Tournament Rules​

Prime Time Tournament Trail – REVISED 1/2/25

Safety Rules

1. Sponsors, Venue, Facilities and the Tournament Trail and Committee are not held liable for any accidents or damages on or off the water.

2. Existing NO WAKE ZONES are as posted; otherwise driver discretion applies. SAFETY FIRST!

3. Vessels must have all COAST GUARD MANDATED SAFETY EQUIPMENT!

4. Life jackets must be worn at any time the vessel is underway. Kill switch must be hooked to person or vest.

5. No alcoholic beverages, stimulants or depressants are allowed during tournament hours through weigh-in.

6. Running lights are required as per NCWRC and COAST GUARD LAWS.

7. Competitors may not leave a vessel to advance the vessel or otherwise; the only exceptions are for bodily functions and safety hazards.

General Tournament Rules

1. NO Off limits.

2. Starting positions are drawn upon entry at each tournament.

3. Live wells are checked prior to blast off.

4. There is a maximum of (2) persons per tournament vessel.

5. The creel limit is (5) fish. Tournament legal fish are (14) inches with up to (2) fish as short as (12) inches. *Roanoke event shall require all 14”

6. No courtesy measurements are provided.

7. Dead fish penalty is one half pound (0.5lb) each. Applies on creel weight and big fish totals.

8. Short fish penalty is loss of that fish.

9. Trophies are awarded to the winning team.

10. For vessel break down, (1) competitor may bring their fish in with another competitor. For single man teams, vessel must be secured to prevent free drifting. Alternatively, a single man team may switch places with a second member of another team to return to weigh in. No fish are weighed for a team without (1) team member present for the reading.

11. Boats may be trailered before weigh-in but must stay in the launch area.

12. Check in is at launch site. There is a one pound (1.00lb) per minute penalty for late arrivals with a maximum (10) minutes before disqualification.

13. Tournament time is safe light until (3:00 PM).

14. All contestants are expected to follow the highest standard of sportsmanship courtesy and conversation, observing all state and local regulations.

15. Polygraph or stress test may be given to anyone at any time.

16. Tackle may include spinning and casting reels and rods (8) feet or less. All artificial lures are acceptable as well as pork-rinds and strips. No other live or preserved baits are eligible for use.

17. ALL FISH weighed-in, become possession of the tournament director, to be released as seen fit by the Tournament Committee.

18. The Tournament Committee reserves the right to refuse any entry at its discretion.

19. All competitors must be a member of the Prime Time Tournament Series.

20. All competitors must be (16) years of age or have a legal guardian present at all times.

21. All competitors must have valid fishing license unless they are under the legal guardian’s license.

22. All protests shall be made to the tournament director before scales close.

23. The Tournament Committee has authority in the interpretation and enforcement of all tournament rules and its decisions are final. The Tournament Committee for (2025) consists of: (director), Jimmy Hipkiss, Kyle Smith, Josh Brown.

Points Champion - Qualifying

1. Teams must be established at the first event.  

2. Each team may make use of (1) substitutions.  

3. Subs must be paid members.

4. Points are distributed beginning with (100) points for the tournament winner and decreasing by (1) point for every position until all anglers that weigh a fish receive points.  All teams participating in event will receive minimum (30) points. 

5. Subs do not accrue points; points given to teams utilizing a sub remain with the team.

6. All teams that fished in at least (2) tournaments, are invited to the classic.

7. All points accrued by a team during a calendar year will be used to determine qualification and AOY standings.

8. The Team Anglers with the most points accrued during a calendar year receives free entry to each qualifying event of the following calendar year ($80/event, membership not included).

Ties

1. Ties on big fish are broken by total creel weight.

2. Total creel weight tie are broken by creel big fish.

3. Point ties are not broken to qualify for the classic but skip the next position(s). A 3-way tie for 5th skips 6th and 7th before resuming. Should the 20th team be in a tie, all those teams tied qualify.

4. Ties on points for the Team Anglers of the Year are broken by results of the Classic.

Fees & Payout

1. A one-time membership fee of $20 per person is required to fish, paid at/prior to the first tournament fished, including to substitute for a team.

2. Tournament fees are $80 per team to include big fish. No monies are returned if the tournament is canceled but are moved to a makeup day or moved to the classic.

3. Lawson Creek events require additional $5/entry due to park fees initiated in 2025.

4. Classic entry fee = $100.00.

5. Payout is Top 5 each event:

                      1st = $1,000

                      2nd = $600

                      3rd = $400

                      4th = $250

                      5th = $200

                      BF = $250