Navionics Cracked Rib

We launched our 2017 KBF Membership Recruitment Drive on August 10, 2016. As of that day the only membership one may select in the (with or without KBF BONUS BUCKS).

RIBs to the Limit. GORE-TEX Arctic. Challenge was born Like all good things it started with an idea. Over the years my love for the high, rugged coastlines of. Scotland and Ireland had stirred within me. Life jackets. Stratum Five trackers. Navionics cartography. For the fact we needed to crack on. Alas, the time to make.

Anyone who pays his 2017 dues in August is immediately eligible for all KBF Member-only events and all KBF Member benefits; they are not delayed until 1/1/ 2017. A couple dozen people joined KBF between August 1 and August 10, before the 2017 Membership drive started. We emailed each of them a personal invitation to upgrade to a 2017 membership and a discount code that made the upgrade free. Bottom lineall who select and pay for a 2017 KBF Membership is a member for the rest of 2016 and all 2017. Basically, Membership enables you to participate in Member-only activities and save money. BONUS BUCKS is an optional incentive awards program that provides cash and product bonuses.

One may become a KBF Member by paying the annual dues, which are $50 at this time. This will qualify you to enter KBF Member-only competitions and for special Member-only discount programs, special offers, and perks. KBF Members may enroll in the KBF BONUS BUCKS Program ($100 separately, or save $10 by enrolling when paying KBF Membership dues), which makes them eligible for bonuses for a wide variety of reasons, like use of sponsors’ products, representing KBF, participating and performing well in competition, and participating in contests and activities. No, BONUS BUCKS registrations run year-to-year, and there’s no lifetime option.

The KBF BONUS BUCKS contingency rewards program is something we came up with to induce kayak anglers to get involved with our Challenges and Tournaments. KBF Members who want to participate throw in a hundred bucks a year, and they hope to win their money back and more in the same year. Some don’t win any. Others win some. A few win a lot. In the first year, KBF paid out more than three times the amount collected in registration fees. We supplemented the bonus pool from operating capital and sponsor donations.

Bonus pool funds are managed so that what KBF is able to pay out bonuses in proportion to what we take in. We believe it’s helped to inject some excitement and created opportunities for rewards. It’s not as if KBF were looking for a way to get rid of some extra money and came up with BONUS BUCKS. This is a marketing initiative, and like any marketing program, we will review it periodically and either extend or discontinue it. Will this particular program endure? Maybe, maybe not. We plan to run it again in 2017.

If, at some point in the future, we come up with an even more effective marketing program, we’d most likely discontinue KBF BONUS BUCKS and switch to it. Since we’re not guaranteeing that BONUS BUCKS will always be a part of KBF, then it would not be ethical for us to offer a lifetime participation fee.

Even if we run it another five or ten years, trying to manage the funds so that we don’t run through them in the first year but disburse them over a long span of time would be a pretty big bitemore than we care to chew right now. Yes, there is. We appreciate the sacrifices being made by active duty military personnel and those who have served in the past. To qualify one must: • Be on active duty status with the US Military, or • Have retired after a career in the US military, and • Email a digital photo of your military ID to accounting@kayakbassfishing.com. We will then email a 10% discount code that will knock $5 off KBF Membership Dues.

The military discount does not extend to family members (spouse, siblings, parents, children) or extended family. Several TRAIL Series tournaments will hold a Captains Meeting on Friday evening with a make-up early Saturday morning, but not all. Check each event page when we get them all up on the KBF Website for details.

For every KBF TRAIL Series Tournament, Chad plans to videotape a Captains Meeting with the TD (possibly on split screen) at least one week prior to competition. We will post them on YouTube with links from the KBF Event page, the Facebook Event Page, and from the TourneyX event page, too, we hope. That way, a competitor who works late on Friday can watch the Captains Meeting online during the week and, by commenting “Reviewed and Agree,” will satisfy the requirement that each competitor attend the Captains Meeting. If someone shows up Saturday morning and can find a strong data signal, he can watch the Captains meeting on his smart phone, and comment “Reviewed and Agree” before he wets a line. It’s not like you’re pulling a $20 bill out of your wallet and then digging through your pockets for an extra dollar. Round numbers are fine, but we have a few reasons for setting $21 as the Entry Fee for every KBF Challenge.

Here’s the breakdown: • $0.91 goes to PayPal transaction fees (2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction). When we switch to MemberPlanet for registrations, that will end up around $1 per registration. • $2 goes toward defraying TourneyX User Fees (KBF pays TourneyX to use its tournament management system) • About $1 is applied to remuneration to or gifts for the certified judges • About $2 goes to fund the $5,000 guaranteed first place prize for KBF’s “100 Challenge,” the series championship that will take place the first weekend in November, concurrent with the “End on the Bend” KBF OPEN takes place on Toledo Bend in November. • That leaves $15 that goes into the prize pot for the Challenge.

Use only the 2- or 3-character Event ID Code provided for each event by KBF. In KBF Challenges, it’s the 3-character code that appears on the KBF Identifier Form in your TourneyX dashboard. For KBF TRAIL Series Tournaments, the Event ID Code is a 2-character code. To find the Event ID Code, log into TourneyX and in your dashboard, (1.) click the “Identifier” button. (2.) Click the event name on the next window. (3.) Find the 3-digit code printed on the KBF Identifier Form.

(In this example, that code is “SJA.”) “So what’s that 4-character code I see in TourneyX? The 4-character one under the event name?” That’s what TourneyX calls a Unique Angler ID Code (UAID), which it creates with each registration.

Each competitor is assigned a different code for each event. That 4-character code appears under the event name, near the top of Screen 3 in the illustration. DO NOT USE THE UAID CODE in KBF Competition.

There have been times when new KBF Members, fishing their first event, submitted photos where the UAID was present in lieu of the Event ID Code. In those cases, we counseled them on using the proper Event ID code, made an exception and accepted their fish, and advised them to not use the UAID Code again or their photos would be denied. However, use of the UAID is unnecessary. It offers no benefits to the anglers and just takes up space. The 2- or 3-character Event ID Code is required.

Judges have been instructed to deny photos that are submitted without the proper Event ID Code visible on the KBF Identifier Form. No, a KBF BONUS BUCKS participant doesn’t add a special mark or code to the identifier. When the competition rankings are finalized and the Tournament Director pull them into Excel, he also pulls a current list of everyone who enrolled in KB BONUS BUCKS up to the competition start time. If the top-ranked competitors are on that list, then they are awarded the appropriate bonus. The bonus amount and number of places paid varies by event category and generally increases with the number of event registrants.

Freeskycd Download. Judges are on the lookout for duplicates and will simply deny a duplicate photo or a second photo of the same fish by the same competitor in the same event. TourneyX generates an email to let you know if your photo was accepted or denied. If you upload a photo and want to remove it to submit a better one of the same fish, you’ll need to log into your TourneyX dashboard through a web browser (not the app). When you review your photos, you should find a “delete” button for each one. If that’s not possible, email the tournament director and request a photo be deleted through his dashboard, and when it’s gone, then you may upload a replacement.

KBF defines “eligible water” for each competition. To be eligible, the body of water must satisfy all four of these conditions.

• It must be public-use waters, where the general public is permitted to fish by the controlling authority (e.g., state, county, municipality, business, private individual, residential development association or property management group). Water posted “KEEP OUT,” “Off Limits” or “No Fishing” by the property owner or by municipal, state or federal agencies is most likely ineligible. However, if permission to fish a body of water is granted, without prejudice or bias, to anyone who meet’s the controlling authority’s terms and conditions, then the water is considered “public use” and is, therefore, eligible. If the controlling authority for a pay-to-fish lake does not discriminate so that any member of the public may pay the user fee to fish it, that’s considered eligible water, too.

• It must be within the event’s competition area boundaries established for each event by the Tournament Director. That may be state boundaries, or a certain number of nautical miles up- and down-river from a fixed point, or a set radius from a fixed point, or water up to a landmark.

An event may also include as eligible water any sloughs, coves, backwaters, or adjoining ponds that are contiguous to the main body of water and that can be reached by paddling and floating. Or, for another event, a Tournament Director may define eligible water to include smaller bodies of water temporarily or permanently separated from the main body by a gravel bar, swamp, levy, berm, road bed or other land form, that can be reached by dragging or portage. • It must publicly accessible. Competitors may not cross restricted property to reach it but must be able to access the water from or across publicly-accessible areas or right-of-ways. If a community pond is posted and reserved for residents only so that one must trespass in order to reach it, then it is not publicly-accessible and is, therefore, ineligible. For example, if a community or homeowner’s association provides an unrestricted, public access launch area for its public-use lake, even though it’s otherwise surrounded by private property, then it’s eligible. The requirement to pay a launch fee makes no difference; if anyone may pay the launch fee and thereby gain access to the public water, then it’s publicly accessible.

• It must not be restricted by date or time. If a lake has posted use or access times or fishing is allowed only during certain seasons, it is considered eligible only during the dates and hours permitted by the controlling authority. Water that does not meet those four conditions is ineligible, even if one is not physically prevented from driving to it and launching. Permission by a home-owner for a kayak angler or even a small group of them to use private lakes or ponds or cross private property does not make that water eligible. If a fish is caught according to the regulations of a state and the competition rules, then its photo is eligible submission in that State Challenge or the Challenge of a KBF Region of which that state is a part.

For example, a TX/LA reciprocal license agreement exists for Toledo Bend Reservoir. If you hold a fishing license from either of those states and are fishing from a boat, you may legally fish anywhere on the lake as long as you hold a license from either state. If you wade fish or fish from shore, you must have the license of the state in which you’re standing. So, if you sign up to fish in a Louisiana Challenge or a Southeast KBF Region Challenge and have either a TX or LA fishing license, you may submit photos to that event of bass legally caught anywhere on Toledo Bend. Ditto if you fish a Texas Challenge or a Big Sun KBF. Several years back, kayak anglers and kayak fishing clubs were using dozens of different measuring devices.

KBF began conducting online or “virtual” tournaments and addressed the need for standardization. At that time, KBF management evaluated all the measuring boards on the market, including the good, ol’ trusty Golden Rule, beloved by bass boat fishermen. KBF wanted a very durable, accurate, tamper-proof, floating board with quarter-inch increments that showed up clearly in photographs, curved to hold fish more securely, and that was a fair value in terms of price. Nothing like that existed at the time, so KBF selected the one that came closest — the Hawg Trough. Was it perfect?

Obviously not, but it was the best alternative commercially available then. That’s about to change. Since then thousands of kayak anglers have bought Hawg Troughs, which has enabled us to be consistent, fair, and objective in judging events. Even when better solutions become available and are approved by KBF, Hawg Troughs will still be acceptable in KBF competition for a specific transition period.

KBF has never been involved in Hawg Trough manufacture nor do we receive any financial consideration from their sales, either from the manufacturer or from retailers. We, too, are keenly aware of the deficiencies of the current product and approached several manufacturers over the years with suggestions and requests that they produce improved measuring devices. Two of America’s top kayak gear manufacturers have stepped up and are in the final stages of development of radically improved measuring boards. We expect them to be out in the next few months. From what we’ve seen so far, they will be much better than anything available on the market today. KBF does not require Hawg Trough lines to be inked, though we encourage the practice.

Competitors are free to ink them or notto paint them in camo or weird, psychedelic patterns if they prefer. Some smear ink or paint across the boards and scrape off the ridges so they stand out clearly. That’s fine, too. No matter whether a board is inked or not, or how sloppy it is, KBF judges do our best to evaluate each photo so scoring on every single fish is accurate and consistent with our rules and standards. We enlarge photos 500% or bigger in our browser views, export them to Photoshop to enhance visibility, contact competitors and request alternative photos of the same fish, and/or ask other judges to offer a second opinion. We do all that to be fair to you.

Well, not to all of you, because as far as I can tell, some of our most vocal critics in this topic have never competed in a KBF event and are not on any KBF Partner roster that has been provided to us. But we go to extremes to be fair to kayak anglers who are actually competing in KBF Tournaments and Challenges. Some might call that nit-picking. If so, they’re right.

We nit-pick to make sure that every competitor gets the maximum score for each fish he submits. From time to time KBF will advise anglers on best practices because we’re committed to conducting professional, fair competitive events and to helping the anglers who participate in them maximize their scores. KBF recommends that competitors ink the raised measurement “ribs” of their Hawg Troughs by laying a permanent felt-tip ink pen over on its side and stroking the top of each rib. Make every effort to get ink only on the top of each rib and not off to one side or the other. Hawg Troughs with quarter-inch marks where ink is also on the board–not just on the ribs–slow down KBF judges (and sometimes cost competitors a quarter inch in length). Judges have seen them inked off to the left of the measurement ribs, to the right, and sometimes fat ink lines spill over both sides.

In this photo, for example, thick inked lines are to the left of the ribs. Although the caudal fin tip touches the inked line, making it appear to be 17.75″, enhancing the photo (as represented in the lower image) shows that the fin falls short of the ribbed line, so KBF judges would score this fish as 17.50″. Laying your Sharpie over at a flat angle and running the side of the felt tip along the top of the rib, as shown in “B,” deposits a line of ink along the top of each rib.

A steeper angle (as in “A”) makes following the top of the rib more difficult. At any rate, if you want to help KBF do a more accurate job of judging, please ink just the top of each rib and not off to one side or the other.

States, in part: “A. Photo must be positioned in the photo and clear enough to read identifier, including required ID codes and marks.” Whether bass photos in KBF Challenges should be accepted or disqualified based on the readability or legibility of an identifier is an important question.

We see photos in almost every event where we have to exert extra effort to validate an ID that is not completely legible. We want all our members to fully understand our rules and rationales. We enter into a contract with each angler who registers to compete in KBF competition. KBF agrees to conduct a fair, impartial, professional event and make judgement calls in accordance with the rules, without bias or favoritism. The competitor agrees to comply with the rules and abide by the terms and conditions of competition. To that end, the judges in KBF events bend over backwards to evaluate each fish submitted to us on its merits, within the rules, and disqualify photos only as a last resort.

When possible, we impose progressive penalties for some infractions, like a bass’s mouth being open, instead of denying the photos outright. Our intention is to accept every fish photo we possibly can. Trying to do right by you, we go back to the first-generation photo and use several photo-enhancement techniques to help us make some photos more readable. When we’re able, we also compare identifiers in ones where they are overexposed, damaged, or partially obscured or cropped off to ones in more legible photos from the same angler in the same event.

If a photo provides enough evidence for the judge to authenticate an ID, we accept it. However, when KBF Tournament and Challenge judges are absolutely unable to make out the identifier marks in order to validate an ID, we DQ the photo. KBF Identifier Legibility The illustration for this post are pretty typical of photos we get with the partially obscured or overexposed ID forms. When, by looking at other evidence, we are to verify with 100% confidence that it’s the valid ID with the required marks, as in examples A and B, we approve the photo and proceed to judge it by the rest of the criteria. If we can’t, as in C, then we DQ the photo.

“Well, in that case,” you ask, “why should I got to any effort to be sure my identifier, ID code and any other required marks are in the photo, not covered, and readable?” Our advice is don’t even give a judge the opportunity to DQ your photo. Don’t rely on a judge’s grace or count on him having the time, ability, tools, or temperament to put in the extra effort needed to validate a blurry or hard-to-read ID. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” We appreciate each competitors’ vigilance commitment to KBF rules compliance. If you suspect an infraction or wish to report your own violation, the process described in KBF Rule #16.A. Is to inform the event’s TD privately, within 24 hours, and in writing of any suspected infraction and provide evidence substantiating the charges.

Unfortunately, it’s done because it closes the door, at least partway, on many ways of cheating. The temptation to stow a big fish in a net and feed it for a weeks or two before “catching” it again has proven irresistible to some bass fishing competitors in other tours.

We want to discourage anyone from trying this. Also, if that were permitted, someone might catch a 24-inch bass in a tiny pond and then release and re-catch the same bass several more times during the competition, thereby winning with just one big fish submitted over and over.

Finally, it discourages competitors from taking multiple shots of a fish—sometimes with wardrobe and staging changes for subterfuge—and then submitting those photos over a period of time. • An anglers submitting the same fish twice in the same competition, which has been known to happen hours, days, even weeks apart • A fish that is covered by the competitor’s hand, making identifying the fish or determining whether it’s alive or dead impossible.

• A photograph that is so unfocused or in which the camera shook during the photo to produce a double-image, making accurate measurement and determination of the fish’s condition impossible. • A fish that is restrained by a belt, clip, or other device that secures it to the Hawg Trough • A photo with the fish upside down, facing the wrong direction, or on another measuring device than the Hawg Trough. Specific infractions and judges responses are outlined in the KBF Competition Rules Standards. It is an Internet application that is accessible through a smartphone’s or computer’s wireless network or through hardwired networks.

C-Competitors log into TourneyX on the water and find the upload button in their “dashboard.” On-screen instructions guide the Competitor through the process of supplying the fish’s length and uploading the digital photo. When received, the date (digital photos are converted to a bunch of ones and zeroes, like in The Matrix) are stored in a database. Anyone with access to the application can see some of the photos.

The screens judges use allow them to change the reported length, subtract points, and either approve or deny each photo. Judges can also add comments, which the competitor receives via email. In tournaments, you will need to return early (see the KBF Competition Rules Addendum for the event you’re fishing) to turn in your media, which means removing and handing in the memory card or turning in your camera or camera/phone with a USB cable for downloading data. Judges will give you a claims slip and put your card or phone in a resealable plastic bag labeled with your name. After the data has been downloaded and the judges then upload your photos to TourneyX and verify that they display properly, then you’ll be called back to retrieve your memory card or phone/camera. In Challenges, find a computer connected to the Internet, download your photo the that computer, open a browser, log in at tourneyx.com, and submit your photo(s) through the dashboard. First, you cannot dispute a judges ruling regarding another angler’s score or penalties, only your own.

If you feel like a mistake has been made or a judges ruling was unjustified and you would like it reviewed, your first step is to go directly to the Tournament Director and inform him of the issue. Do NOT air your grievance with other anglers and attempt to gain support from a group; that’s going to backfire on you. Tournament Directors, more than anyone, are committed to impartiality, objective and fair judging, and consistency in applying the standards, and they are responsible for determining the course of action when a situation arises that is not specifically addressed in the rules. The point of using TourneyX is for speed, accuracy, and consistency. All digital photos must be entered into TourneyX prior to scoring. If you cannot do that on the lake or on your way back to Tournament HQ, then the judges will need to do that for you. It takes time to collect and label the camera or smart phone, download the images, and then manually upload them to TourneyX using the judges dashboard.

Rather than make all the other competitors wait on the few who cannot or choose not to upload to TourneyX, we require those competitors to report in an hour early. States, in part: “A. Photo must be positioned in the photo and clear enough to read identifier, including required ID codes and marks.”Whether bass photos in KBF Challenges should be accepted or disqualified based on the readability or legibility of an identifier is an important question. We see photos in almost every event where we have to exert extra effort to validate an ID that is not completely legible. We want all our members to fully understand our rules and rationales.We enter into a contract with each angler who registers to compete in KBF competition. KBF agrees to conduct a fair, impartial, professional event and make judgement calls in accordance with the rules, without bias or favoritism. The competitor agrees to comply with the rules and abide by the terms and conditions of competition.To that end, the judges in KBF events bend over backwards to evaluate each fish submitted to us on its merits, within the rules, and disqualify photos only as a last resort.

When possible, we impose progressive penalties for some infractions, like a bass’s mouth being open, instead of denying the photos outright. Our intention is to accept every fish photo we possibly can. Trying to do right by you, we go back to the first-generation photo and use several photo-enhancement techniques to help us make some photos more readable.

When we’re able, we also compare identifiers in ones where they are overexposed, damaged, or partially obscured or cropped off to ones in more legible photos from the same angler in the same event. If a photo provides enough evidence for the judge to authenticate an ID, we accept it.

However, when KBF Tournament and Challenge judges are absolutely unable to make out the identifier marks in order to validate an ID, we DQ the photo. The illustration for this post are pretty typical of photos we get with the partially obscured or overexposed ID forms.

When, by looking at other evidence, we are to verify with 100% confidence that it’s the valid ID with the required marks, as in examples A and B, we approve the photo and proceed to judge it by the rest of the criteria. If we can’t, as in C, then we DQ the photo.“Well, in that case,” you ask, “why should I got to any effort to be sure my identifier, ID code and any other required marks are in the photo, not covered, and readable?” Our advice is don’t even give a judge the opportunity to DQ your photo. Don’t rely on a judge’s grace or count on him having the time, ability, tools, or temperament to put in the extra effort needed to validate a blurry or hard-to-read ID. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!”We appreciate each competitors’ vigilance commitment to KBF rules compliance. If you suspect an infraction or wish to report your own violation, the process described in KBF Rule #16.A.

Is to inform the event’s TD privately, within 24 hours, and in writing of any suspected infraction and provide evidence substantiating the charges. This practice seems strange to bass tournament anglers who cut their teeth on bassboat tournaments. One of the advantages of CPR-type tournaments is that an angler can sign up for several tournaments and submit the same photo of a fish in all of them for which he is on eligible water, during competition hours, and withing the rules of each event. KBF allows competitors to participate in concurrent tournaments.

This topic has been fussed, cussed, and discussed. Before it reaches the “percussed” stage, Chad and I assembled all the opinions and arguments pro and con, and we weighed them carefully. We concluded that this practice serves the interests of individuals and the whole kayak fishing community. First, let me address the “it just doesn’t feel right” view. We respect that gut reaction. We, too, have encountered situations that seemed uncomfortable, risky, or shady to us, and even though there’s nothing we can exactly put our finger on or even express in words, we hear the auto-pilot in the back of our heads screaming “Pull up!

Pull up!” That little voice is the accumulation of years of conditioning and life experience. Sometimes it can save us from ruin, pain, and loss. But sometimes we all should step out of our comfort zones, consider new ideas, gain new experiences, and do a careful risk-benefit analysis, and we may decide to override the autopilot and switch to manual control.

If your first instinct is to cry foul and what’s been mischaracterized as “double-dipping,” please consider our perspective. Here’s our view. If you sign up for one tournament, catch a fish by the rules, submit the photo, and see how it stacks up against the competition, everyone’s happy. If there’s another tournament and you do the same for it, fishing only that other tourmament, all is well and good.

In either tournament, you caught developed your strategy, but in your time, money, and effort, applied your skills, and you pitted yourself against others in those same competitions. So what’s the difference if you are fishing two concurrent tournaments? You’re still competing against all the other anglers in each of the two tournaments.

Each fish you catch, photo, and submit for judging stands on it own in each competition for which it’s entered. The way KBF and other organizations’ events are scheduled, often there is overlap, and an angler can fish not just two but as many as five (or more) competitions at one time. For example, a fifteen-year-old angler at the 2017 KBF Rendezvous in Paris, TN could fish the KBF Young Guns, KBF OPEN, KBF National Championship, KBF HOW Big Bass Brawl, and on Saturday, April 1, submit fish caught that day in either the Tennesssee or Kentucky April KBF State Challenge. That’s actually six concurrent events for which any fish caught in reciprocal waters of Kentucky Lake or Barkley on Saturday would qualify, assuming the angler has entered every one of those tournaments and Challenges. There’s noting inherently wrong, dishonest, unethical, or however else you might choose to characterize this practice. It may not be how it was done in the bass tournament culture in which you were raised, but that just means it’s different that you’re used tonot wrong.

Bottom linedon’t violate your conscience. If you are entered in two, three, four or more simultaneous tournaments or challenges and catch a state-record class bass and feel it’s wrong to enter it in more than one competition, then don’t. Choose one and enter it there. You’re still competing againt others in that one competition, and your chances of winning are pretty good with a bass of a lifetime to your credit.

However, don’t denegrate or abuse anglers who choose to submit a photo of a quality fish in as many competitions as he can. That’s the culture we’ve established here, and it works just fine for us. The director selects each tied competitor’s biggest (that is, highest scored) bass from among all that contribute to the tied score. The duration or number of days in a tournament is immaterial; all photos that contribute to the total (tied) score are considered. The tie breaks in favor of whichever competitor has the biggest bass.

If the biggest bass are equal, then the second-biggest are compared, and if they’re the same length, then the thirdand then the fourth. If all four of the biggest bass are identical, then the tie breaks in favor of the angler whose upload time for his final bass was earliest. Cast your Senko by a laydown and, as it drifts down into the tree’s shadow, feel a tick.

Pause liftbumpreel down Whammmmmmmm-SNAP! Hey, where’s my fish? WHERE’S MY LINE???? Somewhere out there. Broke right at the rod tip. How’d that happen? Inspection reveals a cracked tip guide.

Felt like a good fish, too. Well, that rod’s toast for the day. Snip off a jig from another rod, tie on another 4/0 hook and dig out another Senko. Work on down the bank and give that log a few minutes to cool down, then swing back by for a second tryfirst probing the outer edges with your crankbait. As it flips over a branch, your plug feels different. Nope fishing line.

MY FISHING LINE! Hand over hand a few turns, and then a firm tug on the other end.

Woah, that fish is still on! Carefulwatch it. Easy guide it out, don’t horse it or it’ll wrap you up. Easily 18, maybe 20 inches. It gets a look at you and dives, rocking your kayak, but you’re able to turn it, bring it back and lip the bass! Hand still shakes a bit as you try to steady your camera for a shot.

Fish facing left with jaw against Hawg Trough fence.good. Hand away from the gill flap: check. Lure is still hooked on the right side of the bass’ mouth, under the fish; out of sight, preventing the mouth from closing completely, but you’re focusing on getting the tail positioned so it nicks the 19.25” line. Six quick shots, check themgreat; everything there, not blurry or cropped.

One glamour shot, remove the hook, then back in the lake. Next, pick the best photo, enter a score on TourneyX. What the heck! Didn’t notice that mouth open an eighth of an inch. Oh, well, still a good fish. If something like this happens to you, take a glamour shot so you can show it to people when you tell the story, but do not submit this fish for scoring.

By rule, to retrieve the fish and it be admissible, one must retrieve the line by hand or by scooping it up with the rod from which the line brokeno other way. Not another rod.

Not a lure, lure retriever, or stick. To secure the line by those means is not permitted by the rule and would constitute a willful, deliberate violation. Heres’s a typical scenario: During a KBF tournament, a competitor laid aside a couple of rods on his front deck as he and a buddy drift up a bank, each picking up a bass from time to time with spinnerbaits. Just as he finishes one retrieve and prepares for his next cast, he hears one of the spare rods scraping across the deck and notice a bend at its tip. He grabs it, sets the hook and flips a nice 17.25″ bass into the boat. Can he photograph and upload it, according to the KBF Rules?

No, he should not do that. Applies here. The white frog bait hanging at the end of a rod in the photo at right is in the air, not on or in the water. Notice the other rod is bent and the line stretches off into the water. An inattentive competitor might lay his extra rod down with enough line out so that the lure is in the water, where it can be grabbed by a bass. According to Rule 9.F.

Only one rod and reel may be in use at a time. Since a lure out of the water is considered to be NOT in use, then a rod with enough line out so the lure is in or on the water IS considered in use.

If a competitor is casting away with one outfit and another is lying on the deck with the lure in the water, then he is in violation of the rules during the time when he has two rods in use. Any fish he catches during that time should not be submitted for scoring. Therefore, the angler in this scenario must release the fish without submitting a photo. In fact, it’s unlikely that a judge would know of the infraction (unless the competitor or his buddy happened to mention it). But if anyone reports the infraction, it’s going to be bad news for the competitor.

This is one of those rules where the angler has little chance of pleading ignorance. Every competitors agrees that he has read, understands, and will abide by the rules (including 9.F.) If an angler hooks a fish on his spare rod, lying on the deck, there’s little doubt he knows that submitting the fish is wrong.

Would anyone do this? Well, if the fish caught in violation of the rules was big enough to win him a pot of money, a competitor might still be tempted to take the chance.

All he’s risking is loss of self-esteem, disqualification from the event, banishment from KBF, and legal action that could lead to fines, jail time, loss of livelihood, shame, ridicule, and scorn. Okay, let’s eliminate all tournaments where anyone’s work schedule conflicts. And let’s eliminate competitions that reward people who live in states where big largemouth bass predominate. We could do that by picking secret target numbers at random at the end of a competition, and whoever gets closest to that number places first, second closest second, and so on. And eliminate Entry Fees over $20. And allow no competitor to use equipment that costs more than everyone can afford. We’ll cap the kayak price at $600.

No paddles over $140. No electronics, no electric motors, no pedal drives since they’re beyond the reach of some competitors. And no more than two rods, neither of which can cost more than $60, matched with reels of no more than $80.

No expensive fluorocarbon lines. No lures that cost more than $6 apiece. Of course, no pay-to-fish lakes. And no lakes owned by private citizens or businessesonly “public” waters controlled and regulated by federal, state, and local governments. No one can fish more than 50 miles from home or stay in expensive hotels or lodges. Then maybe we can hold tournaments where everyone has an equal shot at winning. All things being equal, speed and range make a difference.

When it comes to tournament fishing success, though, it’s neither an electric motor or pedal drive but TOW (time on water), skill, knowledge, experience, arming oneself with the best info possible that wins tournaments. Gear is no substitute for those.

A skilled tortoise usually beats a speedy hare.. Whether or not you have an electric motor, here’s what really gives an advantage to a tournament competitor: • Get organized and comfortable with your gear setup so during tournament you have less anxiety and your “work flow” is smooth. • Practice on your own body of water at a tournament pace, employing a tournament strategy, by holding a one-man “self-tournament. Set yourself a typical tourney start/end time and push yourself to boat five keeper bass in that time. Identify the ways you lose fish and figure out what you can do to eliminate or reduce them. • Research the body of water. Google earth. Navionics app.

Develop a game plan. Prefish on the competition water if you’re able. To be eligible, the body of water must satisfy all four of these conditions.

• It must be public-use waters, where the general public is permitted to fish by the controlling authority (e.g., state, county, municipality, business, private individual, residential development association or property management group). Water posted “KEEP OUT,” “Off Limits” or “No Fishing” by the property owner or by municipal, state or federal agencies is most likely ineligible. However, if permission to fish a body of water is granted, without prejudice or bias, to anyone who meet’s the controlling authority’s terms and conditions, then the water is considered “public use” and is, therefore, eligible. If the controlling authority for a pay-to-fish lake does not discriminate so that any member of the public may pay the user fee to fish it, that’s considered eligible water, too. • It must be within the event’s competition area boundaries established for each event by the Tournament Director. That may be state boundaries, or a certain number of nautical miles up- and down-river from a fixed point, or a set radius from a fixed point, or water up to a landmark. An event may also include as eligible water any sloughs, coves, backwaters, or adjoining ponds that are contiguous to the main body of water and that can be reached by paddling and floating. Or, for another event, a Tournament Director may define eligible water to include smaller bodies of water temporarily or permanently separated from the main body by a gravel bar, swamp, levy, berm, road bed or other land form, that can be reached by dragging or portage.

• It must publicly accessible. Competitors may not cross restricted property to reach it but must be able to access the water from or across publicly-accessible areas or right-of-ways. If a community pond is posted and reserved for residents only so that one must trespass in order to reach it, then it is not publicly-accessible and is, therefore, ineligible. For example, if a community or homeowner’s association provides an unrestricted, public access launch area for its public-use lake, even though it’s otherwise surrounded by private property, then it’s eligible. The requirement to pay a launch fee makes no difference; if anyone may pay the launch fee and thereby gain access to the public water, then it’s publicly accessible. • It must not be restricted by date or time. If a lake has posted use or access times or fishing is allowed only during certain seasons, it is considered eligible only during the dates and hours permitted by the controlling authority.

Water that does not meet those four conditions is ineligible, even if one is not physically prevented from driving to it and launching. Permission by a home-owner for a kayak angler or even a small group of them to use private lakes or ponds or cross private property does not make that water eligible.