Details

Danny Spratt Memorial Scholarship Tournament

Saturday, November 9th

Geist Reservior 

Free Will Breakfast Burritos will be served 5:30am to 6:45am or while supplies last

Livewell Check (Prior to Launch) / In Person Tournament Registration starts at 6:00am 

Click HERE to Register Online

Online Entries: (includes $5 processing):

First Flight Priority (1 thru 10, random draw) $130 - Additonal $25 goes straight to scholarship.

Boats 11+ $105, launch order by payment submission.

Morning of tournament entries at ramp must be in line by 7am meeting, cost $100.

Tournament Hours: 1st Flight Blast Off 7:30 am, 1st Flight Check In 3:30 p.m. 

Additonal Flight Check In announced at meeting.

***Boat Captains must be present at pre-tournament 7am Registation Area***

Additonal Rules:

Payout: 3 spots paid for first 15 paid entries, then 1 spot for every 5 paid entries. (70% Payout, 5% Big Bass, 25% Scholarship). Social Security Numbers must be submitted prior to payout. Prize money will be awarded following the weigh-in The big bass pot will be paid to the team with the biggest bass of the tournament. Winners are responsible for any and all taxes on any moneys or prizes won. In the event of a tie, prize money for the place tied for and the subsequent place will be combined and evenly split between the tying teams. 

Safety: Safe boating conduct must be observed at all times. Each competitor is required to wear a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device, securely fastened, at all times while the boat is being propelled by the combustion engine. Furthermore, a kill switch must be fastened to the driver any time the combustion engine is propelling the boat. Failure to do so is grounds for disqualification of the offending team’s catch. Running lights must be operational and turned on at the blast-off of each tournament. Each competitor’s boat must be equipped with a livewell system capable of keeping a tournament limit of bass alive. Any boat equipped with a motor that exceeds the horse power rating of the boat according to the manufacturer is prohibited from being used in any Fishers of Men Tournament. All auxiliary gas tanks and bladder tanks that are not installed by the boat manufacturer are prohibited. Additional gas tanks that are factory options and installed by a manufacturer's authorized dealer are legal. Boats that do not have factory-installed gas tanks are restricted to a maximum of 18 gallons of gasoline in tanks that meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations. Gas tanks must be properly secured or strapped in the boat. During the tournament, no portable gas tanks or containers capable of holding gasoline can be placed anywhere on the tournament waters or shoreline for use by any tournament competitor.

Sportsmanship: Each contestant is expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, and conservation. No team may fish within 50 yards of any other boat which is anchored with the trolling motor up. Furthermore, no team may fish within 25 yards of any other boat without the other boater’s permission. Permission may not be granted to any team at the exclusion of any other team. Utilizing “Spot-lock” or similar technology that holds a boat position using the trolling motor is NOT considered “anchored with the trolling motor up”, as mentioned above. No hole sitting by a non-competitor or by another competitor, to aid a tournament participant will be allowed. Violators will have their catch disqualified.

Tackle & Fishing Methods: Only artificial baits may be used. No live or cut bait is permitted (pork baits are permitted). All bass must be caught alive in a legal and sporting manner. No snagging. Each competitor may only use 1 rod at a time. No more than 1 line in the water at a time per angler. Trolling with the combustion motor is not permitted. No competitor may leave the boat to land or catch fish. Lures that have been banned by state or local authorities, are not allowed in Fishers of Men tournaments in the areas where the ban is in place.

State & Federal Game Regulations: All participants are expected to abide by all state and federal laws and game regulations. Any team who intentionally violates a law or regulation in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage will have their catch disqualified. Bringing short fish or slot fish to the scales will be penalized as described in rule 11. In the case of multiple governing authorities, the strictest law is applicable. Any participant who consumes, or is under the influence of alcoholic beverages, stimulants or depressants during any Fishers of Men function will have their catch disqualified. (Prescribed medications taken per doctor’s instructions are excluded)

Limit, Short Fish, Dead Fish Penalty: A limit of 5 bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass) may be weighed in. Minimum length: 14 inches. Lengths will be measured with mouth closed.

- A short fish or slot fish brought to the scales will not be weighed, and will result in a 1-pound penalty.

- Dead fish will be penalized .25 (1/4) pound. The dead fish penalty will also apply to any fish weighed as a Big Fish if that fish is dead.

- All culling must be done at the time the 6th fish is caught; no team may continue fishing with more than the tournament limit in the livewell at any time during the tournament, with the exception of dead fish that is not included in their limit.

- The penalty for possessing more than 5 fish, bringing more than 5 fish to the scales, or culling at the ramp will be 1 pound. That 1 pound will be deducted from the total weight of the team’s best 5 fish.

- On any water where State or local laws prohibit culling or impose limits of less than 5 fish, the state or local laws will replace the above as the rule.

Emergencies: Competitors shall remain with their partners in the boat at all times during the tournament, except in the event of sickness or brief excursions for "nature calling", severe storm or other such hazard. It is permitted for a competitor to leave the boat for marina services. On competition days, competitors may leave the boat to dislodge it, but only to return the boat in the direction it came from. Leaving the boat, on a competition day, to advance it is not permitted. (In falling water conditions, a team may leave the boat to advance it only to return from water they accessed without leaving the boat.) If for any reason either or both team members decide to leave the tournament waters early, both members shall bear full responsibility for notifying a tournament official. If one team member leaves the water early, he/she must notify the director before returning to fish and the other team member may continue fishing in his/her absence. In the event that he/she does not intend to return, his/her partner may continue fishing alone for the remainder of the tournament hours. In case of a breakdown, one partner may return with fish by another tournament boat or a boat designated by FOM tournament staff while the other partner is permitted to stay with the disabled boat.

Weigh-In Procedure: Weigh-in will be on a first come first serve basis. Once fish have been presented to a tournament official to be weighed-in all fish become the property of the F.O.M.N.T.T. and no additional fish may be brought to the scales. Bags will be limited in order to avoid a bottleneck at the weigh-in tanks.  Teams not weighing any fish are still required to check in with tournament officials in order to account for all teams. Once a team member has checked in or left the boat for the purpose of checking in, neither team member may fish or continue fishing. Courtesy bump board will be available.

Afternoon Check-In & Late Penalties: All teams must be back and checked in by their appointed time. Competitors who are not checked in by their check-in deadline will be penalized at a rate of 1 pound per minute, up to 15 minutes at which time their catch will be disqualified. The contestants will retain their participation points for their yearly total. Late penalties will be deducted from "Big Fish" weight as well as total weight. The check-in procedure may be a staff person with a check-in list, a check-in board with numbered chips, or other process as deemed necessary by the director. It is each competitor’s responsibility to know their check-in time and the check in procedure.

Liability Insurance: All members must carry a minimum of $100,000 of liability insurance on any boat they use during any Fishers of Men Tournament. Failure to do so, or reporting of false information will result in disqualification of catch. Participants must include the company name and either the policy number or the name of the agent binding the coverage on the entry form for each tournament.

Violation of Rule & Disqualification:The violation of a tournament rule by either team member may result in weight loss, the loss of weight up to a particular time in the tournament day (eligible for a restart), loss of weight for the entire day, disqualification for the entire tournament or, in an extreme circumstance, ineligibility to participate in future FOM events. If a team is disqualified from a tournament their weight will be recorded as 0 lb. If the director feels that their violation was a willful attempt to gain an unfair advantage or to intentionally cheat, then the director has the right to refuse entry from that team or team members in the future and may inform all other Fishers of Men directors of the situation.

Roster Information:

(1st Flight) Brooks Johnson - Hink Hinkle

(1st Flight) Mike Botos - Nate Redman

(1st Flight) Gary Straber - Garrick Straber

(1st Flight) Jim Hardie - Tony Goff

(1st Flight) Jason Smith - Roger Gilpin

As of 10/3/2024 - 11:45 Est

Entries will be added daily by 6pm EST