TFL Official Tournament Rules & Regulations
Texas Fishing League | Team Tournament Series
1. General Rules and Tournament Authority
All contestants participating in a TFL event agree to comply with these rules and all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
The TFL Tournament Director has final authority over interpretation and enforcement of tournament rules. Violations may result in weight penalties, loss of points, disqualification, forfeiture of winnings, or suspension from future events.
All protests must be submitted in writing within 10 minutes after the official closing of the scales.
2. Participation and Eligibility
Participation is open to anglers 18 years of age or older. Minors may participate with a parent or legal guardian’s written consent and an adult tournament partner.
All contestants must possess a valid Texas fishing license unless legally exempt.
TFL reserves the right to refuse participation when necessary to protect tournament safety, integrity, and fair competition.
Professional “PRO” anglers will not be eligible to compete in TFL events. Pro or professional will be defined as below:
A. “Professional” is a person who gets paid for doing a job that requires special training, education or skills.
B. Any angler that has paid a tournament entry fee of $1500.00 within 1 year of TFL entry.
C. Any angler that has guided within 6 months of TFL entry.
D. Any angler that is currently offering fishing guide services.
E. Any angler participating in any Pro touring fishing trail within 1 year of TFL entry.
IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS OR QUESTIONS IF YOU QUALIFY, PLEASE REACH OUT TO A TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR FOR CLARIFICATION.
3. Team Competition
TFL tournaments will be conducted in a two-person team format on a single boat.
A team may consist of two registered anglers or one registered angler competing alone.
Teams may not have more than two competitors in the boat during competition unless an official TFL observer has been authorized.
Partner substitutions and their effect on season points and championship eligibility will be governed by TFL’s published substitution policy.
4. Tournament Registration and Official Hours
All teams must complete registration and pay applicable entry fees before the published deadline.
Contestants must comply with official boat inspection, check-in, takeoff, and weigh-in procedures.
Official fishing hours will be announced before each tournament. No contestant may begin fishing before the official start.
TFL regular season events will all be TRAILERING events. Trailering rules and times will be posted on the home page flyer before every event.
5. No Scope / Forward-Facing Sonar Regulations
TFL is a NO SCOPE/ NO FFS tournament trail.
The use of forward-facing sonar technology to locate, identify, track, or target fish during official tournament competition is strictly prohibited.
Forward-facing sonar equipment may remain installed on a contestant’s boat or removed.
A lock-out device may be purchased at each event for anglers that chose not to remove their FFS transducer. The device will restrict the use of the FFS cable only.
NO angler may fish without a ffs tranducer lock-out unless there is no tranducer present.
All lock out devices will be installed by TFL staff ONLY. Locations and times will be posted at every event for transducer lockout instillation. No lock out will be removed from any boat until tournament weigh in has concluded. All teams in the “money line” need to have transducer lockouts removed by tournament staff. All lock out devices will be returned to TFL after every event.
Traditional 2D sonar, down imaging, side imaging, GPS,360, mapping, and chartplotting technology are permitted.
Forward-facing sonar must not be operated or displayed during competition, including while running or navigating.
Contestants must cooperate with reasonable electronics inspections conducted by TFL officials.
Penalty: A verified violation will result in immediate disqualification from the tournament and forfeiture of the team’s event points and winnings. Additional disciplinary action may be imposed.
These restrictions apply during official competition hours.
6. Permitted Fishing Methods
Only artificial lures may be used. Pork trailers are permitted.
Each angler may use only one rod and reel at a time. Additional rods may be carried and prepared for use.
Trolling with the combustion engine for the purpose of catching fish is prohibited.
All fish must be caught in a legal, conventional sporting manner. Fishing from the bank or leaving the boat to land fish is prohibited.
7. Safety and Boating Regulations
All contestants must wear a properly fastened U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device whenever the combustion engine is operating.
The operator must use an operational engine emergency shutoff device and attach the required lanyard whenever applicable.
All boats must carry legally required safety equipment and must not exceed their rated horsepower capacity.
The Tournament Director may delay, shorten, suspend, or cancel competition due to dangerous conditions.
8. Tournament Waters and Fishing Locations
Tournament waters include legal, publicly accessible navigable waters of the designated tournament lake, except areas restricted by law or tournament officials.
Competitors must not fish within 50 yards of a boat that was first anchored in a location or within 25 yards of another competitor’s unanchored boat without permission.
Competitors may not reserve fishing locations using another boat or person.
All fishing must take place from the registered tournament boat.
9. Sportsmanship and Outside Assistance
Contestants must demonstrate sportsmanship, courtesy, conservation, and respect for fellow competitors.
Receiving outside assistance with locating or catching fish during tournament hours is prohibited. No tournament information maybe purchased or bartered.
The use of phones or other communication devices to exchange fishing information is prohibited. Emergency and safety communications are allowed.
Alcohol consumption and impairment from drugs during competition are prohibited.
10. Fish Limits and Scoring
Each team may weigh a maximum of five bass per tournament day.
Only legally caught largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are eligible.
All fish must meet applicable 14’ limit and possession requirements, as well as any additional TFL tournament requirements.
The team’s official weight will determine tournament placement after applicable penalties.
Possession of more than the tournament limit, presentation of illegally retained fish, or intentional alteration of fish may result in disqualification.
11. Fish Care and Dead-Fish Penalties
All boats must have an operational livewell capable of maintaining a tournament limit of bass.
Contestants must make every reasonable effort to keep fish alive.
A one-pound penalty will be assessed for each dead bass presented for weigh-in.
Culling dead fish is prohibited.
12. Weigh-In and Late Penalties
Teams must return to the designated check-in location by their assigned time.
Teams will not be allowed to weigh fish if they are not in line to do so at the posted time of each tournament.
All fish must be presented to tournament officials in an approved weigh-in bag.
The decision of the official weighmaster regarding weight and fish condition is final.
13. Ties
Ties in tournament standings will be broken by the weight of the team’s largest bass, followed by the team’s number of live bass.
If a tie remains, affected teams will split the combined prize money for the tied positions.
14. Points and Championship Qualification
Teams will accumulate season points based on their official finishing positions at each qualifying tournament.
AOY winners will receive free entry for TFL proceeding season along with $1000.00 cash prize.
TFL will establish a published points schedule and championship qualification requirements before the beginning of the season.
15. Championship
The TFL Championship will feature a $10,000 guaranteed first-place prize, subject to the published championship terms.
You must enter 4 out of 5 TFL regular season events to be eligible for championship participation.
Winning any regular season event will automatically qualify a team for championship.
The championship location, dates, registration procedures, and any special event rules will be announced by TFL.
16. Polygraph and Tournament Integrity
TFL reserves the right to require any contestant to submit to a polygraph examination or other lawful integrity review as a condition of receiving tournament winnings. Polygraphs will be randomly drawn for any team in the “money line”.
Refusal to cooperate with an authorized investigation may result in disqualification and forfeiture of winnings, subject to the published procedures. TFL reserves the right to place an observer on any boat at anytime.
17. Liability and Acceptance of Rules
All contestants participate voluntarily and acknowledge the inherent risks of boating and competitive fishing.
Each contestant must sign TFL’s official entry agreement and liability waiver before competing.
TFL may amend these rules when necessary, provided changes are communicated to competitors.
TFL reserves all rights to publications of any registered angler including, pictures, interviews etc.