TOURNAMENT FEE
TEAM ENTRIES	$60.00

2006 OHIO MARINE OPEN RULES

1. Rule changes These rules will remain unchanged during the year 2006. Interpretation 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. Protests must be made in writing within 30 minutes of the official check-in time of the final flight of each tournament day.

2. Participation Participation is open  to anyone who are 16 years of age or older. Any person entering a tournament under the age of majority must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the entry form. Entries for Each tournament will be limited to a total field of 100 teams (unless state law mandates a smaller number of contestants).

 Tournament morning entries will be accepted.  

3. Pre-tournament practice There will be no official practice period or off-limits period prior to the pre-tournament meeting for all qualifying tournaments.

4. Registration and pre-tournament meeting Each team must register in person during the morning of the tournament. The official check-in time is between 5:00am and 6:00am. No entries will be accepted after 6:00am the morning of the event. 

5. Pairings Teams will be given boat numbers the morning of the event, 

6. Safety Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a 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 that must be securely attached to the driver's body whenever the combustion engine is in operation. At the discretion of the tournament director tournament days may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or water conditions. It will be a new requirement starting the 2006 that you must have your running lights in and in working order until you reach your first fishing location. If lights are not in you will be held at blast off until safe light conditions occur for your release. 

7. Sportsmanship All contestants 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 the OHIO MARINE OPEN sponsors, 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 kind of mind-altering substance during registration, the pre-tournament meeting or during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure.
• Abuse of, or addiction to, mind altering substances.
• Conviction of a felony within the past 36 months.
• Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules.

• In case of any conduct not complying with the standards, OHIO MARINE 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 to disqualify a contestant.

8. Boat operation All teams in a OHIO MARINE OPEN event is expected to operate their boats with full control and compliance with all the regulations with the coast guard governing Lake Erie and its tributaries. During the hours of competition contestants may not obtain or receive assistance from non-competitors, follow a non-competitor's boat or participate in the practice of "hole sitting" or the placing of markers by anyone. The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CB's, etc., to communicate fishing location or information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited.

9. Boat and horsepower regulations All boats must be a minimum of 15 feet in length. All boats must be equipped with wheel steering; no other steering devices will be permitted. No barges or similar cumbersome crafts will be permitted. Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated livewell space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass by both contestants. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition will be 250 HP, not to exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U.S. Coast Guard. Each boat must have a U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate where applicable attached to the boat by the manufacturer. The horsepower of the outboard engine must not exceed the rating specified on this rating plate or the 250 HP maximum . By signing the entry form, each contestant agrees to submit their boat and/or motor to an inspection by factory trained personnel. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate will be cause for disqualification from the tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter Gold Series tournaments. Fuel may be carried only in factory installed (built-in) fuel tanks. Any additional fuel used during the tournament day must be purchased from a retail facility open to the public.

10. Permitted fishing methods All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only artificial lures may be used, with the exception of pork trailers. Only one fishing rod may be used at a time. Trolling as a method of fishing is prohibited.

11. Permitted fishing locations Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as "off limits" or "no fishing" by local, state, or federal officials, within 50 yards of a marina gas pump 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). 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. Contestants must leave and return to the official checkpoint by boat. The boat must remain in the tournament waters during the tournament day. Tournament boats may be loaded on the trailer before the weigh-in, except when noted by tournament director. In the event of equipment failure or an emergency, there will be only two permitted methods of returning to the official check-in: (1) by both partners remaining in their boat and being towed by water, or (2) by both partners entering the boat of another Gold Series tournament contestant. Under these two conditions the contestants' catches may be counted without a penalty (except for late penalties, dead fish penalties or other penalties pertaining to other tournament rules). Contestants who elect to return to the official 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 contestant returning to the check-in point will be eligible to restart and resume competition only under the supervision of the tournament director or his designated tournament official. It is the sole responsibility of contestants to locate the tournament director to request a restart. Partners must remain together at all times and within sight of each other until the weigh-in slip is signed in order for their catch for that day to be counted. In the case of male/female partners sharing a boat, the momentary condition of being out of sight of each other for restroom breaks is permitted. If a contestant must violate any part of this rule due to an emergency or for any other reason their catch for that day will not be counted.

12. Official checkpoints There will be only one official checkpoint for boat check in the morning and one official 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 will result in disqualification. All fishing must cease upon check-in. The OHIO MARINE OPEN will begin at safe light until 3:30 pm. 

13. Late penalty Contestants who are not at the official check-in area at the appointed time will be penalized 1 pound per minute deducted from the total weight including any weight to be counted toward a big bass award. Any contestant more than 15 minutes late will lose credit for that day's weight.

14. Live fish Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated livewell. We recommends the use of chemical livewell additives that promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat. A (8) Eight ounce penalty will be deducted from the total weight for each dead bass presented for weigh-in.

15. Scoring Scoring will be determined by the pounds and ounces of each teams catch during the tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, Red Eye or Smallmouth bass are accepted species. The limit will be (5) five fish unless the state or lake limit is less than five; in which case the state or lake limit will prevail. Any contestant that possesses more than the tournament limit will have their catch for that day disqualified. The official length limit for bass is 14 inches unless the state or lake limit is more than 14 inches, in which case the state or lake limit will prevail. A maximum (5) five Bass limit may be in your livewell at any one time. Bass presented for weigh-in that fail to measure the prescribed length limit will be penalized at the rate of 1 pound for each non-legal bass presented. Each teams catch must be presented in an weigh-in bag that is of high quality, you may use your own bag but it may not leak. If your team does not have a bag, the Gold Series LLC will provide you with one.

16. Ties In a case of ties, positions will be resolved by combining and dividing the awards equally among the tied contestants. Trophy positions will be determined by lottery among those tied. The tournament director may decide to break a first place tie with a fish-off or a coin toss.

18. Insurance Liability insurance is required of all contestants in Lake Erie Gold Series LLC tournaments. This insurance must be with you at all tournaments for the request of tournament officials. When signing any  Ohio marine open form , you agree that you have read, and agree to all terms and conditions, and rules associated with the