LOTSA King Salmon Tournament Rules
2010

This is meant to be a fun Tournament. We want to keep the rules as simple as possible and encourage family participation, promotion of the fishery, ongoing education for all participants and conserve the resource.  As such, the rules are as follows:

Eligibility:

            Every Person on Board MUST be a paid up LOTSA member by the day prior to the event in order to fish this Tournament.

Since the LOTSA membership is a family membership, the spouse of a LOTSA member is considered a LOTSA member.

The Team Captain is responsible for ensuring everyone in the boat is a LOTSA member and eligible to compete in the Tournament.

There must be as least 2 members in a Team.  There is no maximum number of team members so long as all individuals on board are LOTSA Members.

Entry Fee:

The Tournament Entry Fee is $50.00 per Boat.

Boundaries:

Lake Ontario. All government (US and CAN) regulations for boating & fishing apply.

Tournament Date:  Saturday July 17, 2010, with Sunday July 18 reserved as a rain day in case of inclement weather on Saturday.

Fishing Hours: Leave your Harbor at 5:30 am, start fishing at 6:00 am.  Tournament Fishing time closes at 12pm. 

                                The Tournament Committee Boat at each harbor (Wilson, Olcott or Oak Orchard) will call the start of fishing at 6:00 am based on GPS time.

To Enter:

A fully completed registration form along with payment is required for the Entry to be logged.  Teams must either register online or at one of our meetings.  Teams are encouraged to register online and make their entry fee payments using our secure PayPal payment service.  The deadline for online entries is 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 14, 2010.

!!! THE TOURNAMENT FIELD IS LIMITED TO THE FIRST 29 BOATS REGISTERED !!!

Click here to go to the online registration page.

Fishing Rules:

 Everyone in the boat must be a LOTSA Member in good standing in order to submit a contending fish.  Any boat with a non-member aboard will be immediately disqualified.

Only King Salmon are eligible to win the Tournament. The winning fish will be determined by weight. In the event of a tie for a certain place, the winnings will be evenly divided between the winning parties. 

A contending fish must be caught by hook and line, retrieved by rod and reel, on angling tackle. Any fish having cuts, gaff marks, gill net or puncture marks anywhere on the body will be questioned.

As LOTSA is an organization dedicated to the conservation of the resource and advocate of Catch and Release to the extent possible, in an effort to conduct the tournament in as fair a manner as possible while minimizing the number of fish killed and boxed simply to be weighed in, the following procedure must be followed for any fish you desire to be entered for consideration in the tournament:

 Any contending fish must be called into the LOTSA Tournament Committee Boats on VHF Channel 10 as soon as it’s caught. The length of the fish (tip of nose to end of tail and approximate weight must be provided.  The Tournament Committee Boats will broadcast the info of the leading fish on a regular basis.  Any fish that is NOT CALLED IN will not be eligible for  prize consideration.  Tournament Committee Boats will be available for calling in fish out of the Ports of Wilson, Olcott and Oak Orchard.

Any fish called in after 12pm (Noon) will not be eligible.  A fish cannot be called in until it is landed and in the boat.  Fish that are called in as being on the line at noon but not landed by the 12:00 Noon deadline will not be eligible for prize consideration

The weigh-in will be at the Town of Newfane Marina Picnic Shelter.  It will start promptly at 1:30 PM.  All contending fish must be in line by 1:30 PM to be considered for prizes.

The winning fish must be within 3 inches of the length stated when called in or it will be disqualified.

It is totally at the discretion of the LOTSA Tournament Committee to disqualify any fish for any illegal activity including altering the weight of the fish, etc.

If for whatever reason no winner is determined, 100% of the tournament fees will be refunded.

IN THE EVENT OF A TIE WEIGHT, WINNER/PLACE WILL BE DETERMINED BY ORDER OF ENTRY /CALLED INTO TOURNAMENT CONTROL.

Observers:

In an effort to provide the maximum integrity to the tournament, observers will be randomly assigned by the tournament committee to selected boats.  Each boat must be able to take on an observer if selected by the LOTSA Tournament Committee.  Failure to do so will result in disqualification of the boat and its team.

Weather:

In the interest of safety, the LOTSA Tournament Committee may cancel the days fishing if they determine that the lake is unsafe to fish. The LOTSA Tournament Committee may also make the decision to delay/shorten/change the fishing hours in the interest of safety. In the event the entire tournament is canceled, the tournament fee will be refunded.

Communication:

Any changes to these rules or weather related changes will be posted on the LOTSA Web Site and Message Board.  The latest post, if necessary, will occur by 4:00 AM on Saturday, July 17, 2010.  After 4:00 am, if the decision is made once the Tournament Committee arrives at the harbor to delay or postpone the Tournament, announcements will be made on Channel 10 before the 6:00 am start time.

Prize Structure:

The Tournament will pay out 100% of the total Entry Fees collected to the top 4 largest Kings as follows:

A single boat may submit up to 3 Kings for contention, but is only eligible for one prize.