2024 XFL 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: All XFL Tournaments are open only to members of XFL Tournaments. Membership fee is $100 per person. All entrants must sign a one-time waiver. Any person entering a XFL 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. Substitutions will not be allowed in XFL Championship events. Teams must fish or pay entry into three of the four events to be eligible for the championship. Each team is permitted usage of a maximum of four (4) members, only two of those four may fish the Championship as a team. A team may be represented in each daily event by one or two team members. All contestants are required to have a valid fishing license.
3. Pre-Tournament Practice: All XFL Tournaments will have no off-limits period prior to the tournament.
4. Registration: Entries may be mailed, paid online, dropped off at any participating dealer or paid in cash at the ramp the day before the tournament and before the 6:00 p.m. entry deadline. The cut off for entries dropped off at the dealerships is 5:00 p.m. on Friday prior to the event (5:00 p.m. on Thursday for the two-day event). Those teams entering after 6:00 p.m. the day before the tournament will be placed at the end of the field, but will weigh in with the first flight.
5. Fees: One day events are $200 per team and the Extreme two-day event is $300 per team. Cash only entries will be accepted at the ramp. Those entries after 6:00 p.m. and the morning of the tournament will be assessed a $25 late fee. A $35 fee will be assessed on all returned checks. Any contestant with a returned check on file (unpaid) 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 XFL Tournaments, sponsors, the sport of fishing and XFL 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 mind-altering substance during tournament hours, 2) Abuse of, or addiction to, mind altering substances, 3) Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably on XFL Tournaments or the sponsors of those tournaments 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, XFL Tournaments, and its 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. XFL Tournaments reserves the right to place an official observer in a contestant’s boat at any time during competition hours. XFL Tournaments 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 the tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter any XFL 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).
12. Off-Limits Areas: Will be established and announced on the XFL web site, and the morning of the tournament. 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 Oklahoma event and 15’ minimum at each Arkansas event. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a one pound penalization to remaining weight. Each contestant’s catch must be presented in an official XFL Skeeter/Yamaha weigh-in bag. The Pro-Rule measuring board is the official measuring board of XFL 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 breakdown, a contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a ride from another registered contestant or with another boat with prior tournament official authorization. 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 light 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 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 XFL 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.