2025 AFTCO Walleye Throwdown Official Rules

2025 AFTCO Walleye Throwdown® - Official Rules

 

  1. 1. All decisions made by the Tournament Director (Charlie Terrell) and the South Dakota Walleye Classic Board are Final.
  2. 2. These Rules and Regulations are the Official Rules (“Rules”) of the WALLEYE THROWDOWN (“Event”).
  3. 3. Participant(s) acknowledge and agree that they have reviewed, understand, and will abide by the Rules as posted on our official website. Participant(s) willingly agree to comply with the Rules for participation in the Event.
  4. 4. By signature on the online/print entry form and/or participation in the Event, angler agrees to the Participant Agreement, Release, & Acknowledgement of Risk associated with the Event.
  5. 5. All local, State, and federal laws shall apply at all times including, without limitation, the penal code.
  6. 6. All local, State, U.S. Coast Guard, Parks & Wildlife, and federal boating and fishing regulations shall apply at all times.
  7. 7. In the event there is a discrepancy between the printed version of the rules and the digital version of the Rules, the Rules posted on the official website at the time of the Event shall prevail.
  8. 8. The WALLEYE THROWDOWN reserves the right to have an observer/camera boat follow a competitor(s) boat or place an observer in a competitor(s) boat at any time during the Event. Refusal of this will result in disqualification.

 

Event Participation & Eligibility

  1. 1. Each person in the boat must be a paid contestant of the Event and abide by the Rules. An exception could be made for a non-paid person to ride along for medical/safety reasons (must have director’s approval) or if you are taking a child out to fish in the kid’s division. The number of anglers per boat must not exceed the maximum capacity set for the boat.
  2. 2. Participants under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times during the event, minors cannot fish alone. Parent/guardian signature release is mandatory on the entry form for anyone under 18 years of age.
  3. 3. Anyone who has failed a polygraph examination and/or been disqualified for fraudulent actions in connection with any fishing tournament may not be eligible to compete.
  4. 4. Any Participant who enters this Event or series of events, and is determined to be ineligible, will be removed from competition immediately and will forfeit the Entry Fee (or entry fees).
  5. 5. Event officials reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone in their sole discretion. If you have a question regarding your eligibility, please contact us for the final decision.

 

Registration & Entry Fee

  1. 1. A completed entry form with paid entry fee must be received prior to fishing an Event.
  2. 2. There will be no refunds or transfer of the entry fee unless an event is cancelled in advance. The tournament will be held regardless of weather. Should conditions threaten safety, please use caution and seek safety on or off the water if need be.  Any schedule changes caused by weather or natural event will be up to the discretion of the tournament director and the SDWC board.
  3. 3. Registration will close at 7pm CST on Friday July 25.  Anglers can review the rules at any time on the event website page or in person during check-in on Friday at the Akaska Community Center prior to the weekend tournament. 
  4. 4. Checks WILL NOT be accepted when registering on Friday, only cash will be accepted. Registrations after June 30 are not eligible for the AFTCO gear swag pack at the Friday registration. 
  5. 5. All participants must complete and submit a Check Claim Form prior to receiving any prize money at the final weigh-in.
  6. 6. If the participant registered for the Event online, the participant must attend check in on the Friday prior to the Event. 
  7. 7. Payment of the entry fee constitutes a representation by each Participant that he/she has read and understands the Rules and the Participant will abide by such Rules and the decisions of the Event Director and/or Event Staff.

 

Interpretation & Discipline 

  1. 1. Participants agree to abide by the Rules and any decisions of the Event Director and/or Event Staff. Interpretation and enforcement of the Rules shall be left to the sole and exclusive discretion of the Event 
  2. 2. Director and/or the Event Staff. In the event a Participant(s) violates any rule set forth in the Rules or, at the discretion of the Event Director, other rule not specifically codified herein, the Event Director and/or Event Staff may impose a penalty and/or sanction on the Participant (including but not limited to any other participant competing from the same boat). Such penalties and sanctions may include disqualification from the Event and future events. Penalties and sanctions for violation of any rule set forth in the Rules or, at the discretion of the Event Director and/or Event Staff, other rule not specifically codified herein may include, but are not limited to, reduction of competition hours; loss of one or more fish; loss of catch of the day; disqualification from a specific time slot; disqualification from the Event; disqualification from future events which may include a specific number of events, a specific time period, or a lifetime disqualification; loss of Entry Fee; forfeiture of Event winnings and/or prizes; and any other penalty determined by the Event Director or his/her designee and/or the Event Staff.

 

Safety

  1. 1. Participants are aware he/she/they are participating in a physical activity in the sport of fishing that may be dangerous and can cause injury. These activities may involve severe cardiovascular stress and possible violent contact. Participants understand and acknowledge the activities involve certain risks including, but not limited to, death, serious neck and spinal injuries resulting in complete or partial paralysis, brain damage, and/or serious injury to virtually all bones, joints, muscles and internal organs, and property damage. Although Rules, equipment, and personal discipline may reduce the risks associated with participating in the Event, the risk of serious injury does exist and cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of significant weather conditions during competition, please use caution. Seek cover or leave the water if need be. The tournament sponsors, officers, employees, staff, etc. will not be responsible for boating or water accidents. Each tournament contestant will be solely responsible for his/her actions with regard to inclement weather or any other potentially dangerous situation which may arise. The contestant assumes the risk of all damages or injury of any nature which may result from any source during the Event. Should any contestant be a minor, a parent/guardian shall grant such release on the part of the minor.
  2. 2. During Event hours no alcoholic beverages or drugs (other than those purchased over-the-counter or prescribed by a licensed physician) are to be consumed by Participants or allowed in Participants boat until the final bi-hourly weigh-in is complete and/or polygraph or cvsa examinations are complete.
  3. 3. All boats must be equipped with some type of emergency ignition cut-off device (kill switch) on any remote steered outboard while main engine is in use. Ignition cut-off device (kill switch) must operate properly, which means when the kill switch is activated the outboard main engine must stop running immediately. The ignition cut-off device (kill switch) must always be attached to the boat operator while the outboard main engine is in use.
  4. 4. U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets are required for each person on board a boat during competition. Life jackets must be worn and strapped, snapped, or zippered securely, and maintained in that condition until the combustion engine is out of gear or shut off. Participants shall check inflatable life vest indicators daily during the Event. Any Participant in violation of this rule will receive one (1) warning and may be prohibited from weighing Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye during that respective time slot. Any subsequent violation of this rule may result in the participant(s) being disqualified for the remainder of that day of competition.
  5. 5. Safe boat conduct must be observed at all times by Participant.
  6. 6. No boat shall have a motor of higher horsepower than the approved Coast Guard maximum.
  7. 7. Running lights must be on and functioning if you are on the water before daylight.

 

Permitted Fishing Areas & Hours

  1. 1. Tournament Boundaries are Lake Oahe from the Hwy 212 bridge (under but not beyond) to the Railroad Bridge (under but not beyond) at Mobridge, SD.  This includes the Moreau River and Grand River portions of Lake Oahe. 
  2. 2. Daily fishing hours are 7AM to 3PM, unless adjusted due to weather prior to the tournament start each day.
  3. 3. Participants are not allowed to fish from 5pm Friday prior to the tournament start date until the official start time Saturday morning. 
  4. 4. Participants are allowed to use the following launch sites for the Event.
    a.    Swan Creek
    b.    Dodge Draw
    c.    Whitlocks Bay
    d.    Walth Bay
  5.  5. Participants may leave from any of the designated launch sites each Event Day at any time; however, the participant may not begin fishing (i.e. lines in the water) until the official start time each day.
  6. 6. No one may leave his or her boat to land a fish.
  7. 7. No participant can have a fishing location held for them.
  8. 8. Participating boats shall prominently display a ribbon (provided at registration) while on the water during the event.  Bow eye, Bow rails, radio antenna, rod holder, rope cleat, etc are examples of appropriate display sites. 

 

Weigh-In Rules & Regulations

  1. 1. Participants are allowed to weigh only Walleye, Sauger or Saugeye per time slot.

  2. 2. Each 8-hour Event Day is divided into four 2-hour time weigh-in time slots, with prizes awarded to the top 5 -10 weights (depending on number of entries) during each time slot.  See the example payout below. 
    a.    100 Anglers: 1st: $300……5th: $200
    b.    150 Anglers: 1st: $500……7th: $200
    c.    200 Anglers: 1st: $700……10th: $200
    d.    Prizes are prorated based on the total number of entries. 
    e.    Note: Overall 1st place payout guaranteed $10,000 for heaviest walleye during the event.

  3.  

    3. All fish will be weighed at the Swan Creek Landing. You must come to the weigh-in by water.

  4. 4. All Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye weighed-in will become the property of the Event and will be donated to charity

  5. 5. All Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye that are kept, must be tagged by the participant that caught the fish.  Each participant will be issued four (4) tags per day.  Failure to tag a fish that is placed in a livewell, on a stringer, in a cooler, or not immediately returned to the lake, is grounds for disqualification of the participant.   

  6. 6. You cannot trailer your boat once you launch in the morning (excluding safety reasons). You must come to the weigh-in by water. Bank fishing is not allowed in this Event.

  7. 7. When weighing in, you must be past the OFFICIALS BOAT in Swan Creek Bay to be included in that time slot. You may leave the weigh in area and return to your boat if you decide not to weigh in a respective time slot.

  8. 8. All Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye brought to the official weigh-in stations must be tagged by the participant and placed in a weigh bag. If a Participant does not have a weigh bag, one will be provided by Event Staff. 

  9. 9. No Participant may weigh more than one (1) Walleye per time slot. Walleye entered into a bi-hourly time slot do not carry over from time slot to time slot. The biggest Walleye per contestant will go towards the final overall standings, meaning you can only win one (1) of the top overall prizes.

  10. 10. Walleye must be weighed-in by the Participant who originally caught the fish, and it must be in said Participant's actual physical possession in the weigh-in line. (The only exception to this rule would be if one of the tournament participants is disabled, in this case we will allow another Participant to bring the fish to the scales for the disabled angler.)

  11. 11. No Participant can have more than one (1) fish in their weigh-in bag when weighing in. No sharing of fish is allowed, although you can help net a fish.

  12. 12. Each Participant may have no more than four (4) Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye in their possession at any time during official Event hours. When the Event officially concludes each day, all Walleye weighed shall be donated to charity.  Walleye must be weighed in the same day they are caught.

  13. 13. All fish must be a minimum of 14 inches in length to be weighed. Anglers are allowed to keep one walleye greater than or equal to 20" each day.  Any angler attempting to weigh two fish 20" and over in the same day will be disqualified.    

  14. 14. A Walleye will only be weighed one time, then turned over to event staff for disposition. 

  15. 15. Any artificially weighted fish will be disqualified, and the Participant(s) may be subject to prosecution and shall be disqualified from all future Walleye Throwdown or Big Bass Bash® events. Any alteration of length or weight of bass is prohibited, and the Participant will be banned from any future Walleye Throwdown or Big Bass Bash® events and may be subject to prosecution. Any questionable fish will be subject to inspection by a marine biologist or similarly qualified expert.

 

Tackle & Equipment

  1. 1. Participants must follow SDGF&P rules and regulations at all times.  
  2. 2. No electronic tracking device (implanted microchips) may be used to locate fish for Event purposes. However, depth finders, live scope, graph charts, gps mapping, etc are acceptable.

 

Sportsmanship & Conservation

  1. 1. Sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, and walleye conservation are required from every Participant. Participants shall demonstrate professionalism and integrity in support of the sport of fishing. This includes any and all social media content that may be shared now or in the future. Any Participant found compromising the integrity of the sport and/or the Event may be subject to disciplinary action and/or disqualification.
  2. 2. The favorable public reputation of the Event, the sport of fishing, the Event Director, the Event Staff, sponsors, partners and officials is of paramount importance. Accordingly, Participants shall refrain from making unreasonable attacks, accusations, and comments that disparage the integrity of the Event, the sport of fishing, the Event Director, the Event Staff, sponsors, partners and officials. This includes but is not limited to the Participants social media accounts and digital sites.
  3. 3. Participants shall act in a courteous manner at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of non-participants who may be on Event waters.
  4. 4. Any Participants attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Event or defraud the Walleye Throwdown will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution.

 

Boat Inspection

  1. 1. All Participants, by entering this Event, hereby agree to allow their boat to be boarded and inspected by Event Officials at any time prior to, during, or following the Event, to include, but not limited to, their boat registration, U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate, live-well, rod boxes, closed storage compartments, tackle boxes, life jackets, personal floatation devices, and safety equipment.
  2. 2. The Event cooperates with local law enforcement, park rangers and fish/wildlife officers during the Event. If any Participant is found to be in violation of local, state or federal law during Event hours, he/she/they will immediately be disqualified and unable to compete in future tournaments.

 

Ties

  1. 1. All Bi-Hourly (time slot) ties will be broken by the earliest weigh-in time for that time slot. If weigh-in times are the same a tiebreaker will be determined by earliest application entry.
  2. 2. Ties for the overall big Walleye will be determined by the earlies weigh in time with the second tie breaker being earliest application entry.

 

Polygraph and/or CVSA Examination / Prize Money

  1. 1. CVSA test is a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer used to determine if someone is being truthful.
  2. 2. Participant agrees to submit to a polygraph or cvsa examination and agrees to provide truthful and honest responses as to be determined by the polygraph or cvsa examiner.
  3. 3. Refusing to take a polygraph or cvsa examination for any reason will result in immediate disqualification.
  4. 4. Any Participant taking medication should notify the polygraph or cvsa examiner prior to the examination.
  5. 5. Any Participant determined by the polygraph or cvsa examination and/or other Event Officials to be intoxicated and/or under the influence of any type of illegal drug(s) at the time said Participant is required to take the polygraph or cvsa examination or in violation of the Rules, will be disqualified from this Event and all future Walleye Throwdown or Big Bass Bash® events.
  6. 6. Participants acknowledge and agree that Event may disclose the results of the polygraph or cvsa exam. Whether disclosure occurs is at the sole discretion of the Walleye Throwdown.
  7. 7. By his/her signature on the Event entry form and/or other required documents, by entering the Event online, or by participation in the Walleye Throwdown each Participant agrees to submit to a polygraph or cvsa examination. Each participant shall abide by the conclusion reached by the administrator administrating the polygraph or cvsa examination and, specifically, whether the Participant provided honest and truthful responses. Participants must pass the polygraph or cvsa examination or be removed from competition and forfeit any winnings.
  8. 8. At the sole discretion of the Event Director, Event Staff, or his/her designee, random polygraph or cvsa examinations may be administered during the Event. The top overall winners at each Event must be present at the awards ceremony to receive their prize money and submit to and pass a polygraph or cvsa examination, if not already taken. Any Participant who takes a polygraph or cvsa exam must successfully pass the exam at the tournament site to receive prize money. The Tournament Director reserves the right to waive any violation of these rules that are disclosed to him before the polygraph or cvsa exam, in his sole and absolute discretion.

 

Protests & Disputes

  1. 1. All protests or disputes relating to any matter involving the Rules and/or the Event must be registered in writing with the Event Director and/or Event Staff within fifteen (15) minutes of the official closing of the scales at each tournament day. Protests made after the deadline will be disregarded and the protesting Participant may be subject to dis-qualification. Failed polygraph or CVSA examinations are non-disputable and the results are final.
  2. 2. Any protest filed by a Participant shall be heard by the Event Staff. After reviewing the protest submitted, the Event Director shall inform the protesting Participant of the Event Staff’s decision. The Event Staff’s decision is final and not subject to further appeal.
  3. 3. The interpretation and enforcement of the Rules will be the sole responsibility of the Event Director and, if protested, the Event Staff.

 

The Tournament Director, Charlie Terrell and South Dakota Walleye Classic have the right to cancel the Event for any reason. Shall this occur, a refund will be given to each contestant. The tournament could be postponed and the date of tournament rescheduled due to reasons beyond our control.