# tx rules



## hopintocash2 (Aug 14, 2011)

i have only fished a few tx, but would like to fish a lot more next year.with the x-series stuff going on i would like to be sure of the rules, so i will be asking questions to make sure i know right from wrong. i'm going to through out a scenario here, in a 5 fish tx, if my partner catches the 6th and is going thru the cull process, can i keep fishing? or do i have to stop and wait til we cull a fish? thanks


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## lakeslouie (Jan 11, 2006)

hopintocash2 said:


> i have only fished a few tx, but would like to fish a lot more next year.with the x-series stuff going on i would like to be sure of the rules, so i will be asking questions to make sure i know right from wrong. i'm going to through out a scenario here, in a 5 fish tx, if my partner catches the 6th and is going thru the cull process, can i keep fishing? or do i have to stop and wait til we cull a fish? thanks


By Ohio law, you and your partner are allowed to have 10 fish on board. You do not have to stop fishing. However most events require you have your culling done before you return to the ramp at tx end.


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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

I hope Hopintocash2 won't mind me joining in the questioning. I am very new to the tx scene, having never entered one myself.

Does culling mean tossing back a fish from your livewell in place of a bigger fish that you just caught? 

And secondly, are all tx's two person contests or are there single person tx's? 

Hope I did not step on the OP's feet with my butting into the thread.

Thanks.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

louisvillefisherman said:


> I hope Hopintocash2 won't mind me joining in the questioning. I am very new to the tx scene, having never entered one myself.
> 
> Does culling mean tossing back a fish from your livewell in place of a bigger fish that you just caught?
> 
> ...


Yes. Culling is the act of replacing a fish in your livewell with a larger fish. Tournaments with a 5 fish limit allow each boat to weight in no more than 5 fish. Individual tournaments will have individual rules regarding when you have to cull you fish to stay at the 5 fish limit. Any tournament director will be more than happy to answer any questions you have prior to the start of the tournament. It helps you learn, and it helps the flow of the weigh in later. If you want to be safe all the time, do your culling before you make another cast. That will ensure that you are not breaking any rules for you limit regardless of the individual tournaments rules.

Most tournaments are paid on an entry per boat basis. Usually either 1 or 2 people per boat.

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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

So as I understand it, some tx's say that once you reach 5 you cannot cast again until you are back to 4? Others say you can catch as many as you can and then only present the best 5 at the end?

If a fish dies during the tx are you allowed to cull it? If so what do you do with it? Toss the dead fish into the water?

Sorry about all the questions, and I understand every tx has it's own set of rules. Just trying to get a basic idea of how it all works.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

louisvillefisherman said:


> So as I understand it, some tx's say that once you reach 5 you cannot cast again until you are back to 4? Others say you can catch as many as you can and then only present the best 5 at the end?
> 
> If a fish dies during the tx are you allowed to cull it? If so what do you do with it? Toss the dead fish into the water?
> 
> Sorry about all the questions, and I understand every tx has it's own set of rules. Just trying to get a basic idea of how it all works.


No. Once you catch your 6th fish, you cannot cast again till you'll cull back to 5.

And yes, many tournaments only specify that only 5 fish may be brought to the scales. Which can leave some room for debate which we had to address during a tournament on the Ohio river this year.

Some tournaments have a "no culling of dead fish" rule. Others won't even weigh a dead fish. Personal ethics will apply here and I don't want to open that can of worms.

Your best bet would be to find a tournament you intend to fish and call the tournament director, or the contact person on the flier. They will be able to answer any specifics about that particular tournament. I've been fishing tournaments for about 12 years and still read the rules top to bottom for every tournament I enter. There's nothing worse than having a good bag of fish and being DQ'ed based on small rule that you didn't fully understand. It's not up to the tournament directors to make sure everyone "knows" the rules, only that they are adhered to.
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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

hopintocash2 said:


> i have only fished a few tx, but would like to fish a lot more next year.with the x-series stuff going on i would like to be sure of the rules, so i will be asking questions to make sure i know right from wrong. i'm going to through out a scenario here, in a 5 fish tx, if my partner catches the 6th and is going thru the cull process, can i keep fishing? or do i have to stop and wait til we cull a fish? thanks


I've been fishing bass tournaments for about 22 years, give or take a year. You've raised a question that I'm kind of curious about myself. My dad (my dad is my fishing partner) and I weigh and attach a colored tag to each legal fish we catch before we put them in the live well. We write the weights on a little dry erase card. When we catch the next legal size fish we'll weigh it and if it's big enough to cull we grab the colored tag with the lowest weight fish and cull the smaller fish and reattach the tag to the new fish, and adjust the cull board accordingly. We usually do it as a team so neither of us are fishing for the maybe 1 minute that it takes to weigh and cull a fish. Your question doesn't really affect us, but it is a good question, and one that I'll be sure to ask the tournament director of each different circuit that we fish. Just in case.


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## lakeslouie (Jan 11, 2006)

Got to thinkin more about your question at work tonight. I wanted to add, but everyone already did, to check each events rules. Thanks Guys! 
I knew you had my back!!


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## hopintocash2 (Aug 14, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the smart play would be to cull before any more casts. Now what about this ,we have five fish in the well ,then we both hook a fish at the same time ,now what ?


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

hopintocash2 said:


> Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the smart play would be to cull before any more casts. Now what about this ,we have five fish in the well ,then we both hook a fish at the same time ,now what ?


Cull back to 5

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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

hopintocash2 said:


> Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the smart play would be to cull before any more casts. Now what about this ,we have five fish in the well ,then we both hook a fish at the same time ,now what ?


Now that I have had happen. 

Like LakesLouie said I was thinking about the question some more last night. Currently, to my knowledge, all bass tournament circuits in the northeast Ohio area have a 5 fish limit. Here are my thoughts on the scenario that you mentioned, and how I would explain it if I were a tournament director of a team tournament circuit. This is assuming that the tournament you are fishing requires you to immediately start culling after your 5 fish limit is reached

As long as you are in the process of culling you can have up to 7 fish in the boat at one time. At the time the 7th fish enters the boat, both members of the team must cease fishing until enough fish are culled to reach the 5 fish limit. 

I hope that makes sense. I'm glad you're asking questions like this, because not all the rules about culling between tournaments are real specific. Some are, some aren't.


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