1. Registration : All teams must register at K&S Outdoors starting at 8:00am on Saturday August 3rd. Entry fee for the year will be $1500 per team ($500 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit due and $1,000 balance due by November 2nd 2024.) No entries will be accepted for individual tournaments.

2.Qualifications: Tournaments are open to anyone over 18 years of age. If under 18 years of age you must be accompanied by someone over 18 years old. Anyone who has been on Pro status in the past 12 months will not be eligible. (BASS Elite Series, MLF Bass Pro Tour, NPFL) Event officials reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone in their sole discretion. All participants will be subject to a polygraph test at any time.

3. Substitutes: Each team is allowed one sub and must be Listed on the Registration Form & can only participate one time during the season. If you must change partners it must be submitted in writing no later than 1/1/25. Hardship cases will be addressed on an as needed bases.

4. Bass Limit: This will be a five (5) fish-limit tournament (Per team or when fishing alone) unless otherwise noted by the tournament director. All fish must measure 15 inches with mouth closed and rolling the tail (golden rule). Exceptions: State laws will prevail when fishing on any body of water (size and limit).  Anyone bringing in more than five fish will have their sack culled to the five-fish limit starting with the big fish first. All culling must be done on the water before trailering boat. Absolutely no culling of a dead fish.

5. Sportsmanship: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation. You may not fish closer than 50 yards to another competitor if the competitor is anchored with the trolling motor out of the water. No information is to be received on tournament day from any non tournament angler. Each participant agrees to report to the Director immediately any violation or infraction of the Rules. Failure to report violations, suggestions that another Participant violated these Rules, or false verification of documents, may be cause for disqualification.

6.Tournament awards will be determined by the total weight. Only Largemouth, Smallmouth, Meanmouth and Spotted Bass will be allowed (15" minimum on all fish). No more than 5 fish allowed in the boat at one time. Culling must take place once the 6th fish is caught.

7. No Live Bait: Only artificial lures can be used in all tournaments. The use of pork rine is permitted.

8. Trolling/Long Linning: All long lining must be done with your trolling motor without the reel engaged. Reel can only be engaged when trolling motor is off. Anyone found to be doing this with the big motor will be disqualified. You may not use your big motor to fish this technique.

9. AOY Points:  Tournaments will follow a simple AOY point system based on each angler/team place of finish as illustrated: 1st 100, 2nd 99, 3rd 98, 4th 97, 5th 96 and so on. Each angler/team that competes in a tournament but does not weigh any bass (zero) will be awarded (25) “Show Points”. Top 15 teams for the year will qualify for the championship. In the event of a tie all monies will be added together and equally split. Team of the year will be determined at the end of the 5th regular season tournament.

10. Short Fish Penalties: All fish brought to weigh-in, in bag with water, must be 15" across the board. Penalty is loss of short fish and your largest fish. (Use Golden Rule)

11. Dead Fish: You may only weigh in one dead fish and there will be a 1 lb penalty assessed for weighing in a dead fish. No culling of dead fish is allowed. Dead fish can not weigh for lunker.

12. Mangled Fish: Fish that appear to be altered or mangled will only be weighed at the discretion of tournament director.

13. Late Weigh-In: There will be a deduction of 1 lb. per minute off your total weight for every minute late to weigh in. After 10 minutes, your team is disqualified.

14. Locking Through: No Locking is Allowed!

15. Alcoholic beverages or drug use: The use of alcoholic beverages or Illegal drugs during tournament hours. (Will be cause for Immediate Disqualification from any and all Tournaments.)

16. Blast Off & Flights: Blast off position will be determined by draw. There will be no Shot-Gun starts. Blast off order will be determined and posted prior to each event. Flights will be listed below.

1-15 1st flight due in at 3:00

16-30 2nd flight due in at 3:15

31-45 3rd flight due in at 3:30.

For each additional tournament, each team will rotate flights. First flight will go to the third flight, second flight will go to the first flight will go to the first flight and the third flight will go to the second flight. Your boat number will be redrawn within your flight.

17. Boat Inspection: All live wells will be checked prior to the start of each tournament.

18. Safety: During all tournaments, contestants will wear their life jackets, zipped and kill switch connected any time when boat is in motion. During foul weather you may take closest shelter. During any emergency you must return to tournament site if possible. You may not leave your boat during tournament hours except during an emergency. If you must leave the boat for any reason other than emergency, you must notify the Tournament Director before doing so. In the event of inclement weather, the tournament will be held the next day, weather permitting.

19. Catch and Release: Northwest Alabama Team Trail is 100% catch and release. All live fish must be returned to the water that they were taken from.

20. Cheating: Any angler caught cheating in any tournament will be immediately disqualified and banned from entering any future events. NWATT reserves the right to report any incident of cheating to law enforcement and/or other tournament organizations. NWATT cooperates with local law enforcement, park rangers and fish/wildlife officers during its tournaments. If any participant is found to be in violation of local, state or federal law during tournament hours, he/she/they will immediately be disqualified and unable to compete in future tournaments.

21. Off-Limits: There will not be an off-limits during the year.

22. Protest: All protests must be submitted in writing along with $100 cash to tournament directors no later than 15 minutes after close of weigh-in. Verbal protests will not be accepted. Any protest filed by a participant shall be heard by the Director. After reviewing the protest submitted, the Director shall inform the protesting participant of the decision. The decision is final and not subject to further appeal.

23. Insurance: All members need to carry liability insurance on any boat they might use during any NWATT Tournament. Failure to do so or reporting of false information will result in disqualification. Participants must include the company name and either the policy number or the name of the agent binding the coverage on the membership form.

24. Polygraph: All anglers/members agree to submit to a third-party administered polygraph examination and agrees to provide truthful and honest responses as to be determined by the third-party polygraph examiner. Refusing to take a polygraph examination for any reason will result in immediate disqualification.

25. State Law: It is each angler/member responsibility to have read and understand the official rules including all applicable state laws. This will include each state law and/or regulation regarding the use of “Alabama Rigs”

26. Miscellaneous: In the event of a discrepancy between the printed version and digital version of the Rules, the Rules posted on the official website at the time of the event shall prevail. The Rules shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Alabama in all respects, including matters of construction, interpretation, validity, and enforcement.

27. Communication: Participant’s entry into an event via mail, facsimile, online or onsite represents your express consent to receive email, phone, and text message communication from NWATT and any of its successors, directors, members, officers, agents, contractors, affiliates, employees, sponsoring agencies, sponsors, and/or advertisers before, during, and after an event. Participants who remain in the NWATT database after an event understand and acknowledge that they will receive ongoing communication. In order to discontinue communication, it is the participant’s responsibility to notify NWATT in writing, to opt out of the NWATT mail, email, text message and/or other databases.

28.: There will be a mandatory meeting to be held prior to the season. Date will be announced. At the meeting each team will draw their boat number for the first tournament.