2024 Walleye Wars Ontario -  Fishing Tournament

Province wide Ontario event

June 28 - July 7 2024

Official Rules

1. General Information

1. This is a Catch, Photo, Record tournament to be held in Ontario - Province wide - where it is legal to fish. Refer to the map attached to this event for the official boundaries. 

2. The tournament will be run using the MyCatch mobile app, which is a property of Angler’s Atlas. 

3. Anyone can participate in Walleye Wars and it is for all ages. Registration is per individual and not per team.. For those participants sharing a mobile device, participants must login to their own account to submit their catches through the manage accounts feature. 

4. There is a $200.00 registration fee to enter the tournament, per angler. 

5. Anglers 15 and younger must be fishing with an adult.

6. Each contestant must have a valid Ontario sportfishing fishing license or otherwise be exempt from needing one.

7. Anglers may record fish between 6:00:00 am Friday June 28, 2024 to 6:00:00 pm Sunday July 7, 2024.

8. Keep mobile phones on throughout the tournament in order to receive communication from the Organizer in the event of postponement or cancellation.  Due to the nature of tournament fishing, no refunds will be issued. This is at the discretion of your tournament Organizer.

 

2.Getting Started

1. In order for catches to be sent properly, you must use the same login email and password for both the Angler’s Atlas website and the MyCatch app.

2. Anglers will need to download and use the free MyCatch app (available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) to submit their fish entries for the tournament. For first time users, you must set up your account first. To do this, please complete the following: https://www.anglersatlas.com/sign-up If you previously have had the app, we suggest doing a check to see if there are updates or simply reload the app. In order for catches to be sent properly, you must use the same login email and password for both the Angler’s Atlas website and the MyCatch app.  

3. Anglers must then also register and pay the entry fee for the tournament online at https://www.anglersatlas.com/event/801/legend-boats-walleye-wars-2024-ontario-2024 using a credit card or PayPal. You cannot pay via cash or eTransfer, and your spot is not reserved until payment has been received. If you need help with the registration process, please watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o3PzcIoGo4  

4. You will receive an automatic email confirming that you have entered the event and that your payment has gone through. 

5. If you enter after the event starts, you must wait 12 hours before you can submit a fish for entry.

6. Due to the nature of tournament fishing, no refunds will be issued, no exceptions

7. Practice using the MyCatch app ahead of time

1. Watch all four videos available at this link to familiarize yourself with the app: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1Yp9OqZ6saBgaKklT5jh6DkuTbai3NeJ

2. Test the app before you go out fishing (note: the app allows you to record fish for your own personal logbook while not in an active event. Some features will appear slightly different when you are not in an active event, so please make sure you watch the YouTube videos at the link above).

3.  

9. By participating in this event your name may be publicly visible.

10. Protecting anglers’ privacy is a priority, and any location data collected during the event will not be released to the public. Our promise to anglers is “Secret Fishing Spots Stay Secret”. See below for further details.  

11. A great resource to refer to is our How To Register For A Event video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o3PzcIoGo4&t=8s   

 

3. Catch Reporting Rules

1. This event is for only the following types of fish: Walleye, Sauger and Saugeye. For this event, we strongly encourage catch and release.

2. In order for each catch to qualify, a photograph of the fish on a measuring device must be taken using the MyCatch app (ie. photos cannot be uploaded from a photo gallery or other source). Our app now tags each entry with a unique, identifiable QR code. 

3. All contestants must have GPS/location services enabled on your cell phone for their catches to qualify. Your location data will be protected. For more information, see section 8 below for details. 

4. Each fish must be entered only once.

5. Fish must be recorded immediately after they’ve been caught. All fish entries must be freshly caught. Blatant abuse to fish or the resource is reason for disqualification.

6. This is a total length measurement tournament. NOT fork length. See pic below for reference. The total length of a fish is measured from the tip of the nose or jaw to the tip of the tail with the tail naturally pinched. The tail may be naturally  pinched to the width of the board or left unpinched. 

7. All catches will be approved to the last physical line on a measuring device. If it extends past a mark but there are no physical lines to confirm the true length, the last mark it crosses will be used. If a fish is longer than the angler's bump board, the longest measurement on the board will be counted. 

8. 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.

9. The mouth of the fish in the measurement photo is allowed to be closed, open, or anywhere in between, so long as the upper and/or lower jaw of the head of the fish is clearly touching the bump of the board or at 0 cm and the fish submission meets all of the requirements outlined in this section. 

10. There are to be no fingers or equipment placed in the gills or mouth of the fish. Anything in the gill area or mouth of the fish will disqualify that fish. This rule applies to the Measurement photo only (not the hero or release video) 

11. The photo entry must be taken from a birds-eye view - directly above -  looking down on the fish.

12. All fish must be measured with the right side down (the right side of the fish must be facing down or touching the board) and the left side of the fish facing upwards. 

13. Anglers can only submit catches that they have caught themselves. This is an individual tournament, so you cannot enter as a partnership or team, and under no circumstances can you share fish with any other angler. Anglers are free to fish alone or with other tournament or non-tournament anglers, but each registered angler may only enter their own fish on their own app. 

14. For this event, you must use a commercially available ‘bump board’ that clearly shows the length of the fish. NO other forms of measuring devices will be accepted. The nose or jaw of the fish must be aligned with the start of the measuring board and be clearly touching the ‘bump’, with both the whole head and the tail clearly visible in the photograph.The recommended board is the Judge Tournament Ruler, but other popular boards such as our MyCatch Bumpboard, or the Cabela’s Canada Fish Measure Board are also acceptable. If you are unsure if your board is acceptable, please contact the Angler’s Atlas Catch Team at [email protected] to verify prior to the event starting. No sliding / expandable will be allowed. Commercially made folding boards will be accepted.

15. If an entry submission comes in where a measuring rule is not followed, such as the nose is not touching the bump or at the zero mark, the fish may still be approved but a length penalty will be applied. The penalty will apply to the observable length of the fish at the discretion of the Organizer. For all penalties applied, the penalty amount will be 5 cm or approx 2 inches. The entry may also be rejected. 

16. Tournament organizers reserve the right to adjust entries. They also have the right to ask for a picture sent to them of your measuring device.

17. A photo that does not clearly show the overall length of the fish, including head and tail, on the measuring device may not be scored for length. 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.

18. Please do not delete any of your fish logs, especially during a tournament.  If you accidentally delete the wrong fish from your log, it cannot be recovered.

19. For all fish over 70 cm, they will be reviewed by at least 2 members of the Anglers Atlas team before being approved. Fish 70 cm or larger may take longer to approve as they will be judged much more thoroughly.

20. For all fish under 70 cm, they will be reviewed by the Angler’s Atlas Catch Approval Team. Our Angler’s Atlas Catch Team is made up of trained biology students from across Canada. Fish under 70 cm will be judged using all the same criteria but as they likely will not affect paid positions in the tournament, our goal is to get them back in the water as quickly as possible.

21. During the entry process, a second photo; often called the Hero Shot consisting of the angler holding the fish, will be prompted in the entry procedure and is optional for this event. 

22. You will also be prompted with a third option which is a video of the release of your fish and this is also optional but encouraged  for this event.

23.  During the event, 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.

24.  Fish DO NOT show up on any of the leaderboards until they have been approved by the Organizer’s Team, so don’t expect to see them reflected on the leaderboard immediately.  If you want to ensure that your fish was recorded successfully, check the Log View of your app (2nd icon from the left at the bottom). If your fish is there, it logged successfully. 

25. IMPORTANT: Arguing against or trying to attribute reason as to why any of the above rules could not be followed will have ZERO bearing on the ruling of a rejected fish. NO exceptions will be made. It is on the angler to review their photo thoroughly and submit an acceptable photo based on the above rules. 

26.  A great resource is the MyCatch video that shows how to complete an entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS65wMakQHA

 

4. Tournament Location and Times

1. Tournament boundaries are the provincial borders of Ontario. Any fish recorded within the provincial boundaries will be allowed as long as it is legal to fish in that location.  (NOTE: for any border fisheries, you MUST be on the Ontario side of the border, or your fish will be automatically rejected)

2. The tournament starts June 28, 2024 at 6:00:00 am.

The tournament ends July 7, 2024 at 6:00:00 pm

3. All catches made within the start and end times must be synchronized with the MyCatch server by 6:00:00 am on July 8th, 2024 to qualify. Any fish synced to the app after 6:00 am will not be judged. It is the applicant’s duty to ensure they have full cell service and all fish are synced before the deadline.

4. Once the tournament concludes, a full review process will begin between the Organizer and their team. No cash prizes will be awarded or sent until after the winner’s announcement has been made. Following this review process, the results will be final.

5. Awards will be announced on July 11, 2024 on the Walleye Wars Facebook page (www.facebook.com/WalleyeWars)

6. At the discretion of the tournament director, tournament days may be shortened, postponed or canceled due to unsafe weather or water conditions.

 

5. Awards &  Prizes

A. Prizing - (based on $200 entry fee and an 80% payout)

 

• $5000 ($4000 Cash & $1000 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) - 1st Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $2500 ($2000 Cash & $500 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) - 2nd Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $1500 ($1250 Cash & $250 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) - 3rd Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $850 - ($650 Cash & $200 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 4th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $700 - ($550 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 5th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $500 - ($350 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 6th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $300 - ($150 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 7th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $250 - ($100 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 8th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $200 - ($50 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 9th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

• $200 - ($50 Cash & $150 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) 10th Longest Walleye (length in cm)

 

• $2000 - ($1750 Cash & $250 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store) - Best Top 3 Fish combined length

 

• Big Fish Day 1 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 2 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 3 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 4 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 5 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 6 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 7 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 8 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 9 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

• Big Fish Day 10 - $200 ($150 Cash & $50 GC to Legend Boats Accessories Store)

 

 

B. Above prize amounts are based on a full field of 100 anglers unless otherwise noted. If the tournament doesn’t fill, the cash portions of all payouts will be adjusted evenly based down from 100.

C. More prizes / giveaways may be added as they become available.

D. Sponsor prizing may substitute for cash at equal-to or greater-than value for paid positions.

E. A single participant can only win ONE Longest Walleye prize. Only each angler’s largest recorded fish will appear on the Longest Fish Leaderboard (Leaderboard is Top 10 anglers, not fish). One angler can however win multiple Daily Big Fish prizes.

F. Winning anglers will be contacted directly using the contact information provided in the tournament registration process (email address).

7. In the case of a tie, the tie break will go to the person who submitted the tied fish first. In the highly unlikely event that there is still a tie, the pot for the two tied positions will be combined and split between the tied anglers. 

6. General Rules

1. By registering and participating in the tournament, all participants agree to abide by the rules and regulations they have received as set out in the Walleye Wars event rules.

2. For this event, we strongly encourage Catch and Release fishing. 

3. 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. Fish cannot be snagged, netted, speared etc. Usage of a landing net to land a hooked fish is allowed.

4. Each contestant must have in their possession a valid Ontario general sportfishing license for their respective jurisdiction or be exempt under regulations of their jurisdiction. 

5. All contestants must conform to the general sport fishing rules and regulations that are in place for the jurisdiction in which they are fishing. You must also follow all regulations pertaining to possession limits.

6. All federal, provincial, local laws must be abided by. 

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

8. All questions or concerns relating to the rules of this tournament are to be referred to the Organizer. Their decision will be final in all cases. No other person can be considered a spokesman for the rules during the tournament. The contact for this event is The MyCatch Approval team and can be reached by email at [email protected] (please include the name of the event in your email).

9. The interpretation and enforcement of the rules is at the sole discretion of the Organizer and their team The tournament Organizer may change rules or impose sanctions as they deem appropriate, including but not limited to disqualifications, forfeiture of prizes, and prohibition from competing in future tournaments. All decisions made by the tournament Organizer are final. 

10. Abuse of tournament officials and volunteers will not be tolerated.

11. Any angler found to be cheating, breaking the law or disobeying the rules will be disqualified from the tournament. Failure to comply with any tournament rules subjects participants to disqualification and removal from the tournament, as determined by the tournament officials. The right to refuse sale and/or revoke a competition entry to anyone is hereby reserved. Any angler found to be cheating will be disqualified from the tournament. Angler’s Atlas and MyCatch also reserve the right to ban anglers from competing in future events.

12. All protests must be brought to the Organizer’s attention before the end of the tournament. A $200.00 dollar protest will need to accompany the protest by the protesting person. Only paid participants have the right to make a protest against another contestant by contacting an Organizer through email and must be completed and presented within 1 hour of the close of the tournament. Their decision will be final in all cases. The fee will be returned if the protest is found to be valid. 

13. In the event of disqualification, any paid entry fees will be forfeited and not refunded.

14. 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. 

15. All participants are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, and conservation. Any participant who displays poor sportsmanship, violates these rules, or brings unfavorable publicity to the sport of fishing could be disqualified. 

16. Participants are responsible for their own safety, actions, and property at all times.

17. All participants must follow boating safety regulations in your jurisdiction.. 

18. All photo and video submissions may be used by MyCatch by Angler's Atlas for future use.

 

7. Proper Fish Handling

We highly encourage conservation and the proper handling of all fish caught. To ensure the best chances of survival for all released fish, all participants are to handle fish safely. The following are suggestions only - not rules.

1. Try to keep the fish in the water as long as possible.

2. Cut the line as close to the hook as possible if a swallowed hook can’t be easily removed

3. Have the camera ready prior to landing fish to minimize air exposure 

4. Hold large fish horizontally and support its body to avoid damage to the internal organs

5. Do not hold or support the fish by its gills, gill covers or eyes.

6. Use wet hands when handling a fish. Handle the fish quickly and as little as possible. 

7. When releasing a fish, never throw it into the water.

8. Whenever possible, keep the fish in the water while handling. 

 

8.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?

1. 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.

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

3. Data is anonymized before it is provided to the researcher.

4. Researchers agree not to share the data with anyone else.

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

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

7. 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]).