The Central Basin Bass Club from Strongsville, Ohio is dedicated to the development and advancement of our membership to regional, state, divisional and national level competitive fishing. We are associated with The Bass Federation (TBF) and FLW. The club was founded in 1994. Since then, our membership has continuously done well in regional and state run tournaments. We had one span where one of our club members won the Region 3 Regional tournament five years in a row. We had another span where we had a club member on the Ohio Divisional team four out of five years. In fact, during that time we had two club members on the team in back to back years. One club member has even advanced on to have a successful career as a professional bass fisherman.

Additionally, the Central Basin Bass Club hosts one of the largest open tournaments in Ohio on an annual basis. We call it our annual Benefit Tournament which is held normally on the third Sunday in October. The club donates a sizeable portion of the tournament entry fee to The Child Life & Education Department of MetroHealth Medical Center for use by their Pediatrics patients. The money is used to purchase materials for children to use while hospitalized. Food, prizes and good competition provide a fun and successful day. The biggest reward though is providing for the hospitalized children. The items that are provided through the tournament funds help brighten their days during their stay in the hospital. The tournament doubles to fulfill our obligation of an annual youth project and an annual environmental project.

Membership with the FLW Outdoors is mandatory for all club members. Club Officer term is two years.

An active club member must sponsor all new club membership applicants. Prospective new members must attend one meeting as a guest and participate in one Club activity that earns standings points (i.e. fish one tournament as a guest, attend a youth, environmental project, etc.) Having completed these requirements membership acceptance will be subject to a vote by the active membership body at the next regular club meeting. Upon acceptance, the new member's points from the tournament fished as a guest or other Club activities count toward the year end points total.

The minimum age for club membership application is sixteen (16) years old.

The club membership is limited to twenty active members. The active club membership fee is $75.00 per year. The active membership fee includes association fees and the tournament fees for Regional and Classic qualifiers. The Club also has an associate membership. The associate membership is $35.00/per year. The associate membership includes association fees only. Associate members are not eligible to advance beyond the club level. Associate members can only become an active member at the beginning of the new season in September. Members must fish three years as an active member before they can switch to an associate status. The fees are subject to change each year. The Club agrees to support Divisional Qualifiers based on available funds. The amount ($100 max per qualifier) will be determined prior to the Divisional Tournament. Dues must be paid by the first club tournament, now in September. If dues are not paid by the first September tournament, the member will not be allowed to fish Club Tournaments or Regionals, both the upcoming spring Regional and the new Regional qualification season. In addition, if dues for existing members are not renewed by the first September club tournament then a $25 late fee will be applied in order to renew membership. Also, if dues are still not paid by the club meeting in October the member will be removed from the roster.

All tournaments will be conducted under "Ohio Bass Federation" rules. The Club boat horsepower limit is 300hp.

All tournaments will be one-day events and be nine hours duration from the specified launch time for that event. When a tournament is held at a site where the travel time is 2 hours or more from PPG Strongsville, we will shorten that tournament to eight hours.

If for any reason a member cannot participate in a club tournament, the member should notify a club officer at the club meeting prior to that tournament. Please let someone know if you cannot participate in a tournament!

Lake selection for club tournaments will be the responsibility of the Club, and will include at lease two events on Lake Erie. Tournament dates for the year will be set at the March meeting. The tournament season will coincide with the payment of dues. Effective in 2005, the season will be start and end with the September meeting.

For Safety, all tournaments held on Lake Erie will have a four (4) foot wave maximum limit. If Lake Erie is running over four foot waves, the lake is off limits. The exception is when the wind is from the SW/S/SE the club will decide by vote at the lake the morning of the tournament whether or not to fish. (Feb 2005) On Lake Erie blow off days we always fish the site of the following year's Regional tournament. Additionally, we will review the decision annually once we know the site of Regionals.

At tournaments held on sites adjacent or connected to Lake Erie (SanduskyBay, PortageRiver, etc.) participants must notify the Tournament Director prior to launch if the participant intends to fish Lake Erie. For tournaments on Lake Erie, the club limit is three (3) fish.

If a participant decides to fish Lake Erie during a tournament, the participant should notify a club officer before going out. BE SAFE - let someone know your whereabouts! It is mandatory that every boater have some form of voice communication (cell phone or radio) when fishing Lake Erie.

NON-BOATERS

The number of non-boating members shall never exceed the number of boat owning members in the club.

A non-boater may fish only one tournament per season with each boater. Once a non-boater has fished with all the boaters participating in a particular tournament he is allowed to fish again with a boater within the same year. Boating-up will be determined by a draw at a club meeting prior to a tournament event. No teaming-up will be permitted.

Non-boaters will be permitted to run the electric motor and fish from the front of the boat. This rule is subject to boat owner's discretion.

Non-boater will pay a $25.00 equipment use fee to the boat owner prior to boat launch. This mandatory rule is to help offset the host boater's expenses.

BOATERS

A member must be listed as a boater on the club records for the majority of the qualifying season in order to fish Regionals as a boater the following year. Boaters with open boats may pair-up after the non-boater draw is complete. All boaters must assure a current insurance certificate copy is on file with the Club Secretary.

POINT SYSTEM FOR SCORING

There will be a five fish creel limit for tournaments except on Lake Erie where the limit is four. Only largemouth bass, smallmouth bass or spotted bass may be included in the creel.

Each tournament participant is awarded five (5) points for fishing the tournament. Each tournament participant is awarded points according to the creel weight. Example: for a creel weight of 5.43 pounds, the participant is awarded 5.43 points. Each tournament participant is awarded one (1) point for each fish in the weigh-in creel. No penalty will be assessed for dead fish.

We will allow a member to fish a tournament other than a club tournament and count the weight as club weight under the following conditions: The tournament has to be an individual formatted tournament on the same body of water. The member loses the five points for fishing the club tournament. The tournament hours have to be the same duration or less than the club tournament. The member has to present an official weigh-in slip for the weight to count in the club. This option of not fishing the club tournament to fish another tournament can only be used one time per club season.

Club members will also earn points for working the club environmental project and the youth project. Five (5) points may be earned for participation in each project.

RESIGNATIONS

Any member who wishes to resign from the club must present a written resignation to a club officer. If the resigning member qualified for Regionals, his participation is forfeited.

DISCIPLINE

Grounds for disciplinary action or membership revocation include: failure to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, conservation, falsification of information, cheating, use or alcohol/drugs during a tournament, practice or other actions detrimental to the future of the Federation, Region or Club.

Procedure

1. A written protest must be made to a club officer.

2. Discussion of protest at a Club meeting to allow all parties involved to explain various sides of protest.

3. Vote to decide on the action Club will take. Requires majority of members present to pass on an action.

4. Disciplinary action steps:

Minor incident - deduct 10 standings points (second minor in 12 months = one major)

Major incident - deduct 20 standings points (two majors = automatic membership revocation)

5. Membership revocation requires two thirds of membership to be present, a secret ballot and two thirds of vote in favor,
excluding the member in question.

6. Club is then required to report the incident to the State Federation President for review/action.
The President will obtain approval from the State Federation Board of Directors. Appeals must be made in writing to the Board
within 30 days of notification of Federation action.

MEETINGS

Club meetings will be held on the second Thursday of each month. Club meetings will begin at 7:00 pm.

ADVANCING PAST THE CLUB

One goal of the Central Basin Bass Club is to advance the membership into competition beyond the club level. An entry is one boater and one no-boater. The Club will assist members advancing beyond Regionals in identifying areas to fish and fishing patterns. In the event a club tournament conflicts with an advanced tournament, and to keep from penalizing a member for competing in the advanced tournament, we will average the weight caught at the club tournament and award that average plus the five show up points to the member for participation in the advance tournament.