Bylaws

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General Bylaws

  1. Each member needs to be a B.A.S.S. member and a Georgia BASS Federation Nation member. Members are not required to own a boat; however, members and/or prospective members are responsible for maintaining a minimum of $300,000 of liability insurance on all boats used at Club functions. Any Club Officer has the right to verify proof of insurance at the time of membership or whenever deemed necessary. 
  2. If a member cannot attend the meeting and wishes to fish, he must contact the Tournament Director or other Club Officer prior to the drawing of partners or no later than 24 hours after the meeting.
  3. Any member, who has agreed to fish a tournament and cannot, must inform his partner within 48 hours of the tournament. If notified in less than 48 hours then non boater fees are still due to boater. Any other extenuating circumstances will be decided by the board of directors.
  4. Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month unless the date lands on a holiday in which case the meeting will be held on the Wednesday of the previous week.  Tournament sites and official tournament dates will be selected at the meeting for the upcoming month.
  5. In the event that the Tournament Director needs to cancel a tournament at a scheduled lake due to a safety issue, such as inclement weather conditions or ramp closings due to flooding, the Tournament Director will make the decision to cancel the tournament not less than 48 hours prior to the scheduled tournament start time. The Tournament Director will inform the Members that the primary tournament location has been canceled and the tournament will be held at the default lake and ramp via text message, phone call or any other method necessary to ensure that all competitors are notified. 
  6. Tournament pairings are decided by blind draw.  In the event that there are more boaters than non-boaters we highly recommend for safety reasons that the extra boaters work out an arrangement to fish together. New prospective members must fish with at least two current members before joining club.  
  7. The same two members cannot fish together in consecutive tournaments.
  8. Tournament dues must be paid at the meeting.  Active members are required to pay monthly dues whether they participate in the tournament or not.  All back dues must be paid at the next meeting. No refunds on prepaid dues with exception of a member who has fallen on hard times. 
  9. Non-boater fees are as follows: $40.00 per day, per lake fished. $50.00 per day, per lake fished which require 2 or more hours of travel from the club’s meeting place.
  10. Tournament hours shall not exceed 10 hours. 
  11. The club hereby agrees to abide by all the B.A.S.S. rules and By-laws.
  12.  A club member is NOT ELIGIBLE to participate in a club sponsored tournament if member is 3 or more months behind on membership dues. Club Secretary/Treasurer is responsible for notifying the member of ineligibility at the meeting or prior to the tournament.

Dues are as follows: 

  • A) Annual membership dues: National B.A.S.S – $30.00, Georgia B.A.S.S. – $30.00 and NGBA – $30.00.        Annual dues are due at the first meeting of the new season.
  • B) Monthly tournament dues are $25.00 for a single day tournament and $50.00 for a true two day tournament.
  • C) Prospective member dues are $25.00 per month.
  • D) Guest fee is $25.00 per tournament. A guest is a friend of a member or a past member who wishes to fish and is not on the active roster.

Removal of Membership 

      1. Infractions or flagrant disregard of fundamental sporting principles such as sportsmanship, safety, courtesy and conservation are grounds for removal.
      2. Any action, which would reflect, dishonor and disgrace on this chapter. 
      3. To vote a member out of the club, a complaint must be lodged by a member or members to the Board of Directors at a regular club meeting.  The member being voted on must be present.  After hearing both sides of the complaint, the membership present will vote by a written ballot with majority rule.  The Board of Directors can make a decision to remove a member without the majority vote of club members in extreme situations.  

Rules Applying to All Prospective members 

      1. All prospective members have the option to fish with the member who sponsored them for their first tournament.
      2. The only monetary winnings a prospective member qualifies for is the optional daily Big Fish pot if the pot fee is paid.
      3. The prospective members earned tournament and meeting points are recorded but points do not become official until after the prospective member is voted in as an active member.
      4. All prospective members must pay club dues. (No Refunds)
      5. All prospective members will be voted on once the club members have come to a decision on the prospective member. There is no set time frame for becoming a member.
      6. All prospective members must attend the meeting before the membership vote can be taken.  

Rules Applying to All Guests (friends and past members who wishes to fish but not join the club)  

  • Guests do not earn club points.
  • Guests do not earn prize money or place in tournaments.
  • Guests can enter the optional tournament big fish pot for that tournament.
  • Guests must follow all club rules.
  • Guests must make a $25.00 donation, per tournament fished to the club.  

Election of Officers 

 President – Allan Hise

Tournament Director – Phil Moon

         Secretary/Treasurer – Robert Burdette

The term of office is based upon the club’s scheduled season.  Officer elections take place at the last meeting of the scheduled season.  Newly elected Officers assume the position at the following meeting.  

In the event an office becomes vacant, nominations shall be taken at the next regularly scheduled meeting. A majority vote of members present will be required to fill the office for the remainder of the term.

Tournament Rules 

      1. The Tournament Director will control start and finish of tournament and will enforce tournament rules. 
      2. All competitors must obey State fishing laws, safety laws, and B.A.S.S. Tournament rules. A maximum of 5 legal fish, per competitor, are allowed in live well at any given time. When the 6th fish is caught, one fish must be culled immediately. If more than 5 fish are presented at the weigh in, the largest fish will not be weighed in.
      3. All boats must be launched and/or ready to launch 15 minutes before tournament starts. 
      4. Non-boaters will furnish their own life jacket.  Life jacket must be worn when the boats gas motor is running.  All boats must be of bass style, have working kill switches, and aerated live wells. Boat inspections will be done periodically by the Tournament Director. If violations are found then the appropriate action will be taken. 
      5. Any competitor attempting to weigh in a short fish will be given a warning and the fish will not be counted. The second time will result in a 20 point reduction for the tourney year. The 3rd offense will be left up to the discretion of the Board of Directors. Any member can request a fish length check on another Competitors weigh-in bag.
      6. Any member who is not in by the official weigh in time will be penalized at the rate of 10 ounces per minute for that day’s catch, and disqualified after 15 minutes, except for boats-in-tow with a mechanical failure. In the event of a break down, a cell phone call or direct communication with other members will preserve your catch. In the event of engine failure or boat damage and the boat can’t be towed in, the member’s catch can be transported in to the weigh-in with both members present at the weigh-in. 
      7. If a boat does not return to the ramp at the official weigh-in time a search party will be formed to find the missing members. 
      8. If any member needs to leave early from the tournament he must notify one of the Club Officers of that need to leave and the reason. If you cannot locate anybody please leave a note on one of the vehicles at the ramp. 
      9. Competitors in B.A.S.S. tournaments are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, and conservation.  Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of other club members.  
      1. Any member wishing to protest must tell the Tournament Director at the weigh-in.  Protests will be resolved by the Board of Directors immediately after the weigh-in and before the tournament results are announced. In the absence of the Tournament Director, another Officer will assume Tournament Director duties. 
      2. In the event of a tie on total weight, most fish determine the winner. If still tied, largest fish will determine the winner.
      3. A bag limit of 5 fish consisting of any combination of Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spots, Shoal Bass and Red Eye Bass or any Black Bass species recognized by B.A.S.S. may be weighed in.  Minimum lengths shall be as prescribed in the State Fish & Game Regulations for the State and lake fished. Weigh-in will not start until all boats are, beached at the ramp, tied to the dock, or on the trailers. All fish will be measured with the mouth closed and tail squeezed. 
      4. Competitors in tournaments are allowed to weigh-in one dead fish per tournament day with no penalty. The second through fifth dead fish will result in an 8 once penalty for each dead fish, off of the total weight for the day.  A dead fish cannot be culled.
      5. Current big fish is to be held in water till end of weigh-in. In event of tie with both fish being alive and identical weight then a balance beam will determine winner.  If there is still a tie for big fish then total weight will determine winner.
      6. The big fish pot fee is optional. Members can choose to pay $5 to enter the tournament big fish pot or $5 to enter the running over 6 lb pot for big fish weighing more than 6 lbs (5 lbs for Spots). The $5 for the 6 lb pot must be paid even if a member didn’t fish the tournament to remain in the side pot. For just the daily tournament pot the fee is $5. To enter the Big Fish 6 lb pot, a member or past member must pay the monthly $5 fee retroactively to the date the pot was last won or $60 which every is less.  
      7. No alcoholic beverages are to be consumed during tournament hours. 
      8.  Non-swimmers must inform their partners and wear life vests at all times. If water conditions warrent ie: rough weather or below dams, we strongly support using life vest at all times. 
      9. No Show or Late person will be called 15 minutes before blast off and given 10 minutes to respond, before being taken out of the tournament. If a boater doesn’t make the blast off, his non-boater will be placed with another Competitor at the discretion of the Tournament Director. 
      10. The Tournament Director has final authority on all tournament related matters.
      11. Top Six Qualifications:  The individual anglers and alternates will be chosen based on rankings using standings from the tournament year ending a month before the Top Six Tournament. If any chosen angler cannot fish in the Top Six tournament, the standings from end of fishing year will be used to determine alternates, starting with the next place finisher and so on until an alternate angler is found to represent the club. 

 Point Awards 

      1. Ten (10) bonus points will be awarded for each meeting attended. 
      2. Ten (10) bonus points will be awarded for each tournament fished 
      3. One (1) point will be awarded for each ounce of fish weighed in and recorded less any penalties if applicable. 
      4. A total of five (5) points will be awarded for a limit of 5 fish released alive at weight in. 
      5. The money you win at the tournament will be paid at the next meeting or rolled over for future monthly dues.

 

Tournament Payout 

We will pay the Top Boater and Top Non-Boater in the Club’s monthly Tournaments. 

1st Place Boater $100.00

1st Place Non-Boater $100.00