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 in his sole and absolute discretion. Each competitor agrees to report any rule violation to the Tournament Director immediately upon discovery of the violation. The violation of a tournament rule may result in weight loss, the loss of weight up to a specific time during the tournament day, total loss of weight for that particular day, the ineligibility to participate in future NW Berkley Big Bass Tournament events, or any other penalty deemed appropriate by the Tournament Director in his sole discretion. Protests must be made in writing within 10 minutes of the official closing of the scales at each tournament day.

• Any person under the age of 18 years who wishes to participate in the Northwest Berkley Big Bass Tournament must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the official entry form.
• NW Berkley Big Bass Tournaments are open to all anglers except professional anglers. A professional angler is defined as:
• Any angler that has entered more than one bass tournament that required an entry fee greater than $2,500 in the immediately preceding six months prior to the date of the Berkley Big Bass Tournament being entered.
• Any angler that has guided for Bass (as defined in Rule 15 below) on tournament waters within 30 days of the official event for any method of compensation.
• All Contestants must have a valid Washington fishing license.

Contestants may not be on Potholes Reservoir for the purpose of fishing between:
• 8:00pm Sunday, May,12 2019 thru 6:00am Friday May 17th.

Competitors may launch from any ramp on Potholes. Blast off will begin at 7:00am. Boats will leave the marina in the order of the number given at the drivers’ meeting. Tournament registration will be halted prior to the start of the drivers’ meeting.
It is imperative that all boats have their live wells checked and be in the water before the start of the drivers’ meeting. The Tournament Director will not delay blast off due to anglers that have not had their live wells checked or have not safely launched their boats. In the event your boat is not in the water at the time your number is called your blast off will be delayed until the Tournament Official re-calls your number. In most cases your number will be re-called at the end of the last flight and before the first number of the late registrants. Regardless of blast off time you and your partner will be required to return for weigh-in at the time of your originally assigned flight.
The scales will open the top of every hour beginning at 9:00am. Scales are closed at the 59-minute mark of each hour. All fish must be weighed in by the time the scales close for the fish to be counted towards that hour. The final weigh-in will begin at 3:00pm. All boats not checked in by 3:00 PM will not be allowed to weigh their fish for the final weigh-in. An official timekeeper, wearing an orange vest, will be posted at the entrance to the host marina and will log the time that each team returns for weigh-in. The official return time will be logged at the point that the boat enters the host marina. Each team is responsible for holding up their boat number in clear view of the timekeeper. If the timekeeper determines that a boat is late he/she will signal the boat with an orange flag in order to notify the team that there is a time issue and that they need to see the timekeeper as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the team and the timekeeper to resolve time dispute issues prior to weigh in. If the issue cannot be resolved with the timekeeper the team should weigh in their fish and immediately report to the Tournament Director that there is an unresolved time dispute. All unresolved issues must be reported during weigh-in. It is the Tournament Director’s responsibility to assess the situation and make a ruling. The Tournament Director’s ruling is final.

A Participant may enter the event at any time before 4:00 PM Friday May 17, 2019 on the NW Bass website www.nwbass
A completed and signed entry form must be received before the start of competition. A Washington Invasive Species form will need to be signed by each boat owner participating in this event.
Tournament registration will be halted prior to the start of the drivers’ meeting.
Registration may resume after the blast off. Anglers not registered prior to the drivers’ meeting will automatically be assigned to blast-off at the end of the last flight.
There is no discount for Junior Anglers for this event.

Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened (fully zipped and/or all clips fastened), U.S. Coast Guard approved, personal flotation device anytime the combustion engine is in operation during official tournament hours. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver’s body any time the combustion engine is in operation. The driver must be seated in the driver’s seat anytime the combustion engine is engaged in gear. Tournament day may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion. Competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter in bad weather, at which time no fishing may occur.

Team partners must fish from the same boat. Only the contestants may be in the boat during tournament hours unless specifically approved by the Tournament Director prior to the tournament. Having a non- contestant sit on a hole for you will be grounds for disqualification.

Only artificial Berkley Baits including the NEW Hard Baits may be used – please refer to “Special Lure Rules” above.
Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however, each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast is attempted or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. All bass must be caught alive, in a conventional, sporting manner. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish, or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Bank fishing is not permissible.

All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to, the following:
– Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any federally regulated substance during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure;
– Any previous conviction, charge, arrest, or investigation for a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, or a crime related to, arising out of, or involving any fishing tournament or event, except with full, prior written disclosure to the Tournament Director under oath and by affidavit of all facts and circumstances surrounding such conviction, charge, arrest, or investigation at least ten (10) days before the NW Berkley Big Bass Tournament event being entered, and thereafter subject to the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion that such conviction, charge, arrest, or investigation does not result in the Contestant’s honesty, integrity, character or qualifications to enter the event being unreasonably questionable.
– Actions or words which reflect unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, and fair competition;
– Chemical substance abuse or addiction.
Upon review of the circumstances by tournament director, NW Berkley Big Bass Tournament and the Tournament Director shall have the right to refuse any application, or to deny a confirmed application, by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application, or disqualifying a contestant. NW Bass reserves the right to place an official observer in a contestant’s boat at any time during competition hours.

During hours of competition, contestants may not receive fishing information from non-competitors or participate in the practice of “hole sitting.” The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CBs, etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited. In the event of an emergency call “911” first and then contact tournament officials at 503-201-5221

Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain a live a limit of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U. S. Coast Guard in such vessel. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate to conceal such limitations will be cause for disqualification from the tournament.

Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” by state or federal officials, or within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by the trolling motor or shallow water anchoring device), or within 25 yards of a non-anchored competitor’s boat unless otherwise agreed upon by the other tournament angler. The act of moving bass from one area of the lake to another confined area of the same lake at any time, whether or not during practice days or competition days, is not permitted.

Boats may have up to 2 paid entrants aboard. Non-contestants are not allowed in any competitor boats.

Trailering is allowed throughout the competition days. Anglers may launch from any location; however, they will need to stage at the MarDon Resort Marina for live well inspection and take off. It is the responsibility of the boater to have their live well inspected the morning of the tournament before leaving for the day. Any fished weighed from a live-well that was not inspected will not be eligible for any prizes associated with NW Berkley Big Bass Tournaments.

Only Largemouth, Spotted, or Smallmouth Bass are accepted species. Only one bass per team, per hour, may be submitted for the hourly payout. There is no limit on the number of hours a team may submit their catch to the scales. Bass entered in the NW Berkley Big Bass Tournament of the Hour contest do not carry forward from hour to hour.. No team may possess more than 3 bass at any time during the tournament. Any team that possesses more than the tournament limit at any time will have their catch disqualified. It is the responsibility of each team to immediately cull their limit to Three (3) fish throughout the tournament. No culling is allowed within the host marina. Contestants may present only one fish per hour. Switching or sharing fish with other contestants is a violation of these rules and will result in immediate disqualification. Any artificially weighed, preserved, or altered bass will be disqualified and that contestant will be subject to prosecution under federal laws. All boat numbers must be turned in at weigh-in. Boat numbers must be returned even if no fish are weighed

Only live bass will be weighed-in during the event. Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of chemical live well additives which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat are recommended. No dead bass will be weighed.

A tie for the overall biggest bass will be determined by the contestant’s second largest bass weighed-in during tournament hours. In the event that a winner may not be determined by the above stated method, the winner will be determined by which angler weighed-in the winning fish first. All other ties will be resolved by splitting equally all money involved in the tie.