A. THE COMMON SENSE RULE:
These challenges are about getting anglers out there to compete and having fun! Therefore, if anything in these rules need to be changed to ensure the safety of participants or the betterment of all anglers then they will be changed at any given point, so long as it keeps the playing field fair and balanced.
B. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE:
All persons are eligible to participate by way of your two feet or personal man-powered watercraft (kayak, canoe, tube).
Your personal watercraft must be for solo use only — no tandem fishing allowed.
Electric and/or gas powered motors are non-eligible watercrafts (ie, bass boats, jon boats, pontoons boats, etc).
Admins reserve the right to determine eligible watercrafts. If you have any reservations, please contact an Admin.
C. CHALLENGE RULES:
- All fish entered must be within the legal methods by the specific State Department of Fish and Game of the state they are caught.
- All fish must be caught on rod, reel, line and hook with ARTIFICIAL LURES ONLY.
- All black bass species are eligible for submission (ie, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass, red eye, etc). Scoring is determined by total length of FIVE (5) fish.
- 12-inch minimum size length for bass entries.
- All photos must contain the unique identifier icon and be clearly visible. Identifier icon must be printed out with the name of angler printed on identifier.
- All fish entries must appear to be fresh and free of any obvious mutilation or mishandling.
- Any two fish of the same length must show noticeable signs of distinction. In the event two anglers share the same fish, the latter fish entry will be disqualified.
- Eligible Water: Freshwater only (lake, pond, river, creek, etc)
D. HERE’S HOW TO ENTER YOUR FISH:
ONLINE TOURNAMENTS: An album will be created on Hmong Kayak Fishing Club Facebook page. The identifier icon will be emailed to your personal email address for you to download and print on opening day, approximately around the late evening prior. The icon must printed with name in each photo entry, clearly visible.
Check-in will be open on the last two days of the challenge (ie, Saturday & Sunday). The album will go live on Saturday and you have until midnight Sunday evening to upload your entries. No culling permitted after you have submitted your 5-fish entries.
Please label your entries with what you believe the fish lengths to be (fish #1 -18.25) — ultimately, we will verify your lengths. We highly recommend you sharpie your measuring devices.
To upload your entries to the album, CLICK HERE.
LIVE TOURNAMENTS: Check-in time and location will be announced per event.
Do not be lazy with your picture taking. Your photos are the only standard we have to go by for scoring, so it is a disadvantage to you if taking lazy photos. Make sure you have good lighting, visible ruler markings, the fish is in frame, take a clean shot and repeat. At the discretion of the Admins, any picture that is poor or difficult to legitimately determine length of fish will be disqualified.
To view acceptable and unacceptable photos, see below.
E. SCORING:
- Scoring is done by the “catch-measure-photo-release” method.
- Participants will need to use a digital camera or smartphone for photos.
- Picture of fish must be on an approved measuring device.
- Identifier icon must be displayed in all photo entries.
- Proper fish entries:
- Positioned left-facing with the dorsal fin up.
- Mouth closed touching the front of the measuring device (open mouth and/or pinched tail will be deducted 1-inch each).
- Tail in the natural, unpinched lay position (slight pinching caused by curved measuring devices will not result in deductions).
- All fish entries are scored rounded down to the nearest 1/4-inch.
- Photos should display a numerical inch marking after the tail — we cannot score what we cannot see.
- In the event of a tie, the big fish will determine the tie breaker.
- If both big fish are tied, we will move to the next fish entry, etc.
- If still a tie, it will be broken by whoever checked the last fish in first.
- AOY tie breaker: total length of top 3 challenges. If total lengths are tied, we will move to biggest fish, etc.
- To be eligible for prizes, participant must catch at least one fish.
- Admins will review all photos to verify entries and the total length of all virtual stringers.
NOTE: For each fish over 17-inches in length, please take an additional photo with the angler holding the fish.
F. SPORTSMANSHIP:
This is all about just having a good time on the water so it is important that all anglers adhere to a high standard of sportsmanship that portrays our sport in a positive light.
G. ELIGIBLE RULERS:
Please make sure you have an eligible ruler for your entries. Click here to view all the approved measuring devices.
H. PROTEST:
All protests of foul play will be submitted within 12 hours of final check-in via the Protest Form along with a $50.00 deposit. Should the admins uphold the protest, the cash deposit shall be returned to the angler submitting the protest. Criminal charges may be filed against any angler found guilty of foul play. Admins reserve the right to question any angler if there is strong suspicion of foul play. Click here to submit Protest Form.
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EXAMPLES OF PHOTO DEDUCTIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS
DEDUCTION: Mouth open, -1.00.
DEDUCTION: Pinched tail, -1.00.
DISQUALIFIED: Obstructing front of measuring device. 
DISQUALIFIED: No identifier (Note: open mouth)
DISQUALIFIED: Blurry photo (Note: open mouth)
EXAMPLES OF PROPER PHOTOS
PROPER: Left-facing, mouth closed, tail in natural lay position (Note: with Hawg Trough-style rulers, it is hard to make out the 1/4in markings. As a result, this photo entry would be ruled to the nearest confirmed inch marking, 19.00)
PROPER: Left-facing, mouth closed, tail in natural lay position (Note: by highlighting 1/4in markings you can make the most of your photo entries. See this video for how-to)
*Rules are adopted and adapted from riverbassin.com and kayakbassfishing.com. Admins reserve the right to amend the rules at any time as they see fit to better the experience for everyone involved.
