WMT Rules and Regulations

1. Fishing hours for one day tournaments will be 6:00am to 4:00pm. Two day tournament fishing hours will be 6:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday and 6:00am to 12:00noon Sunday.
2. Contestants will line up according to ease-out number, with all compartments and live well(s) open for inspection. Each contestant should have their life vest on while the gas motor is running.
3. At least one member must be present to register and attend the mandatory rules meeting held the night before the tournament. Registration will start at 5:00pm on Friday and 6:00pm on Saturday, followed by the reading of the rules at 7:30pm. One team may substitute for another team (ONE only) in the event both team members cannot attend the rules meeting (a VALID excuse for missing the meeting must be approved in advance by tournament officials).
4. A team can make a substitution for a contestant up to & including the day before the tournament. However, teams must declare at the mandatory meeting whom the teams points and dollar standings will be credited for the tournament.
5. Tournament boundaries shall be specified by WMT officials at the mandatory pre-tournament meeting.
6. Tournament officials reserve the right to alter daily start & finish times of events, due to severe weather conditions.
7. Contestants must allow judges, film or press boats to approach closer than the 50-foot minimum distance.
8. All contest winners must be present at awards ceremony/
9. Entries must be submitted by mail up to the day before the tournament. Walk-in entries will be accepted if space is available; however, those teams will ease out last.
10. All fish must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner on hook and line using artificial baits only. All fishing must be done from a tournament-inspected boat.
11. Each person fishing is allowed only one (1) line in the water at any time.
12. No live bait or gaff hooks will be allowed. Artificial baits only. Trolling as a fishing method is prohibited.
13. All legal muskies will be measured in ¼ inch increments, rounding down. One point or fraction thereof will be awarded for each inch.
14. Ties will be decided by the first team to reach the final tying points tally.
15. No fish will be measured after tournament hours & all fish will be released prior to judges announcing the length.
16. All decisions by tournament judges are final.
17. Contestants must be at least 18 years of age or fish with a parent or legal guardian.
18. No fishing from bridges, piers, docks or the shore.
19. No fishing within 100 feet of tournament headquarters.
20. Contestant boats must maintain at least 50-foot intervals, with competitor’s casts not breaching the 50 foot radius of another tournament boat.
21. Contestant boats must have an operating aerated live well; should be at least 45 inches in length.
22. Exchange pump must run continuously once fish is put into live well.
23. All tournament boats will have a tournament decal with a registration number affixed to the gas motor.
24. Each boat will be required to abide by all State of Wisconsin boating and fishing laws.
25. For scoring purposes, all legal fish must be brought alive to the tournament headquarters. Ten (10) points will be deducted for an unsuccessful release.
26. No alcoholic beverages are allowed in tournament boats during tournament hours.
27. Sandbagging muskies (keeping a legal muskie in the live well while continuing to fish) is not allowed.
28. Contestants must stay at tournament headquarters for fifteen minutes after the release of a legal muskie to assure a live release.
29. No team may leave their boat except at the tournament headquarters, or other designated sites during tournament hours.
30. The breaking of any rules is grounds for disqualification with no refund of the entry fee.
31. No competitor may give, buy or barter a fishing location from any other competitor for use during the competition day.
32. During the official competition day(s) of the tournament, a competitor may not use a CB radio, a VHF marine-band radio, a cellular phone, or any other type of communication device for the purpose of locating or catching fish. Competitors are permitted to transmit by radio or telephone only in the event of an emergency. Cell phones can be used to contact judges in order to measure fish. If so equipped, competitors may listen to the marine-band radio weather information.
33. All contestants can be subject to taking a polygraph test before cash and prizes are awarded.
34. Any questions or problems connected with the rules of this tournament are to be referred to the tournament officials.
35. A protest can be filed with tournament officials for a fee of $100.00 with the fee being returned if the protest is valid. All decisions by tournament officials are final and binding.
36. All State of Wisconsin laws will be in effect.
37. Any contestant receiving a citation for a violation of any boating or fishing regulation is subject to immediate disqualification.
38. All prizes not awarded will be raffled off to teams who have not won any prizes.
39. All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation, and to conduct themselves in a manner that would be a credit to themselves, the WMT sponsors and to the sport of fishing.

WMT Series™ Partcipants and Eligibility

Competing in the WMT™ tournaments is a privilege, not a right of a team, or an individual, who has paid their entry or intending to enter, or have won or earned an exemption for one event, a season, or an exemption for an extended period of years. In case of any conduct not complying with the standards outlined in the listed rules above, the WMT™ shall have the right to refuse an application to compete, to deny a confirmed application to compete, or to disqualify a contestant with the entry fee to be returned only at the discretion of the tournament director.

Anglers Code of Conduct

Anglers participating in any WMT™ sanctioned event shall observe this code of conduct and the applicable rules for the specific event in which they are participating. Anglers shall, at all times, conduct themselves in a manner becoming of a professional angler that will not reflect unfavorably on the WMT™, its anglers, officials, judges, representatives, tournaments, or sponsors. To this end, anglers shall demonstrate professionalism and integrity in support of the WMT™ and of the sport of professional fishing. Any angler who violates any of the provisions of the Anglers Code of Conduct may be subject to forfeiture of tournament winnings, suspension from competing in individual WMT events, permanent ban from competition, fines, or any combination thereof deemed appropriate by the WMT™. The favorable public reputation of the WMT™, its officials, sponsors, and anglers, in the sport of fishing are a valuable asset and tangible benefit for the WMT™. Accordingly, it is an obligation of the competitors to refrain from comments that unreasonably attack, misrepresent, spread erroneous information, or disparage the integrity of the tournaments, tournament officials, sponsors, fellow anglers, or the WMT™. Public comments (including private comments that are made to become public) that an angler knows, or should reasonably know, will harm the reputation of the WMT™, WMT™ officials or sponsors, or against the policies (expressed or implied) of the WMT™, shall be considered “Conduct Unbecoming” and will result in disciplinary action including but not limited to a permanent ban from competition (from both paid participants and participants who have won or was awarded a tournament(s) exemption. Professionalism and conduct of all WMT™ anglers must be observed during the season of competition and during the off season. Any provision of the Anglers Code of Conduct that is broken by an angler will be deemed as “Conduct Detrimental to the WMT™” and disciplinary action will follow including but not limited to a permanent ban from competition.