Skip Navigation Links
Home
News
About UsExpand About Us
Contact Us
TournamentsExpand Tournaments
Photos
PDF format,Click Here
MIDDLE TENNESSEE FLW ANGLERS, Inc.
By-Laws and Tournament Rules

I. ORGANIZATION
  1. The official club name is "Middle Tennessee Bass Anglers, Inc." (MTBA). It is a chartered, nonprofit organization.
  2. The club officials shall be: president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, tournament director, assistant tournament director and public relations director. The officers shall serve one year terms and may be re-elected for a second consecutive term.
  3. The Board of Trustees will consist of the above elected officials. They shall serve a one year term and may be re-elected for a second consecutive term.
  4. The election of club officers for the coming year will be held after the last tournament. All nominees should be willing to accept a club office if elected. Ballots for voting will be available for club members to observe along with results of the elections at the club meeting.
  5. The Club by-laws and tournament rules and the budget for the coming year shall be presented to the club by the regular March meeting for approval and shall remain in force for the year with no changes until the following year if voted on and approved by majority.
  6. Any protest must be submitted in writing to the Board to act on within 24 hours of the alleged violation. No protests are to be voted on during a meeting by the membership
  7. Interpretation of these Rules and by-laws will be left exclusively to the Board. The decision of the Board will be final.
  8. The Board reserves the right to alter, amend, or adjust the by-laws and tournament rules, and the tournament site selection, for the betterment of the club during the year.
  9. All regular meetings will be held the Monday preceding a tournament date. If no tournament is scheduled in a month, the meeting will be held the first Monday of that month. Meetings will start promptly at 7:00 PM.
  10. A quorum of at least one-half the membership is required to be present to act upon matters brought up for consideration which require a club vote. A vote of over one-half of the membership present is required to pass a motion.
  11. The Club (corporation) may be dissolved by the approval of over one-half the total membership.

II. MEMBERSHIP
  1. Membership will be limited to 50 members with an additional 5 reserve members allowed to participate in all club functions and tournaments. Once a 40 member roster is reached, no new members may be admitted until the roster drops to 34 or less.
  2. Prospective members must be invited to join by a MTBA member in good standing. They must attend 2 regular meetings. They must: A. Voluntarily express a genuine interest in membership, B. Be a member of FLW and the State Federation, and C. Be 16 years of age to join the club.
  3. A set of by-laws, tournament rules and tournament schedule will be given to each member.
  4. Each member and guest must sign a release agreeing to hold harmless the MTBA, the Board of Trustees, and its officers of any loss, damage, injury or any other liability resulting from any accident that might occur either during a tournament or going to or from a tournament or any club functions.
  5. To maintain FLW affiliation, the club must maintain at least 6 members.

III. DUES
  1. Yearly membership dues shall be $35 for the MTBA plus $15 for the FLW National Federation plus $7 for the State Federation. These amounts may be changed by FLW and the Board of trustees of MTBA as necessary. Members must also maintain a current membership in FLW. These dues are not prorated. At least the last five tournaments must be paid for to be eligible for the year-end Classic.
  2. Tournament fees are $40 per tournament and must be paid whether the tournament is fished or not. Fees must be paid two tournaments in advance. NO PAY, NO WEIGH. The tournament fees will be distributed as listed below in Section V.

IV. AFFILIATION WITH FLW
  1. The following requirements must be met to maintain affiliation with FLW
  2. Approval of chapter charter by FLW.
  3. Update the membership roster to FLW once each year after receipt of current FLW roster at year-end.
  4. Names and addresses of new members joining the chapter during the year must be submitted to FLW as they occur.
  5. Maintain 100% FLW membership.
  6. Must affiliate with state federation and support its conservation and youth programs. Any additional requirements that the state federation establishes for chapters, such as membership, number of members, dues, attendance at meetings, etc. would be necessary for the chapter to participate in the state federation tournament and other events.

V. AWARDS
  1. The tournament fee will be utilized as follows:
    • $20.00 Tournament Payout
    • 7.00 Big Bass Pot for Tournament
    • 1.00 Big Bass of the Year
    • 1.00 Big Stringer of the Year
    • 5.00 Year-end Point Fund
    • 6.00 Classic Pot and Operating Expenses
  2. Regular season Tournament Payout will be based on the total amount received for that tournament, paying one place for each five entries.

    Payout Percentage
    Participants 15 20 25 30
    Place 1st 50% 40% 36% 34%
    2nd 30 25 24 22
    3rd 20 20 17 16
    4th 15 13 12
    5th 10 9
    6th 7

    For example, 30 participants @ $20= $600 Pot, 1st place = $204, 2nd place = $132, and so forth.

    Payout amounts may be rounded down to the nearest whole dollar for ease of check writing and bookkeeping at the discretion of the Board.
  3. Trophies will also be presented to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each regular season tournament.
  4. A Big Bass Pot will be held for each tournament with 100% payback, less $20 to purchase a big Bass trophy. The winner may choose to receive an additional $20 rather than the trophy. The Pot will be split 60% 1st Big Bass and 40% 2nd Big Bass.

    For example, 30 participants @ $7 = $210 Pot less $20 for trophy = $190 cash pot. 1st Big Bass = $114 plus trophy or additional $20, 2nd Big Bass = $76.

    Note: If a guest wins the 1st Big Bass they will not be awarded the trophy, but will receive the first place money plus an additional $20.
  5. Scoring is based on a point system by order of finish which is determined by total weight in pounds and ounces of bass caught. First place will receive 35 points, second place 34 points, third place 33 points and so forth through 35 places. Two bonus points will be awarded for each participant in each tournament. In the event of a tie, the highest points will be awarded to each member. A member can miss one tournament and receive 2 points less than the last place for that tournament. No points will be awarded for subsequent tournaments missed by that member.
  6. The year -end championship will be based on a member’s year -end total points. A ledger will be presented to each member at each meeting to show point standings year-to-date.
  7. The year-end point fund will be paid to the members who accumulate the most points during the year. Distribution will be as follows:

    Angler of the Year 50%
    2nd Place 30%
    3rd Place 20%

    There will also be year-end money paid for Big Bass of the Year and Big Stringer of the Year based on the fees accumulated from each Tournament.

  8. Year-end trophies will also be presented as follows:

    A. Top six point finishers,
    B. Big Bass of the Year.
    C. Big Stringer of the Year.
    D. Sportsman of the Year.

    These will be based on the regular season tournaments and will not be affected by the Classic at the end of the season.

  9. To receive any year-end awards and attend the club banquet, a person must be a member in good standing with MTBA.
  10. Any participant of the Six Man Team must be a member in good standing to participate in the event for the Club. For example: If you qualify for the Six Man Team in the previous year’s tournament season and do not return to fish the following season, then the next person in the ranking from the previous year’s points standing is eligible to go and so on until an eligible angler is determined. In the event of a tie in points, the angler with the most combined weight from the regular season tournaments shall be placed ahead of the other angler.

VI. YEAR END CLASSIC
  1. A year-end Classic will be held with the membership being divided into the top one-half and the bottom one-half. Only an immediate family member can fish as a guest during the Classic event. Immediate family members can only compete for Big Fish Side Pot money.
  2. All money received from the dues and no other sources less operating expenses and the cost of year-end trophies will be distributed as follows:

    Place Top Half Bottom Half
    1st 35% 20%
    2nd 20 10
    3rd 10 5
  3. Trophies will be presented for the top three finishers in each division.
  4. The lake for the year-end Classic will be determined by club members on the Monday night before the scheduled Classic event as follows: Each member will submit one vote consisting of their top three lakes. Of the top three lakes, the two nominated the most will be put in a hat. The first lake drawn from the hat will be the Classic lake. The lake will be off-limits until the morning of the tournament. The tournament director will designate the ramp to be utilized.

VII. TOURNAMENT RULES
  1. All participants are required to abide by all the state game regulations. They are to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principals will be deemed cause for disqualification. No alcoholic beverages or stimulants or depressants will be allowed in any boat during tournament hours.
  2. Fishing with a partner is strictly voluntary. Partners are limited to sponsors, members of the press, immediate family (wives, children, parents, brothers & sisters). Club members and immediate family members may fish together as often as desired. Any guest may fish only one tournament with the same member, but may fish with a different member in other tournaments during the year, except the Classic. No person will be permitted to fish with a member during a tournament if they have received any compensation of any kind for guide services within the last 12 months, or if they have special local knowledge of a prospective lake. Any violation of this rule will be reviewed by the Board and may result in dismissal. All Board decisions are final.

    A member may fish with another person who is a perspective member with a dated application filled out and who is on the waiting list (one tournament only per member.)

  3. Members shall not participate in any other tournament simultaneously with a MTBA tournament.
  4. Starting positions will be determined at the meeting prior to the tournament by draw. The last starting position for each tournament will be responsible for conducting the ease off in numerical order. ALL BOATS MUST IDLE BY THE STARTER, with the exception of those with motor problems. Year-end Classic starting positions will be determined by final point standings. If two members have drawn then later decide to fish together, the starting position will be determined by the highest drawn number (e.g. draw #2 and #8 will go out as 8th boat.) Starting positions for year-end Classic will be honored (e.g. 8th position finisher fishes with 2nd position finisher, the boat will leave out in #2 position.)
  5. The tournament director is responsible for setting starting times for all tournaments. Finishing times will be approximately eight hours from blast off time on Saturday and Sunday tournaments. Starter will give you the ending time at the start of each tournament.
  6. The tournament director has the authority to delay a tournament start if there is a legitimate reason such as bad weather, etc.
  7. All participants must have their livewell and/or coolers checked by the tournament director, or his designee, prior to blasting off. Late arrivals at a tournament must have his livewell and/or cooler checked by a tournament contestant before he starts fishing.
  8. Only artificial lures may be used. No live bait or prepared bait will be permitted with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. Only ONE casting, spin-cast or spinning rod, with an eight foot maximum length from the butt of the handle to the rod tip, and reel may be used at any one time. All other types are prohibited. Other rod and reels may be in the boat ready for use, however, only one rod and reel is permitted in use at any given time. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner. Trolling is not allowed.
  9. For the safety of the contestants, ALL BOATS MUST BE EQUIPPED WITH SOME TYPE OF IGNITION KILL SWITCH. This ignition kill switch must be attached to the driver’s body any time the combustion engine is operating.
  10. Every boat must have all the required Coast Guard safety equipment. In addition it must have a functional bilge pump and live well space, properly aerated to adequately maintain alive a limit catch of bass by the fishermen using the boat. Tournament officials shall have the sole responsibility for determining whether aeration and capacity is "proper and adequate"
  11. Fishing on the tournament waters is permitted anywhere except within 50 yards of any marina gas pump or within 50 yards of another competitor’s boat.
  12. All angling must be done from the boat. You may not depart the boat to land a fish. The boat must remain in tournament waters. Contestants must leave and return to the official check point by boat. Trailering of boats during tournament hours is prohibited except for emergencies.
  13. All contestants must wear a Coast Guard approved life vest, with kill switch attached to the driver, any time the combustion engine is running.
  14. Only largemouth, spotted, red eye or smallmouth bass will be weighed. The limit shall be five of any combination of the above species per member. At no time should a competitor’s boat contain more than the limit. Culling should be done immediately upon catching one fish more than the limit. All competitors are bound by the prevailing statutes and regulations of the various states within which they fish. The official length for bass shall be 12 inches, unless the state or lake limit is over 12 inches or a special size is established for a particular tournament by the tournament officials, in which case, the lake or state or special size limit will prevail.

    Only FLW as described above which measure 12 inches or more in length on a flat board shall be weighed in. COMPETITORS WHO PRESENT BASS FOR WEIGH-IN THAT FAIL TO MEASURE 11 3/4 INCHES SHALL ACCRUE A PENALTY OF HAVING HIS LARGEST BASS DISALLOWED. Any bass that appears to have been mangled, mashed, mauled, or otherwise altered will be weighed and credited only at the discretion of the tournament director. Each member must present his catch to the tournament director, at which time, he relinquishes all control of the fish. Bass must not be placed on a stringer at any time during the tournament. Specially designed bags which increase the survival rate will be furnished by the tournament director and these bags must be used for the weigh-in-in. Trophy fish largemouth bass five pounds or larger, smallmouth or spotted bass 3 1/2 pounds or larger will be returned to the member after weigh-in, if desired, to be mounted.


  15. Members will have a 4 ounce penalty deducted for each dead fish brought to weigh-in. The tournament director will be the sole judge if fish are alive.
  16. Any member arriving at the weigh-in site after the designated finish time will be penalized at the rate of one pound per minute up to a total of five minutes, after which time he will be disqualified. Members must be within the prescribed area as directed by the Tournament Director at or before tournament check-in. Tournament director or assistant will be the judge in case of late arrival. Weigh-in will begin as soon as possible and everyone present must be at the weigh-in and give their attention during the weigh-in.
  17. Members must present their own fish at weigh-in time, unless they have to leave the tournament due to an emergency. Each member is responsible to insure proper weight is recorded before releasing their catch.
  18. All contestants of MTBA tournaments may be subject to a polygraph test at any time. The decision to conduct such a test will be at the discretion the Board.
  19. Cheating of any type, if proven, will result in that member’s automatic dismissal from the club. Any future awards will be forfeited. Any protest concerning a tournament must be made to the tournament director before the close of weigh-in.
  20. Tournament results will be taken and sent to local papers by the public relations officer.
  21. All contestants must check in with the tournament director before blast-off and at the weigh-in. If you must leave early, you are required to tell someone or leave a note on the tournament director’s vehicle.


Copyright 2010, Middle Tennessee Bass Anglers. All rights reserved.