2024 Season Bass Open Rules and Regulations - Event Rules
Tournament Director Phone
- Freedom/NETBAIT Cory Banford 613-802-1382
- Freedom Steve Ackland 613-407-7577
- Alternate Erin Banford 613-340-1562
See Website for Series Rules
- *** Please be respectful of all land owners, other boaters, no wake zones, and sanctuaries. Complaints received against a team will receive a warning, second complaint may lead to disqualification. If a land owner asks you to move on, PLEASE do so.*** ANY TEAM CAUGHT SKIPPING OUT ON LAUNCH FEE’S WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THAT LAKE ALL SEASON
- A 12 inch minimum length is required (from tip to tip).
- If an undersized fish is brought in, a penalty of 1 pound will be enforced and loss of fish.
- Total weight of 5 fish (large or small mouth bass only).
- When under power (in gear) of main engine you must have your life jacket on and you must not be fishing. You must also have the kill switch cord attached to you. While In gear, the trolling motor MUST be up and in the locked position, and Both members of the team also MUST be sitting in the drivers and passenger seats only. Not sitting on the deck, or fishing seats (front and back).
- Artificial lures only.
- Landing nets are allowed.
- A fish must be alive and able to swim away on it's own to qualify for the Big Fish Prize pool.(weigh master has final call)
- Only 1 big fish can be weighed, teams MUST have the big fish tagged and ready to be weighed first. Only 1 big fish prize can be won each event.
- A boat may not come to shore during the tournament. Exceptions: thunderstorm or very bad weather. For washroom duties you may use a public facility but one person must stay with the boat at all times.
- You may have your legal limit of fish in your livewell (in accordance with MNR Regulations) but you must cull to 5 fish before starting your main engine. A 1 pound penalty will be imposed for each extra fish.
- There will be a 0.50 pound penalty for each dead fish weigh-in. The penalty will be applied against the total catch. If a fish cannot swim away on its own even though it's breathing, it's dead. You have 5 minutes to revive it. A team may cull a dead fish up to 2 times in a season and must be put in a bag and placed on ice for consumption. All dead fish culls must be reported to the tournament director. 3 or more dead fish in a season must be kept and used as part of a teams 5 fish limit. Anyone caught releasing a dead fish will be automatically disqualified!
- Boats will be inspected for compliance of regulations at launch time. Tournament director can inspect your boat at anytime during the tournament.
- Boats may be moved into an earlier flight if tournament director cuts down the number of flights.
- A 1 pound penalty will be issued for each minute that a team arrives later than Flight Schedule Time and you are also disqualified from the big fish prizes. No exceptions for being late (breakdown, out of gas, lost etc.)
- You cannot transfer your fish to another boat in the event of a breakdown unless the transfer is fully approved by the Director, instructions will be given.
- The use of cell phones is prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification. Allowable exception is a call to the tournament director.
- The Weigh Master has total authorization over the entire weigh-in procedure.
- You may request am immediate reweigh and that reading will become your official weight.
- You may not come into contact with any other boat. Exception to this rule as defined in the boating regulations is you must assist a boat in distress. If possible call and inform the tournament director. Lending repair tools, or giving water to another team is an exception to assist your fellow anglers.
- No Alcohol, Marijuana, or any non prescribed medication substances to be consumed before or during SFL events. ZERO TOLERANCE! 100% disqualification and ban from any future events.
- After weighing in, fish must be returned to your boat and released gently in front of SFL acting check in boat.
- Un-sportsmanship behaviour will not be tolerated and will result in immediate disqualification and possible suspension from all other Shootout Fishing League events.
- You MUST see the Dock Master for direction at weighin. No team will be accepted to weighin without approval.
- No Team is allowed to bring trailered fish to the scales, will receive automatic DQ.
- All Protests will have a deposit of $100. Your deposit will be refunded IF the protest is seen in your favour. All protests MUST be submitted to the tournament director before daily rewards.
- All teams must use Non piercing cull tags
- No team is permitted to encroach, cut in front, cut across, or start fishing in front of other Contestants boat that was first anchored or in a clear fishing position. An anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight or by a Power-Pole or similar shallow water anchor with the trolling motor in the up position. Doing so could result in an automatic disqualification as this is seen to be a form of bad sportsmanship.
- No team is permitted to encroach, cut in front, cut across, or start fishing in front of other Contestants boat that was first anchored or in a clear fishing position. An anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight or by a Power-Pole or similar shallow water anchor with the trolling motor in the down position. Doing so could result in an automatic disqualification as this is seen to be a form of bad sportsmanship.
- Deadline for registration are Thursdays at midnight! Each team MUST to be Fully paid, with registration forms complete.
- No refunds will be offered After Thursday’s at midnight for each up coming event for teams wanting to pull out for reasons such as boat breakdowns, other events, ect.
- No Teams will be accepted to enter events after Thursday’s at midnight. Zero exceptions.
- Prefishing cut offs are 12 hours before the start of each event. (7PM)
All SFL Series events (excluding Championship) are $250 which include Entry Fee, taxes $6.50 HST per boat, and Big Fish pool.
SFL Series event Championships are $150 which include Parking and Big Fish pool.
THE TOUR
To fish the Freedom 2024 Championships, teams MUST be registered for ALL 6 “TOUR” events. Teams must consist of 2 anglers, and 2 spares are allowed per team if needed. Spares are NOT championship eligible.
Lakes are considered officially off limits starting 2 weeks before the start of each event. Each team is allowed 1 day of your choice to prefish each lake during that 2 week period. No team shall fish, scout, or sight fish more than once during that period. Both anglers can fish that day, fishing from separate boats are allowed, but partners splitting days is prohibited. Fishing other tournaments is permitted but doing so during the “off limits” dates will count towards your prefishing day.
Tour events are OPEN to all teams, not just championship registered teams.
Tour teams will rotate flights equally throughout the season and will have a separate set of boat numbers from the open teams.
TOY will be based off best 7 of 9 Regular season event results. Big fish events are NOT regular season events.
* Shootout Fishing League has official authority for any last minute event changes, and rule changes in the best interest for the organization, anglers, and event locations. Verbal announcements will be made about changes and all teams must request a full refund before the 7am start time if any angler disagrees or has concerns. Shootout Fishing League runs all events under an invitational structure. Shootout Fishing League has full authority to refuse entry to any angler that Shootout Fishing League feels they don't have the best interest of the organization, anglers, or sport. No “Pro” registered, or registering angler into the following series or events “MLF Bass Pro Tour, MLF TackleWarehouse Pro Circuit, Bassmaster Elite Series tour Anglers”. SFL Freedom, and Netbait Series Events are reserved for “amateur“ status anglers only. SFL holds the right to deny any angler that registers for either a SFL Team, Or Solo event should we feel it’s for 100% financial gain only by that angler/team, or should we feel it will harm the sport/Series, or should we believe it is just to cherry pick certain bodies of water.
