2021 Catfish Contest Rules
- 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 Cat Contest Placard with your BFT
username and the year. There is printable placard on
a seperate contest post (Cat Contest Placard) Download that placard, then resize and print to fit your needs. Just be sure all info on it is visible. (Recommend you save a copy incase it is lost, destroyed, or becomes unreadable) 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…
[align=justify]Pictures of fish in the air next to a tape will not count[/align]
[align=justify]for points. Tape should be laid or stretched flat. All[/align]
[align=justify]pictures must be taken at the body of water where[/align]
[align=justify]caught.[/align]
[align=justify]5. You may select to enter as a member of Northern[/align]
[align=justify]Utah, or Southern Utah. Points will be awarded for up to[/align]
[align=justify]three cats per individual, and the longest ten for an[/align]
[align=justify]entire team will earn the whole team bragging rights.[/align]
[align=justify]6. Boundaries will be drawn roughly at a line going east[/align]
[align=justify]to west and passing through the mouth of the Jordon[/align]
[align=justify]river entering the Great Salt Lake. Northern Region:[/align]
[align=justify]From the Idaho border southward, to include all areas[/align]
[align=justify]north of Salt Lake City, including the Weber River,[/align]
[align=justify]Willard Bay, Bear River, and Cutler Marsh. The Southern[/align]
[align=justify]Region will include Utah Lake, Jordan River, everything[/align]
[align=justify]south of Salt Lake to the southern border of the state.[/align]
[align=justify]7. The target of the competition will be Channel Catfish,[/align]
[align=justify]but Bullheads can be entered too but they may not be[/align]
[align=justify]very competitive. You may submit as many entries as[/align]
[align=justify]you want (within reason) and the best 3 will count[/align]
[align=justify]towards your total.[/align]
[align=justify]8. You must follow Utah’s Legal guidelines with regards[/align]
[align=justify]to bait, number of lines, hooks, etc. Fish must be caught[/align]
[align=justify]with a rod; this competition will not include setlines or nets.[/align]
[align=justify]9. Though you are welcome to fish anywhere legal to do[/align]
[align=justify]so, if you enter as a member of a team, your entries[/align]
[align=justify]must come from the areas listed for your region, ( and[/align]
[align=justify]though you don’t have to divulge any exact location, the[/align]
[align=justify]name of the water must be shared.) ADDED: “Poaching”[/align]
[align=justify]1 fish (that’s all, just ONE) contest fish from outside your declared team area (i.e. A Northerner using 1 Southern zone fish, or a Southerner using 1 Northern zone fish) will be allowed again this year. But the body of water must be declared.[/align]
[align=justify]10.You must post your own fish for it to get credit. I[/align]
[align=justify]can help anyone who has problems resizing or posting[/align]
[align=justify]their photos. Please post your photos in JPEG format on[/align]
[align=justify]the BFT forum. Please be sure the tape-measure can be[/align]
[align=justify]read clearly in the photo. (One fish / tape measure must be all in one photo)[/align]
[align=justify]11.Posts must include date caught, name of body of[/align]
[align=justify]water, and length of fish.[/align]
[align=justify]12.Anyone harassing another contestant for posting[/align]
[align=justify]the name of a lake will be disqualified. An entrant is[/align]
[align=justify]welcome to offer what bait/rig they used, but this is not[/align]
[align=justify]required, and same harassment rule applies in that[/align]
[align=justify]regard. Entrants are encouraged to release any fish[/align]
[align=justify]over 7 lbs., but legal limits are the rule. Again, no[/align]
[align=justify]harassment of entrants for their posts or personal[/align]
[align=justify]choices.[/align]
[align=justify]13.Anyone found cheating will be disqualified.[/align]
[align=justify]14.Anyone disqualified forfeits their entry fee. (This[/align]
[align=justify]may not be a big deal this year, but your info will be[/align]
[align=justify]removed from the competition with a scarlet letter[/align]
[align=justify]saying boo boo.)[/align]
[align=justify]The team award will win that region’s Super-Catfish-[/align]
[align=justify]Bragging-Rights for the next year. (You would be[/align]
[align=justify]surprised how many non BFT members are now aware[/align]
[align=justify]of this annual contest)[/align]
[align=justify]The contest will accept entries caught and posted[/align]
[align=justify]between March 15 through Oct 31st. Deadline for end of[/align]
[align=justify]Contest posts midnight, 1 Nov.[/align]
[align=justify]There will be prizes for First place on each team[/align]
[align=justify]North/South and one for the overall champion. The[/align]
[align=justify]team that has the champion score will have a prize for[/align]
[align=justify]the runner up score based on total individual scores.[/align]
[align=justify]This is a total of three prizes for high scores. We will[/align]
[align=justify]also have a youth prize for highest 3 fish score. This[/align]
[align=justify]overall youth prize will require youth that are 16 or[/align]
[align=justify]younger on March 15 to identify themselves as youth[/align]
[align=justify]when they enter… Note, more prizes may be awarded if[/align]
[align=justify]additional items are obtained, but as a minimum we will[/align]
[align=justify]have four prizes that can be won… 1 youth, 2 team[/align]
[align=justify]high, and 1 overall winner… One disclaimer, if the same[/align]
[align=justify]person wins more than one category only one prize will[/align]
[align=justify]be awarded to them, we will pass the lesser prize to the[/align]
[align=justify]runner up in the contest that they were not awarded the[/align]
[align=justify]prize for… If you don’t submit an entry, you won’t qualify[/align]
[align=justify]for prizes and your team misses out on the help.[/align]
[align=justify]Any and all ties for fish will be broken by the longest[/align]
[align=justify]fish posted. Also, this year’s top winner will have their[/align]
[align=justify]entry fee next year waved as the defending grand[/align]
[align=justify]champion. (Sorry not a big perk this year.)[/align]
[align=justify] The Smallest Cat category has been eliminated[/align]
[align=justify]** this year (2021) . **[/align]
[align=justify]If you catch a larger Cat than one you posted already,[/align]
[align=justify]no problem. Post the new fish and your points will be[/align]
[align=justify]adjusted. Don’t remove your older entries. Prefer you[/align]
[align=justify]don’t edit your entries after they have been scored. (If you post an entry, then delete it, judges will not be able to verify your accurate score at the end of the contest. 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.[/align]
[align=justify]Post all your entries to a single thread per contestant.[/align]
[align=justify]Follow this entry title thread: 2021 Catfish Contest – *your BFT screen name. * Look at the 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[/align]
[align=justify]on in parallel. [/align]
[align=justify]Please, check your pictures on the body of water where[/align]
[align=justify]you caught the fish if you can. If it moved and doesn’t[/align]
[align=justify]show the full length of the fish, I’m sorry but I go with[/align]
[align=justify]what shows up in the picture. Points are based on the[/align]
[align=justify]photos. No limit on size of photos this year but please[/align]
[align=justify]don’t abuse this. If you want to add inline pictures,[/align]
[align=justify]perhaps size those down, but leave a bigg’un attached[/align]
[align=justify]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, do that on the Cat Chat thread. Some talk big, some catch big.[/align]
[align=justify]Rules subject to change, but I[/align]
[align=justify]will color all changes purple so you can see the[/align]
[align=justify]updates..[/align]
[align=justify] [/align]
[align=justify]Change #1: 3 March 2021:[/align]
[align=justify]**To register for the contest: Go to Utah Contests / Important Threads at the top / 2021 Cat Contest Registration / open that thread, make a New Reply, tell me your team area (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 also. Once entries are received, I will reply to each registration / entry. **[/align]
[align=justify]All prize winners must attend the award dinner get together (if there is one) or make arrangements to[/align]
[align=justify]pick up their prizes, or else those prizes will be forfeited[/align]
[align=justify]and roll into the prize pool for the next contest prize[/align]
[align=justify]ceremony. I can’t keep up with prizes that don’t get[/align]
[align=justify]picked up… Sorry too much to do with all the different[/align]
contests so it’s up to you to get your prize.