the team members. Once the fish is placed on the board, control of the fish is relinquished to the official and may NO LONGER BE HANDLED BY ANY TEAM MEMBER. Lengths/Weights will be recorded in the official book at weigh in stations. All teams are responsible for the verification of those weights by signing them off in the book. Totals for each days weight will be posted from this book. Any error in transferring weights from the book to the board will be the only reason the SAWT may alter the official postings. All postings of measurements will  reflect what was acknowledged and signed off by a team in the book. NO EXCEPTIONS! PLEASE ENSURE YOUR WEIGHT IS RECORDED CORRECTLY BEFORE SIGNING YOUR TEAMS WEIGHT OFF.

Any team measuring in a sub-legal fish under 5 mm greater than the water body legal size limit will have that fish disqualified and will not be permitted to replace it with another. If a team is in doubt of a measurement they will be permitted to bring that fish to the weigh boat to have a measurement check. ATTENTION should a team bring in a fish under the provincial legal size limit they will be immediately disqualified from that tournament.

Each team will be allowed to weigh in a maximum of four (4) fish per day. Once a team has weighed four (4) their fishing day is over. That team must then check in with a tournament official and return to shore.

There may be no more than three (3) fish in possession at any given on water bodies where such limits are allowed or two (2) fish in possession where limits of one fish per angler are allowed.

No picking up of dead fish on the water. ABSOLUTELY NO FIZZING. Livewells can be checked at anytime by officials. Any team in violation may face disqualification from the tournament. 

All fish will be subjected to the "sixty (60) second rule". A fish will be considered live if after being measured by an official, it will have sixty (60) seconds to swim away under it's own power. No second chances or 'reworking' of fish by a competitor will be allowed once the fish is in the hands of an official. If a fish cannot swim away in sixty (60) seconds or less, it will be disqualified and cannot be replaced by another fish.

In the event of a fish accidentally dying, it may be turned over to an official and claimed as a dead fish without a penalty or a recorded measurement.

A team member must not leave a boat in order to land a fish or to untangle lines or lures. A team member may leave a boat at the original boat launch in order to get more bait, go to the bathroom, etc., but upon return to the boat must again go through a boat inspection before commencing fishing again.

A boat must not come in contact with any other boat (other than the officials) while on the water. Being truly sports-minded anglers you should give other boats an appropriate courtesy/consideration either while fishing or under throttle.

Spirit of the Rule/Protests
All rules have 'loopholes'. It is the intention of the SAWT to provide an honest sportsmanlike tournament. In the interest of good sportsmanship, contestants are reminded that 'spirit of the rule' will prevail and all judgments by officials are final. All questions or problems concerning the rules of this tournament are to be referred to the tournament committee chairperson. Any contestant has the right to make a protest against another contestant. A protest form is available from the tournament chairperson and should be filled out and presented to the chairman within one hour of the close of the fishing day. A one hundred ($100.00) dollar protest fee will be required to accompany any formal protest. The fee is to be returned if the protest is found to be valid by the protest committee. If invalid, the fee will not be returned.
THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY ANY TEAM FOR RULE INFRACTIONS IF THE SITUATIONS WARRANTS SUCH ACTION AND IS AGREED UPON BY THE MAJORITY OF THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE.

Last modified January 26, 2009