2026 RULES & REGULATIONS

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Interpretation and enforcement of the rules will be left exclusively to the staff of Dual Threat Fishing. Decisions made by the tournament director are final he is the judge, jury and executioner when it comes to enforcement. We encourage self policing to ensure the integrity of the league it’s anglers and sponsors of the sport. Breaking of a rule could result in loss of weight, suspension and or disqualification. All on the water alleged rule violations or protests must be documented in writing by the witnesses within 30 minutes of the check - in time of the final flight of each tournament day.

Participation is open only to members of Dual Threat Fishing. Age restrictions anyone under the age of 18 with a minimum age of 16 years of age with written parents permission 19 in Alabama will be permitted to compete. Any person’s participation in any tournament is at the sole discretion of Dual Threat Fishing officials. All pros must have a valid fishing license for the waters they fish. Failure to provide proof of a valid fishing license within a reasonable amount of time when required by the tournament director will result in disqualification for that day and possibly the following days of the tournament or until obtained. All teams will be given one excused tournament absence per angler for the year as long as one member participates solo in the event they will occur there normal points and any money won. We are not here to penalize a team if one member of that team has a death in the family or an emergency. That is why this rule was put into place and it will be monitored and enforced accordingly. Any team member absence will have to be pre-approved by the tournament director. The field will operate at the capped full capacity of 100 boats the first two days then be cut to 40 boats for the final day of competition. All competitors must fish all six regular season events and this will be covered once you get into the angler application stages through the angler contract process. 

During practice and tournament competition no more than one artificial or biodegradable artificial lure maybe attached to a single line at a time. Adding trailer hooks, plastic trailers, blades, etc to a single lure is acceptable. If multiple fish are caught using a single lure on one cast all fish are considered legal, as long as they meet the required measurements of the state and local officials of the body of water in which they are caught. No live bait, dead bait or prepared bait will be permitted during official practice or tournament hours with the exception of pork rind baits and trailers. Umbrella rigs are not allowed however twin arm spinnerbaits, twin arm underspins and twin arm buzzbaits are allowed. Trailer hooks and plastic trailers of twin arm baits must be on the main hook of the bait; only spinner blades can be affixed to the arms. The head on the main wire maybe hinged. On all two arm baits you can’t exceed two wires and the maximum length of 6 inches of trail from main tie point. Dual Threat Fishing officials have the sole authority to determine if a lure is a single lure as described above. Only one rod & reel per competitor can be in use at a time with a maximum length of 10 ft from rod butt to tip. If a competitor breaks his line on a hook set or while retrieving a fish he is allowed to use his rod or hands to  try to secure the line to land the fish and it will be counted as a legal catch. No competitor may snare or foul hook a visible fish. If you see the fish whether it be on bed or not it has to be hooked in the mouth. Violation of this rule will result in the disqualification of the days catch. Moving on to the somewhat controversial topic of forward facing sonar we are electronics friendly and have no restrictions on ffs or screens. Also our league is allowing the use of landing nets to those who choose to use them.

100 points are awarded to the winner of each regular season event with 99 points going to 2nd, 98 to 3rd etc down the board. Overall big bass for each event will count in the points race and will be awarded as 3 points. In the event of any tie in the standings it will be broken by total weight by the teams throughout the season. The winning team of the points race will win the MCT award (most consistent team) which will come with two trophies one for each competitor and a check for $20,000 (see payout page). Also the top 20 teams in the points will move on to compete in the no entry fee championship with a top prize of $250,000.

Tournament waters will go off limits 10 days prior to the first day of official practice for competitors. Teams may not enter tournament waters for any reason during the off limits period. The solicitation of information through word of mouth or the internet is prohibited that includes all your favorite social media apps as well (don’t buy or gather weight points). Beginning with practice and moving through to the tournament competitors may not place any brush, structure or attractors. Official practice will consist of two days and each day will begin 30 minutes prior to sunrise and end 30 minutes after sunset anyone on the water outside these hours will be found in violation of tournament rules. Practice days will consist of Mon - Tue with  Wednesday being off the water for angler meetings. Tournament days will consist of Thursday - Saturday unless weather dictates otherwise. 

Each team is required to check in and attend the pre-tournament angler meeting. If for some reason one of the team members can’t attend the meeting the tournament director needs to be contacted before hand. Then once approved the angler that attends is responsible for relaying the information to his or her partner. 

All teams must have the ability to record their tournament day from beginning to end. That also includes both decks of the boat front and back. Using an action camera or similar equipment preferably console mounted with one camera capturing the front deck as the other camera faces the opposite direction to capture the rear deck. Tournament video must be made immediately available to Dual Threat Fishing upon request to review any rules violations and for content and promotional video use. 

Angler safety is one of our top priorities, safe boating must be taken serious and observed at all times. The provisions of these rules apply from official practice until the tournament ends while anglers are on the water. Each team member is required to wear a fastened US COAST GUARD APPROVED personal flotation device any time the combustion engine is running and in gear. All boats must be equipped with a factory installed emergency ignition shutoff device. The emergency ignition shut off device must be tethered to the driver at all times when the engine is in gear and running. Both team members must be seated and the driver behind the wheel when the boat is running and gear. At the discretion of the tournament director all practice and tournament days maybe postponed or delayed due to inclement weather conditions or water conditions. Teams are permitted to leave their boat and seek shelter in the event of bad weather conditions. Teams involved in an on the water accident and or safety incidents may be required to complete a BoatUS  Foundation boating safety course before participating in another Dual Threat Fishing event. 

All teams are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation. All teams must conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to them as well as the league. Violation of or failure to comply with any of the rules for the 2026 Dual Threat Fishing season are as follows. Consumption and or possession of any alcoholic or mind altering drugs during tournament practice hours, tournament hours or weigh - in procedures. Abuse of or addiction to mind altering drugs. Suspension, disqualification, probation or ban from any tournament fishing organization. Boat operation in an unsafe or unsportsmanlike manner. Publicly criticizing or questioning the integrity of Dual Threat Fishing or the officials, included but not limited to the rules, policy and procedure. Dissemination of disparaging content or content that one should reasonably know would harm the reputation of Dual Threat Fishing or their sponsors. 

All boats must be propeller - driven. Minimum of 18 feet in length with a back deck. Minimum horsepower is set at 150 horsepower, maximum horsepower is set by the coast guard and your manufacture and should not be exceeded. We don’t have the 250 horsepower cap like everyone else. So if you bought a new boat with a 300 on it #sendit. All boats must be equipped with all US COAST GUARD safety equipment. All boats are required to have liability insurance with coverage of not less than $300,000 per occurrence. Proof of insurance must be in the boat and cover all occupants. random boat insurance checks will occur and failure to provide proof of insurance could result in disqualification.

Teams may fish anywhere on tournament waters that is open and accessible by boat, unless it is posted by local and state officials as off limits to the public. Anglers may not leave the boat to remove debris or cut logs to gain access to an area. The use of a push pole is permitted for use to gain access in and out of an area. All local and state regulations will apply when it comes to no wake zones etc. Any teams who occur a malfunction to their vessel that would prohibit them from making it to weigh-in on time may contact the tournament director to notify them. Once contacted the decision can be made to either contact a tow company or gain help from a nearby competitor if there is an agreement in place with all involved. Late penalties will apply in this situation if you don’t make it in on time.

There will be only one checkpoint for boats in the morning and one check-in point in the afternoon. Failure to go through the checkpoint on the way out or in will result in a disqualification. All fishing must cease upon check-in.

Teams who are not at the check-in point at their designated  time will be assessed a 1 pound penalty per minute they’re late. Once you pass the 15 minute mark your entire catch is disqualified. This also applies to any big fish as well.

We cannot express this enough every effort must be made to keep fish alive. No dead fish can be culled and  4 ounces will be deducted from the total weight of the dead fish at the weigh-in. 

All scoring will be done by pounds and ounces of each teams catch during every event. Only largemouth, spotted, redeye, shoal or smallmouth are excepted species. The daily limit will be five bass unless we schedule in a state or on a lake where the limit is less (which is highly unlikely to happen). Teams must cull immediately after catching their five fish and may not at anytime have more than five fish in their live well. If that  infraction occurs you must self report to the tournament director and cull down to your limit immediately. This infraction carries a 1 pound penalty to overall weight. Dual Threat Fishing is setting the length on fish at a 12 inch minimum but that will change from lake to lake due to different rules. Examples given some lakes have a 15 inch minimum on largemouth and a 18 inch minimum on smallmouth. This goes back to all state and local regulations on fish size. Bass presented at weigh-in that fail to measure will occur a 1 pound penalty. All fish prior to weigh-in have to be presented in an official weigh-in bag and signed off on by a official. Failure to have your fish signed off on by a official may result in the disqualification of that days catch. All fish must be turned over to Dual Threat Fishing after being weighed for release. Winners will be determined by the total 3 day weight if a tie happens it will be broken by the heaviest one day catch of the tournament. If it somehow remains tied after that it will go to the highest ranked team in the points standings. 

All teams are expected to participate in media opportunities requested by the Dual Threat Fishing staff on days of competition. The weigh-in will be live on multiple online platforms daily. Along with some on the water footage that is captured with action cameras and media boats that will be produced into daily highlight videos. All boats must display a minimum of 8x8 inch Dual Threat Fishing logo on their windshield. All anglers are required to wear jerseys during weigh-in and tournament hours. The jersey must have the American flag on either the left or right shoulder of the jersey. Dual Threat Fishing logo must be displayed on the jersey on either the right or left side of the breast plate region of the jersey. All anglers must provide their own jersey and are encouraged to display their sponsors proudly. No anglers may compete in a jersey displaying another tournament organization logo. We reserve the right to reject anyone’s jersey that is in poor taste or goes against Dual Threat Fishing angler conduct policy.  

Each angler/team agrees to submit by signature on the Dual Threat Fishing angler contract to a polygraph or voice stress analysis examination. Truth verification will be used randomly and at the discretion of the league. Failure to comply with the polygraph will result in disqualification.