2020 Catfish Contest

[SkunkedAgain]

Looks like we need to do some recruiting up north... between me and John, not sure we can hold off the southern army... Going to be fun trying though... Get your lines changed and hooks sharpened and your cutbait caught... Be on soon... Jeff 

Okay everyone here are the rules for this year...  I'll post them on the contest board as well... not sure if we can do a sticky deal or not, but we'll figure something out...  Anyway let me know if you have issues with any rules... very few changes from last year... Later Jeff

1. No entry fee for the contest again this year, but we need some help lining up prizes from supporting businesses and individuals.Please let me know if you can or will help?Most places will provide some prizes simply by asking them and letting them know what it is for.
   2. Must be a registered member of BFT to enter.
   3. Points will be awarded by the half inch. Entries will be based on length measure nose to pinched tail (although most just let the tail lay flat). Weight measures are welcome, but not required, nor will weight count towards points, but may be used for bragging rights.
   4. Must have a picture with the fish on the ground next to the tape, the BFT logo and your BFT username and the year. There is printable logo at the bottom of this post. Please lay your catch from one end of the tape (that must be visible), and be sure numbers are clear and visible on the other end. Check your pictures. Take extras.Think of the judges needing to be fair and able to read a true measure… Some are much better at taking pictures than others so start practicing on your small fish so you do it right when you catch your monster, we want to be able to score it…
   Pictures of fish in the air next to a tape will not count for points. Tape should be laid or stretched flat. All pictures must be taken at the lake or river where caught.
   5. You may select to enter as a member of Northern Utah, or Southern Utah. Points will be awarded for up to three cats per individual, and the longest ten for an entire team will earn the whole team bragging rights.
   6. Boundaries will be drawn roughly at a line going east to west and passing through the mouth of the Jordon river entering the Great Salt Lake. Northern Region: From the Idaho border southward, to include all areas north of Salt Lake City, including the Weber River, Willard Bay, Bear River, and Cutler Marsh. The Southern Region will include Utah Lake, Jordan River, everything south of Salt Lake to the southern border of the state.
   7. The target of the competition will be Channel Catfish, but Bullheads can be entered too but they may not be very competitive. You may submit as many entries as you want (within reason) and the best 3 will count towards your total.
   8. You must follow Utah’s Legal guidelines with regards to bait, number of lines, hooks, etc. Fish must be caught with a rod, this competition will not include setlines.
   9. Though you are welcome to fish anywhere legal to do so, if you enter as a member of a team, your entries must come from the areas listed for your region, ( and though you don’t have to divulge any exact location, the name of the water must be shared.
   10. You must post your own fish for it to get credit. I can help anyone who has problems resizing or posting their photos. Please post your photos in JPEG format on the BFT forum. Please be sure the tape-measure can be read clearly in the photo.
   11. Posts must include date caught, name of lake/river, and length of fish.
   12. Anyone harassing another contestant for posting the name of a lake will be disqualified. An entrant is welcome to offer what bait/rig they used, but this is not required, and same harassment rule applies in that regard. Entrants are encouraged to release any fish over 7 lbs, but legal limits are the rule. Again, no harassment of entrants for their posts or personal choices.
   13. Anyone found cheating will be disqualified.
   14. Anyone disqualified forfeits their entry fee. (This may not be a big deal this year, but your info will be removed from the competition with a scarlet letter saying booo booo.)
   
   
   The team award will win that region’s Super-Catfish-Bragging-Rights for the next year. 
   The contest will accept entries caught and posted between March 15[sup]th[/sup] through Oct 31st.
   
   There will be prizes for First place on each team North/South and one for the overall champion.  The team that has the champion score will have a prize for the runner up score based on total individual scores. This is a total of three prizes for high scores.  We will also have a youth prize for highest 3 fish score.  This overall youth prize will require youth that are 16 or younger on March 1[sup]st[/sup] to identify themselves as youth when they enter… Note, more prizes may be awarded if additional items are obtained, but as a minimum we will have four prizes that can be won…  1 youth, 2 team high, and 1 overall winner… One disclaimer, if the same person wins more than one category only one prize will be awarded to them, we will pass the lesser prize to the runner up in the contest that they were not awarded the prize for… If you don’t submit an entry, you won’t qualify for prizes and your team misses out on the help. 
   
   Any and all ties for fish will be broken by the longest fish posted. Also this year’s top winner will have their entry fee next year waved as the defending grand champion. (Sorry not a big perk this year.)
   
   If you catch a larger Cat than one you posted already, no problem. Post the new fish and your points will be adjusted. Don’t remove your older entries. Prefer you don’t edit your entries after they have been scored. You don't get points for both fish (unless it is one of your top 3) but the larger one will be the one counted. Please don’t go overboard and post 300 fish .  (I think Yote wrote that one for me…)
   
   
   Post all your entries to a single thread per contestant. Follow the TITLE pattern I’ll put up. Look at contest board and there will be Catfish contest posts, copy one of them with your name, and then attach all your entries to that post… There may be other competitions going on in parallel.
   
   Please check your pictures on the lake where you caught the fish if you can. If it moved and doesn't show the full length of the fish I'm sorry but I go with what shows up in the picture. Points are based on the photos. No limit on size of photos this year but please don't abuse this. If you want to add inline pictures, perhaps size those down, but leave a biggun attached for offline zooming by judges. 
   
   

Any concerns about entries should be directed to me through a PM and I will review. Public flogging is discouraged.  Team banter and smack-talk is encouraged. Some talk big, some catch big.

Reply to this post telling me your team (north or south), your age if 16 or under on the day the contest begins (this enters you in the youth prize division), and I'll enter you in the contest. Any questions are welcomed too. Once entries are received, I will list on this post who has entered, and which team they belong to. Then you can add a “reply” with your contest post whenever you have a fish, and I’ll update the post with the verified scores. Refer to my “starter” post – and model your title so it’s easier to track. Rules subject to change, but I will color all changes purple so you can see the updates.. 

One new rule I added this year, is all prize winners must attend the award get together or make arrangements to pick up their prizes, or else those prizes will be forfeited and roll into the prize pool for the next contest prize ceremony.  I can’t keep up with prizes that don’t get picked up… Sorry too much to do with all the different contests so it’s up to you to get your prize.