How Well Do You Know the Rules?

FLW’s chief tournament director and rules expert helps you stay out of trouble and enhance your fishing opportunities

Editor’s note: Bill Taylor is the FLW senior director of tournament operations. He oversees the FLW Tour and is responsible for rule enforcement at Tour events.

The offseason here at FLW really isn’t an offseason. The months between tournament seasons are spent planning for the coming year, signing up anglers and making sure that the FLW Tour and all of FLW’s other tournament circuits offer the best opportunities out there for anglers who love to compete.  

Part of my job is to make sure that FLW has a fair set of rules in place to govern its tournaments, and to answer any angler questions regarding the rules.

That last part is important because, over the last few seasons, we’ve made a few changes to the FLW Tour rules that we believe will help protect and grow our sport, both for pros and co-anglers. I want to make sure that anglers understand all the rules and have an enjoyable experience with FLW. In particular, I want to make sure co-anglers and aspiring co-anglers understand the details, because we’ve put rules in place to maximize the learning opportunities for co-anglers without limiting their time on the water through off-limits periods.

That in mind, here are a few key rules and clarifications that FLW Tour anglers should be aware of for 2017.

No Off Limits for Co-anglers

That’s right, there is no off-limits period for co-anglers prior to 2017 Walmart FLW Tour events. There is one limitation, however. A co-angler will only be allowed to practice with a pro or another co-angler if he or she has observed the same off-limits period of the pros.

Co-anglers that do not follow the pros’ off-limits procedures cannot practice with any pro or another co-angler in the event. They can practice alone or with an immediate family member who has also observed the off-limits process. All competition waters are off limits to all pros and co-anglers on Wednesday (registration day) prior to the first competition day of each event.

This rule was made to allow local co-anglers time to fish their home waters during off-limits periods. So if you’re thinking about signing up as a co-angler when the Tour comes to town, but don’t want to give up your regular fishing trips, you can still sign up. Spots are open. Call us at 270.252.1000 for details.

Fish One, or Fish Them All

While pros are required to enter all seven qualifying events for 2017, co-anglers can sign up for individual events with status based on time and date of entry.

(Almost) No Logo Limitations for Co-anglers

With the exception of tobacco products, co-anglers have no restrictions on jersey logos. On days three and four, pros may not display jersey logos of companies that conflict with FLW sponsors in exclusive categories, including outboard motors, marine electronics, automotive oil, boats, sunglasses and POV cameras. The FLW logo is required to be displayed by all pro anglers at all times during competition hours.

PFDs and Safe Operation

Competition is fierce on the FLW Tour, but the competition doesn’t come at the expense of safety. Pros, co-anglers and any other practice companions are required to wear a PFD (life vest) during all official practice and competition days whenever the combustion engine is running. All persons must be seated, and the driver must be behind the steering wheel when the engine is running and in gear during practice and competition days.

Restricted Access is for Pros Only

The 30-day restricted access period prior to the pro off-limits period applies to pros only. During this timeframe pros may be on the water alone, with another pro or co-angler in the tournament, with a member of their immediate family (brother, sister, mother, father, daughter, son, grandparent, grandchild or spouse), with an approved media representative or with an approved youth age 18 or younger.

Manage Social Media with Approved Devices

We know that social media is important for anglers who are promoting themselves during tournament hours, and that modern electronic fishing tools exist that, just a few years ago, no one had heard of. That’s why FLW amended its rules regarding the use of personal communication devices to allow pros to manage their social media accounts and access publicly available fishing tools.

The rules state that mobile communication devices may be used during tournament hours to communicate with lockmasters about locking, to communicate with the tournament director, or to communicate with FLW editors or producers. Pros may also use smartphones and/or tablets during tournament hours for GPS, mapping, weather, power generation, tidal charts, personal fishing notes and related data.

Contestants may not use mobile communication devices, including but not limited to cellphones, tablets, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CBs, etc., to communicate with anyone about locating or catching fish on tournament waters during tournament hours.

A Final Note on Umbrella Rigs

The short of it is that umbrella rigs are not allowed on Tour (though they are allowed in other circuits with certain restrictions). However, these questions sometimes come up: Just what constitutes an umbrella rig? And what types of stingers, trailer hooks and wire bait rigs can an angler use?

Per FLW Tour rules, an umbrella rig is determined to be any nontraditional lure or harness using wires, lines or hooks to connect multiple teasers, including but not limited to swimbaits, grubs or spinners. The use of braid or other line to attach a single stinger hook to a lure is allowed as long as the line is no more than 2 inches in length. Traditional spinnerbaits with a maximum of five blades, including “twin spins” with a maximum of two arms, are acceptable so long as the arm length does not exceed 6 inches from the tie point. The use of plastic trailers, pork trailers and blades is acceptable as long as they are not connected by additional wires or harnesses. A soft plastic must be molded as a single unit and is limited to a maximum of three main bodies. Traditional double fluke, front-runner, double drop-shot and popping cork rigs with a maximum of two hooks are grandfathered in and will be permitted in FLW Tour competition unless otherwise restricted by state regulations.

If you’re still unsure or have a questionable lure or rig, contact the tournament director before practice begins. It’s better to be safe than face a penalty.

The rules outlined here are important, and we hope they make the co-angler experience more accessible and more enjoyable, and help to level the playing field on the pro side.

If you’re interested in signing up, contact us today, and I’ll see you at Guntersville in February.