The FAN High School Fishing Series and committee expect strict adherence to the following rules by all contestants. In the event of an emergency, please call 911 first and then notify the tournament director.

1. INTERPRETATION & ENFORCEMENT • Interpretation and enforcement of these rules will be left exclusively to the tournament director. Decisions of the tournament director are final in all matters and are not subject to appeal. Each contestant and coach agree to report any rule violation to the tournament director immediately upon discovery of the violation. Failure to report violations may be cause for disqualification. The violation of a tournament rule may result in weight loss (late penalty, dead-fish penalty, and short-fish penalty), the loss of weight up to a particular time in the tournament day, the loss of weight for the entire day, disqualification from the entire tournament or, in an extreme circumstance, ineligibility to participate in future FAN tournaments. Protests are to be made in writing within 15 minutes of the check-in time of the final flight of each tournament day.
2. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY • Must be a FAN member in good standing. Participation in the series is open to 6^th ,7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade students. All students must be academically eligible as defined by their school district. Contestants must also have the signature of a parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the liability form. Contestants must have in their possession a current student identification card from their school (or proof of grade level for those home schooled) and a valid fishing license for the waters they fish (for students aged 17 or older). Contestants are required to follow all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and laws. Any violation of such regulations and laws may result in disqualification from the tournament. Each team will consist of two eligible contestants and one boat captain. No student boat captains. No boats with less than two student anglers will be allowed. If a situation arises where a student fails to show up to complete a two-student team, the tournament director may choose to pair two individual students from two separate teams into a single boat to compete together as a team to satisfy the goal of all students being able to fish. The Tournament Director may also request you to provide an observer in a boat for hardship cases. There is no limit to the number of teams accepted from each school or club for the qualifying tournaments. Points will be awarded to each individual team based on tournament placing, and those points will be recorded for each individual student, so clubs may vary team partner pairings for each of the qualifying tournaments. Tournament officials reserve the right to reject any application to fish for any reason whatsoever. To receive points for the tournament, anglers are required to fish the event until 10:30am and turn inkey tag before leaving, unless otherwise indicated by the Tournament Director. PLEASE SEE RULE 6 for check in process

3. CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATIONS •

To be eligible for the Championship, the angler must have fished at least 3 of the 6 qualifying tournaments in either division.

 

There will be 2 methods of qualifying for the Championship.

1. Top 10% of Qualifying Events per division.
2. The top 50% of qualifying anglers based on their total points per division.

4. PURCHASING OF INFORMATION • The purchasing of, or bartering for, information about locating or catching fish on tournament waters, including but not limited to GPS waypoints (other than through commercially available sources) and the hiring of fishing guide services or a coach is not permitted by contestants or coaches within 30 days of any tournament. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.
5. OFF-LIMITS, PRACTICE AND COMPETITION • The lake will be off limits for student anglers and boat captains from the Sunday evening at sunset until am check in tournament day. Contestants and coaches may not enter tournament waters to locate bass or potential fishing waters or sightseeing during off limits period. Testing equipment on tournament waters after the start of the pretournament meeting is permitted only with prior approval from the tournament director. Once competition is under way, contestants and coaches may not solicit and/or receive information about locating or catching fish on tournament waters from anyone. On competition day, teams may not follow a non-contestant’s boat or participate in the placing of markers by non-contestants or the practice of “hole sitting” by anyone. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification. The use of cell phones or other communication devises are only to be used for safety purposes and as directed by the tournament director for tournament event. No parents or additional guest are allowed on boats during tournament hours.
6. REGISTRATION AND CHECK-IN • Registration and payment deadline will be the Wednesday, three days prior to the tournament. Each team will receive a key tag at morning check- in the key tag MUST turned in at weigh in. Failure to turn in your key tag may result in disqualification for that event
7. TOURNAMENT AWARDS • FAN will recognize and award trophies and prizes for the first, second and third place team, and a Big Bass award at each of the qualifying tournaments. FAN will recognize and award scholarships, trophies, and prize products for the top placing teams of the Championship Tournament. Anglers of the Year will be determined based on the individuals with the highest collective points at the conclusion of the final qualifying tournaments for each division. Scholarships may be used for any higher-level education including trade schools or colleges.  Additional prizes may be awarded based on the number of participants and sponsor contributions.
8. SAFETY • Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant and coach are required to wear a fastened U.S. Coast Guard-approved and state approved personal flotation device anytime the combustion engine is in operation from boat check until weigh-in each day of the tournaments. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition-shutoff device that must be securely attached to the driver’s body whenever the combustion engine is in operation. All persons in a tournament boat shall remain seated in a manufacturer-recommended on-plane seating location when the combustion engine is in operation. Sitting on pedestal seats while the combustion engine is in operation is not permitted. Contestants are not permitted to drive the boat when the combustion engine is in operation. Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by contestants and coaches. At the discretion of the tournament director, tournament days may be shortened, postponed, or canceled due to unsafe weather or water conditions. Violation of any of these safety rules may result in disqualification.
9. SPORTSMANSHIP • All contestants and coaches are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, and conservation and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves, to FAN and our sponsors, the school or club the team is representing, the sport of fishing and FAN efforts to promote the sport. Conduct not complying with these standards includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Violation of, or failure to comply with, any of the rules for the 2022/23 High School Fishing season.
• Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any kind of mind-altering substance during registration, the pretournament meeting or during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure.
• Abuse of, or addiction to, mind-altering substances.
• Suspension/disqualification, probation or ban from any tournament or fishing organization.
• Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition, and compliance with tournament rules, or which fail to comply with the standards set forth in the first sentence of section 8.

In case of any conduct not complying with the standards outlined above, tournament officials have the right to refuse an application to compete, to deny a confirmed application to compete or to disqualify a contestant.

10. BOAT OPERATION & CAPTAIN RULE • To qualify as a boat captain you must be at least 19 years and old comply with the Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. Coaches must supply and drive boats for their teams. Contestants may operate the trolling motor. Coaches may provide assistance, including information about locating and catching fish, netting is permitted to fish but all fish caught must be released and will in no way contribute to the team’s total weight. The coach or captain may not fish for the student competitor. The student competitor must actively perform the entire fishing process including the casting, operating the lure, and reeling of the fish. The captain/coach may not hand the student a rod and reel that has a bait in the water. The use of mobile communication devices may only be used by the boat captains for safety purposes only. Not for the purposes of sharing fishing information during the tournament. Guides are eligible as a boat captain as long as they have not guided in the past 30 days on tournament waters. Boat captains, coaches, parents and/or participating student anglers are prohibited in hiring guides 30 days prior to ANY event.
11. BOAT AND HORSEPOWER REGULATION • All boats must be a minimum of 16 feet in length and must be equipped with console steering wheel for steering, inboard or outboard. Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Working Fire Extinguisher, Throw Cushion, Life Vest to cover all occupants, current registration, current insurance reflecting $300,000 liability, working navigational lights, working kill switch, and working live well. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards is not to exceed the horsepower capacity set forth on the “Maximum Capacities”. Boats must display a capacity plate (Federal law requires single-hull boats less than 20 feet in length to have a capacity plate) The horsepower of the outboard engine must not exceed the maximum horsepower capacity specified on this placard. By signing the entry form, contestants and coaches agree to submit their boat and/or motor to an inspection by tournament officials. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating placard will be cause for disqualification from the tournament and may result in ineligibility to compete in future High School Fishing tournaments. Fishing platforms must be factory-installed equipment. No portable platforms may be used in tournament competition. Fuel may be carried only in factory-installed (built-in) fuel tanks or auxiliary fuel tanks that are securely strapped or otherwise fastened to the boat. Any additional fuel used during the tournament day must be purchased from a retail facility open to the public and pumped through a hose with a nozzle.
12. PERMITTED FISHING METHODS • Fishing is defined as having a lure attached to a line and a rod and reel with the lure in the water. All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner by the student angler. Only artificial lures may be used, with the exception of pork trailers and biodegradable soft baits. Only ONE fishing rod per contestant may be used at a time. Trolling (defined as operating the combustion engine to extend a cast or lengthen a retrieve) as a method of fishing is strictly prohibited. All bass caught while sight-fishing must be hooked inside the mouth and immediately shown to your coach for verification.
13. PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS AND BOUNDARIES • Teams may fish anywhere on tournament waters that is available to the public and accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off-limits,” “no boats,” “keep out,” “restricted,” “no trespassing” or “no fishing” (or similar language or markings intended to restrict public access) by tournament officials, local, state or federal officials, or within 50 yards of a contestant’s boat that was first anchored. An anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight or by a Power-Pole or similar shallow water anchor with the trolling motor in the up position. All fishing 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. The use of cables, ropes, chains or any type of block and tackle system to maneuver a boat into fishing waters is strictly prohibited and will result in disqualification from the tournament. Teams must leave and return to the check-in by boat. The boat must remain in the tournament waters during the tournament day. No tournament boat may be loaded on a trailer before their check-in except with the permission of the tournament director. In the event of equipment failure or emergency, there are three permitted methods of returning to the check-in: (1) by both contestants remaining in their boat and being towed by water, (2) by one contestant entering the boat of another team or (3) both contestants entering a rescue boat so designated by the tournament director. Under these three conditions the team’s catch may be counted without a penalty (except for late penalties or other penalties pertaining to other tournament rules). Teams that elect to return to the check-in by any other means than cited above will forfeit their day’s catch to that point in time of the tournament day. Any team returning to the check-in point will be eligible to restart and resume competition under the supervision of the tournament director or his designated tournament official. It is the sole responsibility of teams to locate the tournament director to request a restart. Teams must remain together at all times and within sight of their coach until check-in. The momentary condition of being out of sight of each other for restroom breaks is permitted. Violation of this rule may result in disqualification.
14. CHECKPOINTS • There will be only one checkpoint for boat check in the morning and one check-in point in the afternoon. Failure to go through boat check and checkout in the morning or failure to check in at the check-in point may result in disqualification. All fishing must cease upon check-in. Each team will receive a key tag at morning check- in the key tag MUST turned in at weigh in. Failure to turn in your key tag may result in disqualification for that event
15. LATE PENALTY • Teams that are not at the designated afternoon checkpoint at the appointed time will be penalized 1 pound per minute, deducted from the total weight. Teams more than 15 minutes late will lose credit for that day’s weight.
16. LIVE FISH • Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. Eight ounces will be deducted from the total weight for each dead bass presented for weigh-in. WEIGHING IN BIG FISH EARLY – If a fish is believed to be ShareLunker status (8lbs. or larger), the team may weigh the fish in early, FAN will take possession of the fish, and the anglers can return to fish to complete their limit.
17. SCORING • Scoring is determined by the final weight of each team’s catch during each tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, Guadalupe, or Smallmouth bass are accepted species. The tournament limit is five bass per team. The minimum length limit for all bass is 14 inches. Bass presented for weigh-in that fail to measure the prescribed length limit will be penalized at the rate of 1 pound for each short bass presented. Each team’s catch must be presented in an official weigh-in bag. The winning team is determined by the day’s heaviest catch. For each qualifying tournament in the series, prizes will be awarded to the top 6 places and big bass, plus points will be recorded as follows to each individual angler of each team:

Place 1 = 1000

Place 2 = 999

Place 3 = 998

Place 4 = 997

(Points continue decrementing by 1 for each placing for teams that weighed in fish.) For teams with no fish weighed in they will be awarded 600 points less than the last team weighing fish for participation.  Points from each of the 3 qualifying tournaments will be totaled and used for determining the individual Championship qualifiers. Championship results will be based on each team’s total weight for the championship tournament day.

Teams must be on water as until 10:30am and turn in key tag before leaving to be eligable for tournament points.

AOY will be determined by way of points from the 3-qualifying tournaments in each Division

18. TIES • Ties for each tournament, championship, or angler of the year will be broken by biggest bass. If a tie remains, the total number of fish for all tournaments will break the tie. If a tie remains, it will be broken by a casting competition setup by the FAN staff.
19. LOGO DISPLAY AND TELEVISION COVERAGE • Contestants and coaches are encouraged to wear their own team shirts or jerseys during all FAN High School Fishing Series events. Tournament officials reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to prohibit any contestant or coach’s shirt or jersey found to be offensive. All decisions are in FAN’s sole discretion.
20. ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO • During all days of competition any and all alcohol and tobacco logos are prohibited and may not be worn or displayed. Contestants may not smoke or use tobacco products during tournament hours, including weigh-in, at any event.
21. TRUTH VERIFICATION TEST • Each contestant and coach agree to submit, by signature on the tournament entry form, to a polygraph or voice stress analysis examination and to abide by its conclusion. Failure to pass an examination will result in disqualification from the tournament. Truth verification tests will be used at the sole discretion of tournament officials, and the determination of the meaning of the results will be made solely by tournament officials.
22. INSURANCE • Liability insurance with minimum $300,000 liability coverage is required on all boats used in High School Fishing tournaments. Proof of insurance must be with the boat being used.

FAITH ANGLER NETWORK CONDUCT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE

Thank you for participating in the activities of Faith Angler Network (“FAN”). We want to make sure that every participant in FAN’s activities has a safe and enjoyable time. To achieve such an environment requires participation and care from everyone. Each person needs to understand and recognize that their participation in FAN, and enjoyment of the activities associated with FAN, are at their sole risk, are not the responsibility of FAN, and require that each person assume responsibility for their safety as well as the safety of others. We don’t like to make this sound so “legal,” but it is the only way we can make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them. Therefore, please read the following statements carefully and indicate your understanding, agreement, and assent by signature on membership/tournament entry form.

1.  I understand that FAN’s activities may involve activities that include rigorous physical exertion, skill, training, and due care. Such activities may include boating, fishing, camping and other outdoor activities as well as transportation to and from such activities. Many activities I and my family engage in with FAN may involve risk of personal injury or death to any individual involved in such activities, and damages to or loss of property. I knowingly and willingly accept those risks for myself and my family.
2.  I agree to use due restraint, caution, and supervision in connection with my and my family’s activities with FAN.
3.  As to me and my family’s participation in any activity requiring physical fitness and mental alertness, I certify that, as of the time of participation, any participating family members will be in good health, free from injury, illness, or other defect, physically fit, mentally alert, and free from the influence of alcohol, medication or any other substance which might impair their ability to engage in such activities.
4.  I understand that, notwithstanding the direction or encouragement of any other persons, I must utilize my own judgment in choosing whether to engage in, or comply with, or allow my other family members to do so with respect to, any suggested act or activity in any manner connected FAN.
5.  I fully forever release, discharge, and hold harmless FAN and its agents and other representatives (collectively the “representatives”) from any and all claims and damages which I, or my family, heirs and assigns, may assert as a result of injury or death to me and my family or others, or loss or damage to property, incurred in connection with my and my family’s presence at, and activities associated with, FAN, even if such claims or damages arise out of, or are attributable directly or indirectly to, any act or omission of FAN and its agents and other representatives. I further agree, for myself and my family, heirs and assigns, to indemnify, hold harmless and defend FAN and its agents and representatives against and from any and all claims and damages of every kind for injury or death of any person or persons, including but not limited to myself and my family, guests and invitees, and for damages to or loss of any property, and all costs and expenses associated therewith, arising out of, or attributable directly or indirectly to, any act or omission of me, or any of my family, guests or invitees, in connection with my and my family’s presence at, and activities associated with, any FAN events.

My signature on the membership/tournament entry form constitutes my knowledge and agreement with all the foregoing and gives FAN and its agents and representatives my and my family’s total and unconditional release from any and all claims of liability or damage. This document shall continue to be valid and binding upon me on an ongoing basis unless and until revoked in writing and delivered to FAN and any such revocation shall not be effective for any time periods or events prior to FAN’s receipt of written notice of revocation.