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RIVER CITY BASS CLUB POLICIES
CLUB POLICIES
(Revised 11-2018)

A. The policies of the RIVER CITY BASS CLUB may be amended at any regular meeting by two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. At the last meeting of each year the two-thirds will be reduced to a simple majority. Proposed amendments to the policies must be submitted in writing prior to the beginning of any regular meeting, except at the last meeting of each year.

B. Membership. (Also see Article II of the Constitution)

1. Application for membership may be by written application.

2. Application for membership can be voted at the first meeting that person attends until the membership reaches ninety (90). At that time, applicants will have to attend two (2) meetings before a vote can occur. Also, all applicants for membership must be voted in and all dues paid at or before the last meeting prior to any points tournament. The annual dues will be pro-rated for any member who joins after April 1st.

3. All prospective new members will be voted on separately, by name.

4. A negative vote by three (3) members will be cause to reject an eligible applicant for membership. The members who voted “no” must state their reasons before the Advisory Board.

5. A member will be dropped from the membership roster for the following:

a. Failure to pay all dues by the end of the first tournament in January.

b. Conviction of a felony.

c. Any action that would reflect dishonor or disgrace to the Club.

d. (See Article II of the Constitution)
6. Should a problem arise involving any of the above, the President shall appoint a five (5) member committee to investigate the problem and report its findings to the Club. A hearing will be granted upon the request of the individual involved, with continuing membership contingent upon approval of the Club.

7. All matters of disqualification, dismissal from the Club or any other personal issues must be voted on by secret ballot. (E.G. majority of members present and voting.)
C. The Advisory Board will formally review all members on an on-going basis, or as necessary for possible removal from the membership roster.

D. The dates for the Points Tournaments will be recommended by the Advisory Board and approved by the Club, no later than March’s first meeting.

1. There will be twelve (12) Points Tournaments during the course of the year.

2. The entry fee for each tournament is $25 per participant. (Exception is 2 day tournaments entry fee will be $35 to accommodate big bass and heavy stringer pots for each day).

3. A member may fish with a guest at any points tournament. The guest will pay the regular entry fee, and will share in any prize money won by the team. If the guest wins the Big Bass Pot, it will be the pot from the tournament only. A person may only be a guest once per year unless they meet the following criteria:
     a) a child of the member under the age of 14 all year until his/her 14th birthday
     b) a spouse of member may fish three times as a non-member
     c) a child or spouse must fish with the family in which they meet the criteria

4. Tournaments will be held on Sundays and will be of duration no more than ten hours per day. The exception to the above rules are:

Night Tournaments

*There will be a maximum of three night tournaments per year.

*Night tournaments may start Saturday evening and conclude Sunday during daylight hours.

Marathon Tournaments

*There will be a maximum of one marathon tournament per year.

*A marathon tournament is considered to be a night tournament.

*A marathon tournament may be longer than ten hours total.

Two-Day Tournament (Revised 3-2008)

*There will be a maximum of two(2) two-day tournaments per year.

*There will be a weigh-in each day. The total of the two weigh-ins will apply toward the points standings and prizes.

Draw Tournaments

*There will be a maximum of two draw tournaments per year.

*Each member that does not bring a non-boater must fish alone.

*The draw will occur approximately one hour prior to the tournament start time.
5. Tournament payouts for each $25 entry are as follow: $5 will be placed in Club Treasury, $5 goes to Big Bass Pot, $5 goes to Heavy Stringer Pot and $10 goes to team payouts to 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Winning team(s) payouts are 50% to 1st place, 30% to 2nd place and 20% to 3rd place. (Exception is 2 day entry fee will be $35 to accommodate each day(s) big bass and heavy stringer pots).

6. All RIVER CITY BASS CLUB members will use a live release for all fish caught. This does not apply to dead or trophy bass.

7. One point will be added to each member’s club point total for each meeting attended. These points will be shown separately from the tournament points in the Club Standing Bulletin. Each member must sign the Meeting Attendance Sheet at the meeting to qualify for the points.
E. The following rules shall prevail at all RIVER CITY BASS CLUB tournaments.

1. Lake to be fished, start/stop time, and weigh-in location will be voted on no later than the meeting prior to the tournament. These options will be nominated from the floor, and a vote will be taken on each option. The two top lakes will be voted on again to make the final choice of lake to be fished. All lakes must be within 100 miles of Austin, with the exception of two-day tournaments (any distance), and two one-day points tournaments which can be within 200 miles of Austin. Lakes cannot be fished back-to-back (consecutive months). RCBC will be allowed only to fish two times on any one lake per year, with the exception of fishing one lake a total of three times in one year.

2. Tournaments will have a five (5) fish limit per entrant, unless local lake regulations state smaller limitations. Pooling of fish will result in disqualification of both team members.

3. Pre-fishing will be limited to one (1) day before any one-day tournament or three (3) days before a two-day tournament beginning the Monday prior to the tournament. Pre-fishing must end eight (8) hours before the start of the tournament.

4. Size restriction for weighed fish to be 14 inches for large-mouth, small-mouth, spotted, and Guadalupe bass.

5. Any fish that shows evidence of being stretched will be disqualified prior to weigh-in (fish with broken neck, cut, or other wise mutilated).

6. Any fish brought in to be weighed by the Club that is under 14 inches or violated federal, state, or lake size restrictions will disqualify the entire stringer including all points for that day.

7. All U.S. Federal and State fishing game laws must be observed. Any violation of federal or state game laws will result in automatic disqualification of that days catch by the Club member or guest.

8. All members must have a RIVER CITY BASS CLUB shirt, jacket, vest, jumpsuit, or hat unless these items are not available for purchase during Club meetings. This apparel should be worn at the starting and weigh-in times set for each tournament. It may be taken off during the tournament.

9. All contestants in Club tournaments must wear wear life jackets any time the boat is on plane during the tournament. Failure to do so will result in disqualification and loss of all points and/or prizes for that day.

10. Fish caught on natural bait (minnow, crawfish, live or dead earthworms, chubs, hellgrammites, slugs, pinworms, grubs, eels, and in general, any live bait) are not eligible at weigh-ins. (See F-6) Fishing with pork rinds, pork eels, pork frogs, or pork salamanders is permitted. FOR FISH TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR WEIGH-IN CREDIT, THEY MUST BE CAUGHT ON ARTIFICIAL BAIT. If a member of the club questions the nature of any specific bait, the Advisory Board will make the Final decision of its acceptability.

11. Trolling during a tournament is not permitted. Failure to abide by this rule will result in disqualification for that day.

12. Only one rod may be used per contestant at any one time during a tournament.

13. Casting distance between boats involved in a RIVER CITY BASS CLUB tournament should be maintained at all times during the tournament hours.

14. No fish in live well prior to tournament. If done, there will be automatic disqualification of the team from the tournament.

15. Any team or person that brings over the legal limit of fish in their boat or vehicle to the weigh-in is automatically disqualified from that tournament.

16. Protest and policy violations maybe brought back to a board meeting for further discussion at the discretion of the club president, vice president and board members or advisory board members with the authority based on attendance in this order, otherwise the following rules apply: all protests of a policy violation must be lodged at weigh-in to the tournament director or club officer. Any member of RIVER CITY BASS CLUB has the right to lodge a protest. If a protest is lodged, a decision involving tournament disqualification will be made by the Advisory Board members present within one (1) hour. Weigh-in will be officially over immediately after the tournament director announces the results of the weigh-in. No protests may be lodged after this time.

17. All fishing must be done from a two-person boat. There will be no wading, bank fishing, or fishing from inner tubes or one person rafts during tournaments.

18. It is permissible for a member to fish without a partner if they have tried unsuccessfully to find a partner. They would eligible for only one-half of the prize money for placing in the tournament. The other of the money will be placed in the Club treasury.

19. All sign-ups for a tournament should be made by the conclusion of the meeting preceding the tournament. In the event they cannot be made the following will apply:

a. In cases where a member cannot sign-up prior to the tournament they should call any officer or member of the Advisory Board no later than 10 p.m. the night before the tournament stating their intention of fishing the tournament.

b. Entry fee(s) must be paid before you weigh your fish.

c. If a person signs up to fish a tournament and an emergency arises where they can’t fish, they must notify any officer or member of the Advisory Board by 10 p.m. the night before the tournament and their entry fee will be refunded.

d. Any member who signs up to fish a tournament but does not attend weigh-in must call any officer or member of the Advisory Board by 10 p.m. the evening of the tournament and report the status of their team whether they fished or not.

e. Tournament director and club president have the final decision on terminating a tournament due to inclement weather.
20. Any team that starts before the tournament starting time or is late to weigh-in, as determined by the Tournament Director, will be disqualified.

21. There will be 30 minutes of traveling time permitted at the conclusion of each one-day tournament prior to weigh-in. There will be one (1) hour of traveling time permitted at the conclusion of each day of every two-day tournament prior to weigh-in.

22. In the event of a tie for eighth place position in the yearly Club standings a coin toss will decide the winner.
F. BIG BASS AWARDS: (Note: Big Bass is defined as being five (5) pounds or larger.)

1. Recipient must be a member of the RIVER CITY BASS CLUB when fish is caught, and at time of awards presentation.

2. Annual Big Bass - Top five (5) Annual Big Bass awards will be any Bass weighing 5 pounds or more caught in the 12 RCBC Points Tournaments.

3. Recipients of annual Big Bass awards will receive a $50 gift certificate, a trophy or $50 cash. If a member wins two or more of these awards, their trophy will have separate plaques for each bass. Note: A member must attend at least 50% of the meetings per year and not miss four consecutive club meetings and/or three consecutive club points tournaments to be eligible for annual Big Bass awards.

4. All Big Bass must be caught using rod, reel, and artificial lures. (See E-10 above)
G. If for some reason, beyond his or her control, a member is unable to attend tournaments or meetings on a regular basis he or she may present their case before the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will review the case and present their recommendations to the Club for majority vote.

H. There is a NO SMOKING policy at all RIVER CITY BASS CLUB meetings.

I. Any member who finished that year in the Top Eight (8) must be paid up, continuously active member the following year to be eligible to represent the RIVER CITY BASS CLUB in the Top Eight (8) tournaments. Top Eight (8) replacements and/or alternates will be chosen in sequence below eight place.

J. The RIVER CITY BASS CLUB will provide financial assistance to the Top Eight (8) fisher persons representing the Club using the following guidelines:

1. The Club will provide each of the Top Eight (8) Anglers with $200.00 cash.

2. If Club is affiliated with any other association, entry fees will be paid for the Championship Tournament.