2024 C.A.S.T. OFFICIAL RULES & REGULATIONS
1. LAWS: State, Federal, and Local Laws must be obeyed.
2. MEMBERSHIP: A $50.00 membership fee in the Couples Association of Sport Tournaments will start January 1st of each year and expire December 31st of that same year. Paid membership entitles members to fish any C.A.S.T. tournament in any region. Participants may join C.A.S.T. any time during the year. If a primary partner is replaced during the year, the new primary partner will be required to pay a $25 membership fee.
3. ELIGIBILITY OF PARTICIPANTS: Participation in any C.A.S.T. tournament is open to all couples consisting of one male and one female in good standing with the Couples Association of Sport Tournaments. Anyone deriving an established or designated income associated with fishing as a profession will be ineligible to fish in C.A.S.T. tournaments. Decisions regarding eligibility are at the sole discretion of the C.A.S.T. owners.
4. TEAMS: Both team members must be present at all first regional tournaments entered for the season. (If a team qualified to fish the Classic in the prior year, they may fish the first tournament with only one team member present as described in the following.) Once a team has fished a tournament with both members present, they may fish two (2) tournaments with only one (1) of the primary team members present – these two allowed tournaments may be fished alone or with a substitute. The substitute partner must be the same person throughout the year. Initial substitution will not be permitted for the C.A.S.T. TOP SIX Invitational or the C.A.S.T. Classic Tournament. Post season tournaments must be fished with an established partner or alone. If circumstances require that a team replace one of the primary partners, this may be done once per year and must be done prior to postseason. Only two (2) people per boat will be allowed at the Top Six and Classic Tournaments. These two must be an established C.A.S.T. team. New Primary partner must pay a $25 membership fee. Points with a new primary partner will continue as with the original team. If a team pays for 4 tournaments, but the team does not fish any of the tournaments, in order to get qualifying points. – both primary partners must fish the Classic together, no exceptions.
5. ENTRY FEES: Every contestant will be required to pay an entry fee. No one will be allowed to fish a C.A.S.T. tournament free in exchange for promotional or other considerations. Entry fee for each team for regional tournaments is $140.00 per tournament, annual TOP SIX Invitational is $150.00(see rule 9 below), and the C.A.S.T. Classic Championship is $200.00. If joining after the conclusion of the first tournament in a region the team is required, in addition to the payment of membership dues of $50.00 and tournament fee of $140, a pre-payment of $140 for the next tournament as well. PAYOUT: Tournament Directors will use the official C.A.S.T. payout scale for all regional and combined tournaments. Payout at combined tournaments will be paid in order of finish regardless of regional membership. In the event of a tie, prize money for tied positions will be combined and evenly split. The prior Anglers of the year for each region will get free entry into that regions next year six regional tournaments. Membership Fee, Top Six Entry Fee and Classic Fee are not included and must be paid by the AOY. If AOY changes partners from the prior year– the AOY partner gets their ½ free but the new established partner must pay ½ of the entry fee.
6. BIG BASS AWARDS: Contestants must select their Big Bass at the time of weigh-in. In the event of a tie, the Big Bass award will be evenly split. For regions that weigh Ladies Big Bass, your LBB must be tagged in your weigh bag when weighing in. Untagged fish will only count towards total weight or Overall BB not LBB.
7. TOURNAMENT POINTS: Points are awarded as 100 for 1st Place, 99 for 2nd Place, etc. All contestants not weighing a fish will receive 10 points less than the last place couple who weighed at least one fish. If the team pays but does not fish the tournament, the team will receive 25 show points.
Couples may pay an additional membership fee in any region(s) for purposes of receiving qualifying points for end of season championship events. Points do not transfer from region to region. Combined tournaments of two or more regions will award points based on where couples finish in their respective region. Example, South and North regions fish together as a combined tournament. If 1st thru 3rd place are North couples and 4th place is a South couple, 1st thru 3rd receive 100, 99, 98 points respectively in the North Region, and 4th place, the South couple receives 100 points for finishing first in the South Region. End of year ties will be broken by total weight for the year.
8. CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP: Teams qualifying for the Classic tournament must have a minimum of 300 points or pay entry fees for four of the six tournaments in a designated region.
9. TOP SIX INVITATIONAL: Teams may qualify for the annual TOP SIX Invitational Tournament in any region(s) in which they are paid members. The entry fee for each region is $900 ($150 per couple if six couples or $180 per couple if five couples) Each region must be represented by a minimum of five teams. In addition to the entry fee couples will pay for a one night hotel stay and dinner for two. Lake location will be announced in advance of the tournament date. The lake will be off-limits once it is announced and no refunds will be made. TOP SIX qualifiers are defined as members who finished first through sixth in a region(s) in which they are paid members. In the event a first through sixth place couple declines, members who finished starting with 7th place and in descending order may participate as alternates. Any first through sixth place eligible couple choosing to decline the invitation must do so prior to the lake location being announced. Couples in first through sixth qualifying positions who decline after the lake location is announced will forfeit participation in the following year’s event. Scouting the lake by all couples will be allowed one day prior to the tournament. Tournament directors will designate hours for the scouting period. Teams are not allowed to solicit or accept information from anyone fishing on the lake prior to the event once the lake is announced. Violation of any of these rules will result in disqualification of the entire team without refund of entry fees. TOP SIX weigh-in will take place in a closed setting with weights being revealed only to each TOP SIX couple. In the event a region is represented by five couples only, the lowest weight from the teams with six couples will be discarded. Results of the tournament will be revealed at the C.A.S.T. Classic Championship.
10. FISH & SIZE LIMITS: There will be a five (5) fish limit per team. Dead fish will incur a 1/2 pound penalty, there can be no culling of dead fish. Teams may keep no more than five bass in the livewell. Fish will be 14 inches in length unless State or Federal rules apply. There will be a one (1) pound penalty for each short fish and the short fish will not be weighed. A ProRule flat board will be used to determine the length of tournament fish. Only Largemouth, Kentucky and Smallmouth Bass will be weighed. Only artificial lures may be used. Any culling of fish must be done immediately after the sixth fish is landed. No culling of fish at the weigh-in site will be allowed. All fishing must be done by casting only. Trolling is not allowed.
11. CHECK-IN TIME: All couples weighing fish must check-in with tournament officials by check-in time. Couples checking in after the designated time will not be allowed to weigh their fish and will receive show points only. The director will let you know before each tournament the times. NO EXCEPTIONS.
12. SAFETY: Safe boating procedures must be utilized and observed throughout all C.A.S.T. tournaments. Each contestant is required to wear a chest-type life preserver any time the boat is on plane. All boats must be equipped with an ignition kill switch which must be attached to the driver anytime the combustible engine is running (the only exception is when loading and unloading the boat). Any C.A.S.T. contestants found in operation of a boat or in participation in a tournament while under the influence of alcohol and/or illegal drugs will be disqualified from the current tournament and all future C.A.S.T. tournaments. No alcohol or illegal drugs may be consumed during tournament hours.
13. SPORTSMANSHIP: Anyone displaying poor sportsmanship, is cited for violation of state or local laws, acting in a manner that reflects negatively on C.A.S.T.'s high standards, or violating official rules will, at the discretion of the tournament director, forfeit their entry fee and be disqualified from current and future C.A.S.T. tournaments.
14. PROTEST: Any contestant wishing to file a protest of any kind must do so in writing within 5 minutes after the official weigh-in is over.
15. POLYGRAPH: C.A.S.T. reserves the right to administer random polygraph tests. Failure to pass or take a polygraph will result in disqualification. All contestants will abide by the results of the test as determined by the director.
16. RULE DECISIONS: The interpretation of these rules shall be at the discretion of the directors or owners and shall be final. C.A.S.T. rules and regulations are subject to amendment at any time by the directors or owners however any changes will be made known to the contestants prior to the tournament.
