Terms and Conditions

1. OFFICIAL 2022 EVENT RULES: 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 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.

3. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY: Participation is open to anglers who are 18 years old and older; provided that a team may consist of one participant who is 18 years old or older and one participant under the age of 18 including junior teams as addressed in section 25 below. Any person entering under the age of 18 years must also have written consent from their parent or legal guardian specifically permitting such contestants under the age of 18 to participate in the event with the contestant who is 18 years old or older.

• Game Changer Outdoors 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 or any angler competing in the Bass Pro Tour in the immediately preceding six months prior to the date of the Game Changer Outdoors Tournament being entered.

Anglers who Guide for monetary gain ARE allowed to fish in Game Changer Outdoors events

• All Contestants must have a valid fishing license.

4. TEAMS: All Game Changer Outdoors events are team or solo events. A team shall consist of no more than two anglers; although a contestant may fish alone as a single person team (in such event Game Changer Outdoors reserves the right to place an observer in such Contestant’s boat for the tournament day). Only registered Contestants may be in the boat during official tournament days. 

5. ** INFORMATION **: Other than using publicly-available information (e.g. newspaper reports and internet reports) No fishing information may be purchased, bartered, solicited or received from any person who is not registered and participating in the same event.

6. PRE-TOURNAMENT PRACTICE: There are no off limits days for Game Changer Outdoors tournaments.  Participants must be off tournament waters by 9 PM the day prior to tournament day

7. REGISTRATION TIMES: Registration for all Game Changer Outdoors Events can be done online or in person from 4:00pm to 7:00pm the evening before the event and beginning at 5:00am to 6:30am the morning of the event.  A completed and signed entry form must be received before the start of each competition day. Contestants will be assigned boat numbers at the time of their paid entry.  

8. SAFETY: 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 from boat check until weigh-in. 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 days 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.

9. PERMITTED FISHING METHODS: Only artificial lures may be used. 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. Switching or sharing fish with other teams or individuals is a violation of these rules and will result in immediate disqualification. All Bass must be caught alive, in a conventional, sporting manner. When sight fishing for Bass, all fish must be hooked inside the mouth to be counted as a legal fish. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a Contestant leave the boat to land a fish, make the boat more accessible to fishing waters, or locate bass.

10. SPORTSMANSHIP AND CONDUCT: 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 mind-altering 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 Game Changer Outdoors 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;

• Disqualification from Game Changer Outdoors tournaments or other fishing organizations that resulted from unexplained rule violations that result in a Contestant’s honesty, integrity, character, and qualifications for entry into a Game Changer Outdoors event being questionable in the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion.

Upon review of the circumstances by Game Changer Outdoors and the Tournament Director, 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. Game Changer Outdoors reserves the right to place an official observer in a Contestant's boat at any time during competition hours.

11. ASSISTANCE: 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 situation, competitors should call 911 first and then notify the Tournament Director at (318)602-5450.

12. BOAT AND HORSEPOWER REGULATION: Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well space to maintain alive a limit catch 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 vessels. 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. No Contestant may have a platform, raised deck, or ladder which is higher than the gunnel of the boat. Standing on the fishing seats or outboard motor will not be allowed in Game Changer Outdoors events. All boats must be propeller driven and must be equipped with wheel steering, no other steering device will be permitted. No air, jet drive, or surface drive boats will be permitted during competition days. 

13. PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS: Contestants may fish anywhere on navigable tournament waters accessible by boat and available to the public, 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 a line attached to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position), 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, is not permitted.

14. OFF-LIMITS AREAS: Such areas established and announced at the registration for each Game Changer Outdoors event. Contestants may not fish inside the established “off-limits” area. Violation of the rule will result in immediate disqualification. Contestants' boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event

15. TRAILERING IS  ALLOWED: All boats must leave the official check point by boat in the order designated at registration. Contestants may launch their boat at any ramp on the designated waters. 

17. SCORING: Will be determined by the pounds and ounces of each angler's catch during the tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye or Smallmouth Bass (collectively, “Bass”) are accepted species. The limit will be FIVE (5) Bass per team. Any Contestant who possesses more than the tournament limit at any time will have their catch for that day disqualified. The minimum official length limit for all species for the 2022 Bass Champs Qualifying Team Event will be provided at each event. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a one pound penalty to the weight of the remaining fish. No regurgitated forage or other foreign matter may be placed in bass. Any artificially weighed, preserved, or altered bass will be disqualified and that contestant will be subject to prosecution under federal and state laws. The Pro-Rule Measuring Board is the official measuring board of Game Changer Outdoors. Bass will be measured with mouth closed, tail compressed and swiped to achieve overall greatest length.

18. LIVE FISH: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of live well additives made by Sure-Life, which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat, are recommended. A one pound penalty will be deducted for each dead Bass presented for weigh-in. Any team that weighs in a dead fish for the Big Bass award will receive a one pound penalty from the total Big Bass weight. Culling of dead Bass is prohibited.

19. LATE PENALTY: Contestants who are not at the official check-in point at the appointed time will be assessed a ONE (1) pound per minute penalty from their total weight including any weight to be counted toward a Big Bass Award. Any Contestant more than 15 minutes late will forfeit that day's catch. In the event of a mechanical breakdown, a Contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a ride from another registered Contestant or tournament official only. The Contestants must return to the official check-in location by the methods set forth above by their assigned check-in time to avoid late penalty.

20. CLOSING OF THE SCALES: Scales will close at advertised time. Due to certain weigh-in locations this time may be lengthened or shortened at the Tournament Director’s sole and absolute discretion. Any change to the above stated official scale closing time will be announced during registration,or during weigh-in.

It is the angler’s responsibility to verify the official scale closing time and to be in the weigh-in line by such time.

21. TIES: A tie for 1st place in all 2022 Game Changer Outdoors Events will be broken by a One Hour Fish Off. All other ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place's money.

22. CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS: All teams who enter all four (4) qualifying events automatically qualify for the 2023  Game Changer Outdoors Team Championship. Additionally, any team who enters a minimum of five (5) events from any combined region will automatically qualify for the 2022 Bass Champs Team Championship. Points will be accumulated in the North, South, Central and East Team Trail regions to determine the respective Angler of the Year (AOY) standings.

* You may use a substitute partner for one (1) event and still qualify for the 2023 Game Changer Outdoors Championship. Your championship partner must have fished three (3) events as your partner in a specific region to qualify. One partner must compete in all four (4) events in the specific region. Points will not be combined when a substitute partner change has occurred for the Angler of the Year (AOY) race.

23. POINTS: Will be awarded as follows: Total Entries = Total Points: Winner receives the exact # of points as the # of entries. Example: 200 Entries - Winner receives 200 points, 2nd place receives 199 points, 3rd place receives 198 points, etc. All teams that do not weigh in a Bass will receive ten points less than the last place team that weighed fish at that event.

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