Tournament Rules 2026
Note: Read Carefully

1. 1. It is the responsibility of the tournament participants to know and obey state and local fish, game and boating laws.
   2. Fish entries must be taken with bow, compound, recurve or long bow and single point arrow only.
   3. Release forms must be signed and on record for each participant of a tournament.
   4. Registration will close 2 hours after tournament begins. After start of tournament, participants must sign sheet at tournament location. Participants are required to register and pay immediately at weigh-in, and call or text tournament host to specify:
      a. Open or Sportsman’s class
      b. Number of participants
      c. Side pot preferences
   5. There is no limit on the number of miles that you can travel by boat, unless otherwise notified.
   6. All boats will leave from tournament site- NO TRAILERING unless the tournament is a predetermined trailering tournament. Tournament host must determine if trailering is permitted and set boundaries at annual meeting.
   7. Identification of persons participating is required upon request.
   8. Each team will be allowed the use of one boat during the tournament. If mechanical trouble requires the use of another boat, that boat must be inspected before leaving the tournament site.
   9. Tournaments will begin and end at the predetermined times by the sponsoring teams.
   10. A penalty of one fish per minute will be assessed to any team returning late for up to 30 minutes, with the largest fish by weight being the first penalty fish. The penalized team will remove penalty fish. Any team not reported in by 30 minutes after the end of a tournament will be disqualified.
   11. When arriving at the tournament PLEASE register as soon as possible.
   12. Day and night scouting is permitted up to the start of the tournament. No bows in the boat for the period of 24 hours prior to the start of the tournament.
   13. No bait or chumming fish.
   14. Only rough fish are legal. Eligible species of fish will be announced at the pre-tournament meeting. NO catfish or bullheads are allowed towards eligible fish for any tournament.
   15. Suspected transferring of fish between teams will result in disqualification of all teams involved.
   16. No unsportsmanlike conduct will be tolerated.
   17. The decisions of tournament officials will be FINAL.
   18. A formal protest fee in the amount of $50.00 must be made to officials and posted one hour prior to the awards ceremony.
   19. Failure to comply with the tournament rules will result in disqualification and entry fee WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
   20. All participants must check out with tournament host or with the BAM Board upon leaving the tournament early.
   21. Tournament hosts and sponsors are not responsible for accidents or lost property.
   22. NO AUTOMATIC REFUNDS OF ENTRY FEE. Fees or any portion of fees refunded will be the decision of tournament officials and will be based on reason of cancellation.
   23. All airboats or fan motors must have a suitable shroud protecting the fan blades.
   24. Open: $30.00 per person,  Minimum of 2 Maximum of 4 members per boat. Payback is determined by number of paid shooters in the class. 1-10 paid shooters
       pay 1st place only. 11-20 paid shooters pay 1st and 2nd. 21-30 paid shooters pays 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 31-40 paid shooters pay, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 41 or more paid shooters pays 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. Tournament rankings are based on the pre-determined format set at the annual meeting. Participants 16 years and younger are free, with no limit.
   25. Sportsman’s: $15.00 per person, no limit to number of members per boat minimum of 2 members. Payback is determined by number of paid shooters in the class. 1-10 paid shooters pay 1st place only. 11-20 paid shooters pay 1st and 2nd. 21-30 paid shooters pays 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 31-40 paid shooters pay, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 41 or more paid shooters pays 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. Tournament rankings are based on the pre-determined format set at the annual meeting. Participants 16 years and younger are free, with no limit.
   26. Sidepots- Each tournament will have 2 paid sidepots at $5 each. One will be big fish, the other will be a numbers sidepot or a big 10 sidepot.
   27. Team of the Year: To compete for the team of the year you must register your team at the first tournament that you attend, and pay $20. Team of the year only applies to teams competing in the Open division. A team consists of up to 4 shooters and your boat for a total of 5. You must register other shooters that will shoot on your team in future tournaments as long as it does not exceed 3 members. No substituting of team members once your team has been established. Points will be awarded to whatever the majority of an established team is on a given boat. Once you are on an established team you may not
       switch teams or classes. No limit for participants 15 years and younger. The team of the year pots will be awarded to the winner at the conclusion of the last tournament.
   28. Team of the year points: Points will be awarded for the open division only with the following point system: (If a team competes in the open division but is not in the team of the year race then those points will not be awarded.)
       1. 1st place- 100
       2. 2nd place- 90
       3. 3rd place- 80
       4. 4th place 70
       5. 5th place- 60
       6. 6th Place 50
       7. 7th place 40
       8. 8th place 30
       9. 9th place 20
       10. 10th place 10
       11. Anyone else who weighs in- 5
       12. 20 points for captaining veterans shoot or youth shoot