The top team championship
Come compete to be crowned the nations top bass fishing team!
This team format will put the best Team Bass Anglers from participating trails gathered from
across the U.S. in a 3 day tournament to finally crown the best of the best 2015 US Bass Team
Champions. This tournament will be held in conjunction with Montgomery Productions’ Mid
South Tackle Hunting & Boat Show on March 27th—29th, 2015 in Tulsa, OK with live weighin the final day of the tournament on site at the THB Show.
20 of the top teams from participating team trails will be invited to the Team Classic. This
tournament will be hosted on one our nations greatest lakes, Grand Lake of the Cherokees in
Oklahoma. All teams that qualify will compete on the first two days Friday and Saturday. The
field will narrowed to the top 30 teams for the final day. The top 40 teams will receive a
payout. This will be a 300 boat tournament. Entry fees will be $300.00 per team. Presenting
Sponsorship will be $5,000.
Qualifications are follows:
Must have fished as a team in a yearly team trail in your state.
Must have finished with a top 20 in overall dollar/prize winnings in that team trail.
Please read and agree to all rules and regulations set for by our tournament directors Tim Reed and Vance Montgomery
Contact our directors for full information
regarding full details
Payout
1st: $15,000 and sponsorship from Montgomery
Productions
2nd: $10,000
3rd: $7,500
4th: $6,000
5th: $5,000
6th: $4,000
7th: $3,500
8th: $2,500
9th: $2,000
10th: $1,500
11 to 40: $1,000
Big Bass: $1,000 Each Day of Tournament
Directors
Please contact:
US Bass Team Classic
Vance Montgomery
Montgomery Productions
Sales/Show Director
918-520-3474
Mailing Info:
Tim Reed
PO Box 735
Collinsville, OK 74021
For Full Info Visit Us On The Web At:
Address All Checks to
Montgomery Productions
[email protected]
www.USBassTeamClassic.com
Email Us At:
2015 Top Team Championship Rules
1. Rule Changes: Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not
subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Director. Protests must be made in writing prior to the official closing of
the scales at each tournament.
2. Participation/Eligibility: Your team must have fished as a team in a 2014
team trail in the United States. Your participation will be verified with the tournament director from your state trail. Your team must have finished the 2014 season
in the top 20 of the overall standings or cash payout (for your trail) to qualify for
this event. At the tournament director’s discretion, entries may be filled by going
down the list if a 2014 trail if a team who qualified, does not accept the invitation
to fish. All entrants must sign a one-time waiver. Any person entering the Top
Team Tournament under the age of 18 must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided
space on the waiver form. A team may be represented in this event by one or two team members. All contestants are
required to have a valid fishing license.
3. Pre-Tournament Practice: The Top Team Championship will have no off-limits period prior to the tournament.
4. Registration/pre-tournament meeting: Entries may be mailed or paid online, before the entry deadline. The pretournament meeting is mandatory; however only one person from each team must attend the meeting.
5. Fee’s: The entry fee for this event is $300 per team. A $35 fee will be assessed on all returned checks. Any contestant with a returned check on file (un-paid) will not be allowed to enter an event, without first paying for that returned
check (and fee) in cash prior to the current event. Entry fees are non-refundable.
6. Safety: Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened, U.S. Coast Guard
approved, personal flotation device anytime the boat is on plane. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition
shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver's body any time the boat is on plane. Tournament days
may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors. The decision to shorten or cancel tournament days will be determined by the Tournament Director.
7. Permitted Fishing Methods: All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only artificial lures
may be used with the exception of pork trailers. Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional
rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast or
rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. Sharing fish with other teams or
individuals will result in immediate disqualification. All angling must be conducted
from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing
waters.
8. Sportsmanship and Conduct: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, conservation and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves, to this tournament, sponsors, the
sport of fishing and this tournament’s efforts to promote that sport. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any mindaltering substance during tournament hours, 2) Abuse of, or addiction to, mind altering substances, 3) Any other words,
conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably on this tournament or the sponsors of this tournament or reflecting unfavorably
upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules. If conduct does
not comply with the standards set forth, the tournament director shall have the right to refuse any application, or to deny
a confirmed application, by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application, or disqualify a contestant. The
tournament director reserves the right to place an official observer in a contestant's boat at any time during competition
hours. The tournament director reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone.
9. Boat Operation: During hours of competition, contestants may not receive
assistance from non-competitors, follow a non-competitor's boat, participate in the
practice of "hole sitting", or the placing of markers by non-competitors. The use of
mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkietalkies, CBs, etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is
strictly prohibited.
10. Boat and Horsepower Regulation: Each boat must have all required U.S.
Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well
with space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all
outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as displayed on the manufactures rating plate. By signing the entry form,
each contestant agrees to submit their boat and/or motor to an inspection. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor
or rating plate will be cause for disqualification from this tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter any other Top Team tournaments.
11. Permitted Fishing Locations: Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except
areas designated as "off limits" or "no fishing" by state or federal officials or within 50 yards of a competitor's boat which
was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by anything attached to the boat, holding it to the
bottom of the lake, with the trolling motor in the up position), or within 20 yards of a non-anchored competitor's boat unless otherwise agreed upon by the other tournament angler.
12. Off-limits areas: Will be established and announced at the pre-tournament meeting. Contestants fishing inside the
established off-limits area will be immediately disqualified. Contestants' boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event.
13. Trailering: All boats must leave the official check point by boat in the order designated at registration. Contestants
may launch their boat at a ramp other than the designated take-off location, but all contestants must come through the
official check point location before leaving to fish. In the event of severe weather alternate take-off instructions will be
given at the registration site. Trailering of boats before weighing is only permissible at the tournament site ramp.
14. Official Checkpoints: There will be only one official checkpoint for boat inspection in the morning and one official
check-in point in the afternoon. Failure to go through boat checkout in the morning or failure to check-in (if you have fish)
at the check-in point will result in disqualification. During morning take off, all teams are required to idle a minimum of
100 yards past the take-off boat before putting their boat on plane. It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to arrive
at the designated check-in location on time, regardless of what they are told. It is the angler's responsibility to verify their
provided flight time. All fishing must cease upon check-in.
15. Scoring: Will be determined by the pounds and hundredths of pounds of each angler's catch during the tournament.
Only Largemouth, Spotted, or Smallmouth Bass are accepted species. The limit will be five bass per contestant boat.
Any team who possesses more than the tournament limit (except while in the act of culling) will have their catch for that
day disqualified. Official length limits will be 14” minimum at each event. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a two pound penalization to remaining weight.
Each contestant's catch must be presented in an official Skeeter/Yamaha weigh-in bag. The Pro-Rule measuring board
is the official measuring board of the Top Team Tournaments. A courtesy board will be provided at the tanks upon request.
16. Live Fish: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of
chemical live well additives which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat are recommended. A One
Pound Penalty will be deducted for each dead bass presented for weigh-in.
17. Late Penalty: Contestants who are not at the official check-in point at the appointed time will be assessed a one
pound per minute penalty from the total weight. Any contestant more than 10 minutes late will forfeit that day's catch. In
the event of a mechanical break down, a contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a
ride from another registered contestant or tournament official only. The contestants must return to the official check-in
location by their assigned check-in time to avoid late penalty.
18. Closing of the Scales: Scales will close 20 minutes after the last flight is due
in. Due to certain weigh-in locations this time may be lengthened or shortened at
the tournament director’s sole decision. Any change to the above stated official
scale closing time will be announced during the pre-tournament meeting and during boat checkout. It is the angler’s responsibility to verify the official scale closing
time and to be in the weigh-in line by that time.
19. Ties: All ties will be decided by the total number of fish. All ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place's money. The Tournament Director may elect to break a first place tie with a fish-off.
20. Payout Definition: All payout checks will be made payable to the registered
team captain. Teams will be responsible for handling the division of monies won
and payment concerning 1099’s. NO team will be allowed to enter an event without first having a team captain Social Security Number on file.
21. Polygraph: By signature on the entry/waiver form, contestants agree to a test by a qualified polygraph examiner.
Refusal to or failure of a polygraph test will result in the disqualification and banishment from all future Top Team and
First Flight Tournament Productions events. Those contestants finishing in first, second, big bass, and a random top 20
team must be present at the conclusion of the weigh-in for the polygraph examination. Any contestant scheduled for a
polygraph test, and not present, will have their winning held until a test has been administered. Any additional polygraph
will be at the contestants own expense of $250.00.
22. Restricting, Seeding or Baiting: No restricting bass by any method which disallows natural movement throughout
the entire impoundment. Seeding bass from one impoundment to the tournament impoundment, or any coordinated effort in the use of live bait, in baiting holes for the means of attracting or maintaining bass is prohibited.
US Bass Team Classic
Sign up Form - March 27th - 29th
Grand Lake of the Cherokees - Oklahoma
First Name: ___________ Last: ___________________________
SS# ____-____-_____ Address: __________________________
City: _______________ St: _____ Zip:______ DOB __/__/____
Cell#:____________________ Alt Phone: __________________
Email: ______________________________________________
Boat Brand: ____________ YR:___ Motor:_____________ YR:___
Truck Brand: ___________ YR:___ Electronics: _______________
Shallow Water Anchor: ______________________
First Name: ___________ Last: ___________________________
SS# ____-____-_____ Address: __________________________
City: _______________ St: _____ Zip:______ DOB __/__/____
Cell#:____________________ Alt Phone: __________________
Email: ______________________________________________
Total Amount $ $300.00 Check #_______
____VS _____MC _____ DS/AMEX
_____________________________ _______ _____
________
(Card Number)
(Exp)
(Sec Code)
(Billing Zip Code)
Cardholder Signature:________________________________ Date: _____________
Submission of this document represents that you agree to all the above terms and conditions 1 -18 set forth by the US
Team Bass Classic and Montgomery Productions, LLC. You knowingly and freely assume all ricks known and unknown
and assume full responsibility for your participation.
Please make all checks to: Montgomery Productions
Please mail all forms and checks to:
Tim Reed
Call Vance Montgomery For Any Questions
PO Box 735
918-520-3474
Collinsville, OK 74021