2023 CSFL & OFC Nation Tournament Rules
Saturday, May 20, 2023
7:00 am - 3:00 pm ET

Please note that some of the following rules may not apply to the OFC Nation charity tournament, so please read carefully.

If you plan to compete in both tournaments, be sure to review all rules thoroughly.

Primary registration for the event must be completed at www.csfl.ca/registration.
Secondary registration for the event is through the Angler’s Atlas website at www.anglersatlas.com/events. (All participants must be registered through the CSFL website before they can compete in this tournament).

The OFC Nation Charity Pike tournament will determine winners based on the length of the pike caught. A measuring tape will be provided to participants on the morning of registration, and all fish submissions must be sent through the "MYCATCH" app. All participants must register an account on www.anglersatlas.com/signup and download the MyCatch app in order to submit photos of their measured fish. If you are competing in both the OFC Nation charity tournament and the CSFL Lunkerbowl, you may bring your fish back to the tournament site to be weighed on the CSFL scales.

Entry fees and deposits are non-refundable or transferable. However, they can be used for future events.

Each person in the boat must be a registered contestant of the Event and abide by the Rules. Maximum of three (3) anglers per boat. A registered team member may join or leave the team at any time of the event at the tournament site; no team member replacements are permitted once the tournament has begun.

Legal Age: At least one competitor must be 18 years of age or older. Competitors under the age of 18 must have written parental consent from both parents/guardians.

Lie Detector Test: If in question, any competitor must agree to take a lie detector test and pass before receiving their prize. The cost of the test will come out of the payback structure. If a team is protested and wins, the protesting team will pay the cost of the test.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Zero tolerance for unsportsmanlike conduct. Automatic disqualification will result without refund (ethics are different, do not confuse). All Competitors are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves, to the CSFL, Canadian Pro Bass Tour, sponsors, the sport of fishing and the CSFL’s efforts to promote the sport. Conduct not comply- ing with these standards includes, but is not limited to, the following:

- Violation of, or failure to comply with, any of the rules for the 2023 season of the CSFL.

- Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any kind of mind-altering substance during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure.

- Abuse of, or addiction to, mind-altering substances.

- Suspension/disqualification or ban from any tournament or fishing organization.

- Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tourna- ment rules, or which fail to comply with the standards set forth in the first sentence of this paragraph. In case of any conduct not complying with the stan- dards outlined above, the CSFL/CPBT shall have the right to refuse an application to compete, to deny a confirmed application to compete by returning the entry fee (minus deposit) or to disqualify a Competitor.

Media: To uphold the integrity of the sport, the CSFL/CPBT, the event sponsors, the officials and the reputation of competitive sport fishing, it is an obligation of competitors to refrain from comments to news media that unreasonably attack or discredit the integrity of tournaments, tournament officials, sponsors, fellow anglers or the CSFL/CPBT organization. Reasonable expressions of legitimate disagreements with CSFL/CPBT policies are encouraged as opposed to attacks upon the integrity of rules or officials. Doing so will result in disciplinary actions.

There is no formal launch site for the Lunkerbowl events: Participants may launch from any site on Balsam Lake, on event day prior to 5:00 am, however, you may not leave the immediate launching or dockage area until 1⁄2 hour before sunrise. All boats must be checked at the tournament site and then may proceed to their fishing spot and start at 7:00 am. Lunkerbowl events’ official time is 7:00 am - 3:00 pm.*** OFC NATION Charity Tournament will run at the same time from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please note, extreme weather may delay start time, competing anglers will be notified via social media.

OFC NATION Anglers will be notified accordingly, should a team not receive their notification by 6:20 am they should not hesitate to call the Tournament Directors
Scottie Martin - 905-872-0251
Moose Bertew - 905-621-0892
Jeff Richard - 416-881-5693

CSFL Anglers will be notified accordingly, should a team not receive their notification by 6:20 am they should not hesitate to call the Tournament Director at 416-802-2277.

Electronics and/or other devices (including lights) are prohibited for the purposes of finding fish, during off limits time. Electronics may be used for navigational purposes only before 7:00 am on competition day.

Species: You are not allowed to have the species of fish you are competing for in your live wells during pre-fish.

Event fish: When competing in a CSFL event you must only possess that event fish. Any other species of fish must be released. Other species of non-releasable fish must be reported at the check-in boat.

There is no size restriction for Pike. All Pike being submitted into the OFC Nation Charity tournament must be photographed using the MyCatch app by Angler’s Atlas. Pike submitted into the MyCatch App for the OFC Nation Charity event but not being submitted into the CSFL Lunkerbowl can be released and not weighed.

Watch the How to Log a Catch video.

Any questionable fish will be subject to inspection by a marine biologist or similarly qualified expert.

Trailering fish to a weigh-in site is prohibited.

For reasons of conservation, all fish brought to the official weigh-in station must be in the official CSFL weigh bag which will be provided at the check-in area/check-in boat. Fish must be alive and 100% releasable to be weighed-in.

Fish entered throughout the hourly windows do not carry forward from hour to hour. The team's biggest fish is registered into the final overall standings.

Communication: There shall be no advantageous third party communication during the event with competing or non-competing individuals. Doing so may result in disqualification.

Culling: Only non-invasive clip type (i.e. non-piercing) culling systems may be used.

Live well: You must have an operating livewell if entering your fish in the CSFL Lunkerbowl. If you are only entering the OFC Nation Charity Tournament, catch and release if permitted after submitting your measurement photos through MyCatch app (hence a livewell is not mandatory).

Flotation Device: You must wear an approved flotation device while the outboard is running. Manual Suspenders/vests or manual inflatable life jackets will not be acceptable. Automatic Suspenders/vests or automatic inflatable life jackets are acceptable however they will be inspected for expiration at the time of check in. If you choose to wear, at your own risk, an automatic Suspender/vest, automatic inflatable life jacket or a U.S. COAST GUARD approved life jacket you must have an approved Department of Transport Canada life jacket within your vessel (if in question, Tournament Official’s decision will stand).

License: A fishing license is required and you may be asked to produce it at any time. Please ensure you have a Sport Fishing License, a Conservation License is not accepted. Please ensure it is on your person at all times during the tournament. Failure to produce your license will not allow you to fish. A boater’s license is required by the Boater and may be asked to produce it at any time. Please ensure it is on your person at all times during the tournament. Failure to produce your boater’s license will disqualify you from competition.

Laws: All Federal and Provincial fishing, boating and criminal laws must be obeyed at all times.

Ministry Net: No fishing within 100 yards of a ministry net. No locking allowed.

Boundaries are any water accessible by boat except when legally marked no trespassing or sanctioned. No fishing shall occur within fifty (50) yards of a marina, all marinas are off limits.

Event Identification decal must be affixed on the motor or outside windshield and made clearly visible.

|Distance: You must maintain 50 yards of another competitor’s boat. However in circumstances where there are two teams on river systems less than 50 yards, they may cross one another on opposite sides and sportsmanlike conduct will apply in this situation and other situations where there is less than 50 yards.

Do not board or approach another vessel during the event unless there is an emergency.

Fuel/Repairs: If in need of fuel or repairs, one competitor is to remain with the boat at all times and a receipt must be kept to show officials if required.

Towing: If your boat is deemed no longer functional you may acquire tow by another vessel (competitor or non-competitor). If the towing team feels for any reason that they cannot tow you as it may jeopardize their standings, you must respect their decision and either abort your fish and seek a ride back or wait for another boat.

Transfer: Fish can be transferred to another competitor’s boat only, one of the downed team members must stay with the fish. If you choose to transfer your fish into a competitor's live well, the live well must be separate or you must use an approved fish friendly perforated sack complete with drawstring ensuring your fish cannot be combined with the rescuing team’s fish. Tagging systems are not acceptable and if fish are combined accidentally or otherwise both weights will not be accepted. No fishing is allowed while the rescued competitor is in the boat and you must proceed directly to the check-in point where fish will be transferred to the check-in boat for weigh-in show. Once your fish have been transferred, the downed boat must be brought back directly to the tournament site for inspection. If, after inspection the boat is found tampered with then disqualification may result and the rescuing team questioned. If in payout position, prizes will be held until boats are inspected. Your team is responsible for making sure the rescued angler(s) is wearing a DTC approved life jacket, failure to do so will result in disqualification. Make all efforts in using the CSFL emergency number (416-802-2277) in keeping the officials informed.

Assistance: If a broken down team requires a tow by one of the event officials, the competitors must release their fish. The CSFL acting as the Tournament Official must keep it fair and equal to all competing anglers and therefore cannot act in individual cases as it may conflict and could possibly alter the final results.

Changing Boats: If a broken down boat returns to the tournament site and the team manages to repair their vessel or are changing boats, prior to transferring fish the boat must be rechecked by CSFL Tournament Officials.

Pre-Fishing ends and participants must be off the water by 8:00 pm the Friday before the weekend event.

Weather: If in case of extreme weather conditions, state of emergency or pandemic, the event may be delayed, rescheduled, restricted, merged with an existing event or cancelled.

Boat Size: For the CSFL Lunkerbowl, boats must be 14’ or greater, canoes are not permitted. Participants who are only participating in the OFC Nation Charity Tournament only (and not the CSFL Lunkerbowl) are permitted to use other types of watercrafts (canoes, kayaks, inflatables) at their own risk.

Insurance: For the CSFL Lunkerbowl participants, all boats must carry a minimum of $1,000,000 insurance liability. Proof of insurance must be made available upon request.

All Participants, by entering this event, hereby agree to allow their boat to be boarded and inspected by Event Officials at any time prior to, during, or follow- ing the Event, to include, but not limited to, their boat registration, horsepower rating plate, live-well, rod boxes, closed storage compartments, tackle boxes, life jackets, personal floatation devices, and safety equipment.

Horsepower Limits: All CSFL events are the maximum horsepower rated for your vessel. Kickers are permitted. The CSFL reserves the right to refuse an unsafe vessel at its discretion.

Kill Switch: All motors must have a working kill switch which must be worn when outboard is running.

Temperature Rule: PIKE/WALLEYE: A minimum of 2 bags of ice or frozen water bottles in a cooler will be mandatory on days when forecasted air temperatures are expected to exceed 24 degrees celsius. Will be mandatory on days when forecasted air temperatures are expected to exceed 27 degrees celsius.

Protest: Any protest of violations must be made to the Tournament Director prior to the end of the event. Protest cost is $100.

Infractions: If you witness a rule being broken it is an infraction not to report it to the Tournament Director and may lead to a disqualification.

Disqualification: In the event of a disqualification the competitor may be fined or required to compensate to continue to fish in other events. No refunds if disqualified.

Ties: All ties within hourly and overall pay spots will be resolved by combining the two positions or more and splitting the money equally. OFC Nation Charity Tournament ties are determined by which angler was first to submit their catch on the MyCatch app.
 

Paybacks: The CSFL is solely responsible for the provision of the percentage paybacks and not responsible for sponsored or contingency prizes. Contingencies: The CSFL is not responsible for any sponsor or contingency prizes.

Rules & Regs: The CSFL reserves the right to amend the rules and regulations as it sees fit.

Right to Refuse: The CSFL reserves the right to refuse or deny a confirmed application by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application. Tournament Official rulings are final: All rules and regulations apply to all CSFL anglers.

OFC Nation Charity Tournament Reporting Rules

A. This is a Northern Pike only event. Only NOrthern Pike can be submitted for this tournament. 

B. Your measurement photo will automatically be sent to our MyCatch judging team to be verified. 

C. After verification, your catch will show up in your catch log and leaderboard.

D. All contestants must have GPS/location services enabled on their mobile device for catches to qualify. Your location data will be protected and will only be used for scientific and research purposes. For more information, see details below.

E. There is no minimum length requirement. In addition, all anglers are required to measure their fish for scientific and research purposes. The total length of a fish is measured from the tip of the nose or jaw to the tip of the tail.

○ Mouth needs to be in a natural and relaxed position (opened or closed).

○ Tail can be pinched to get maximum length.

F. The nose of the fish must be at the start or zero mark on all measuring devices and the total length is taken where the longest length of the tail crosses the measurements on the measuring device. An official measuring device will be given to participants prior to the beginning of the tournament. 

G. If you measure your fish on a tournament organizer approved bump board, the measurement rules are as follows:

○ The nose of the fish must be visibly touching the bump end of the board.

○ The fish must be placed on top of the board.

○ The entire fish showing the head and past the tail must be visible in the measurement photo.

H. All photos must be taken from a birds-eye view looking down on the fish (not on an angle).  In addition, all fish must also be measured right-side down. This is to prevent the same fish being measured more than once. 

I. A photo that does not clearly show the overall length of the fish, including head and tail, on the ruler, WILL NOT BE RECORDED as a measured entry. However, this catch can still be entered as a non-measured fish and a total species ballot can still be awarded (at judges discretion). More than one attempt to get a valid scoring photo is allowed. The app will prompt you to either accept the photo or retake a photo.

J. There are to be no fingers placed in the gills of the fish within the measurement photo. Any fingers in the gills of the fish can disqualify that entry.

K. A second optional photo, of you holding the fish often can also be taken using the MyCatch App. We call this a “Hero Shot.” These pictures will be collected and potentially displayed on OFC Nation social media pages and websites.

L. Photo entries must show the entire fish so it can be identified by tournament organizers.

M.The MyCatch App allows you to take a video of your catch using the “Release Video” function. This is optional but encouraged.
N. The app will work without WiFi or any or strong cell service. If you submit a fish without any or strong enough service, the app will tell you that the fish has been recorded, and that it will sync up to the server once you return to service. Every fish you log (whether in good service or not) will appear in your app’s Log View (2nd icon from the left at the bottom). If you have fish “awaiting sync,” it will indicate this here. The submissions will eventually come through on their own once you return to service, but you can help speed up the process by “manually syncing” those pending logs (see how here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU-AwLc8OLY) once you’re in service. The logs are time/date/location stamped to the moment that they were taken, so even if the submission is delayed, the time on that submission will still be accurate.

O. Catches that are submitted will be reviewed within 30 minutes after submission. Once the submissions are reviewed and approved, they appear immediately on the appropriate leaderboard(s).
P. A great resource is the MyCatch video that shows how to complete an entry: https://youtu.be/fS65wMakQHA 

Other Rules

A. By registering and participating in the tournament, all participants agree to abide by all the rules and regulations listed in this document and posted on the Anglers Atlas website.

B. Anglers can only submit catches that they have caught themselves. Anglers can submit their entries using the same mobile device provided that he/she logs on to the MyCatch app using their individual account.

C. All fish entered for this event must be caught via angling i.e. using hook, line, rod and reel. At no time will fish caught by non-angling (i.e. use of traps, trap nets or cages) be allowed to be entered. Usage of a landing net to land a hooked fish is allowed.

D. Each participant who is required to have a valid fishing licence must have it in their possession when participating in the tournament. 

E. Each contestant must conform to the fishing rules and regulations that are in place for the jurisdiction in which they are fishing.

F. Promoters and organizers assisting in the tournament operation are not responsible for death, injury, damage, liability, theft, fire or any loss to any contestants.

G. Any angler found to be cheating will be disqualified from the tournament. Tournament organizers also reserve the right to ban anglers from competing in future events.

H. All rules have loopholes. It is our intention to provide an honest sportsmanlike tournament. In the interest of good sportsmanship, contestants are reminded the spirit of the rule will prevail in all judgments.

I. To ensure the best chances of survival for the fish, all participants are to handle fish safely. Blatant abuse to the fish or the resource is reason for disqualification.

J. All photo submissions may be used by MyCatch by Angler's Atlas and tournament organizers for future use.

Data Privacy and Fisheries Research

“Secret Fishing Spots Stay Secret” — This is our primary commitment to anglers who report their catches through MyCatch. So what does this mean in practice?

A. Angler’s Atlas does not release MyCatch GPS data to the public. It is treated as confidential and is provided to fisheries researchers under strict conditions.

B. Every research team we work with must sign a data sharing agreement that sets the terms of use for the data.

C. Data is anonymized before it is provided to the researcher. Ex. Angler names are not attached to data.

D. Researchers agree not to share the data with anyone outside of the agreement.

E. Researchers cannot use the data for any purpose other than the research specified in the agreement.

F. Exact location data cannot be published as part of the scientific research. Instead, data has to be generalized to a larger region so the location cannot be reverse engineered.

G. Angler’s Atlas may release data to a law enforcement agency if compelled to do so under court order.

These data privacy rules are designed to protect our angler’s private data, to conserve the fisheries, and to make sure we maintain a trusting relationship with our anglers into the future. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to Angler’s Atlas President directly by email ([email protected]).