1. RULES. These rules will remain unchanged during the 2011 season for all qualifying Heartland Trails Inc. tournaments, (herein after referred to as HT). Interpretation of these rules shall be left exclusively to the HT Tournament Committee. Protests must be made in writing within thirty minutes of the official check in time of the final flight. Decisions of the HT Tournament Committee shall be final in all matters and are not subject to appeal.
2. ELIGIBILITY. Participation in the tournaments will be by entries. Any team/individual, whose entry has been received and approved by HT, who is a current member ($15 per year) in good standing of the Heartland Trails Inc. and has paid the appropriate entry fee by the tournament deadline is eligible. HT has the right to refuse any entries received.  All entries will be taken in order by date & time entered by phone (816-734-0020), mail or internet (www.hpata.com). Entry fees may be transferred to another HT tournament in the same year or refunded provided Heartland Trails is notified by 5 PM Central time Tuesday prior to Team/Elite tournament. After 5 PM fees will not be transferred or refunded
3. ENTRY FEES, DEPOSITS & DEADLINES. Entry fees shall be: $250 for each Team ($100 deposit) per tournament. Entry fee for the Elite events will be $200.00 ($100.00 deposit) for each event. Optional Big bass pot will be $20 per boat in both the Team/Elite events with a 100% payback. Entry fees or balance of deposit must be postmarked 5 days prior to each tournament to avoid late fee. A late fee of $20 will be added starting 5 days prior to each tournament. Take-off position will be determined by date & time entry is received. Late entries will be accepted up to ½ hour prior to take off. Deposits & fees may be transferred (up to 2 days prior to that tournament) to another tournament in the same circuit during the same year only. All entries must be paid in full prior to tournament take-off.
4. INSURANCE. Boat owners must have at least $100,000 of Boating Liability Insurance. Boat owners must send a copy of their policy, with their entry form prior to the entry deadline.
5. BOATS AND MOTORS. Any boat, 16 feet or longer, powered by a motor of 50 horsepower or more with a kill switch will be accepted. All boats must meet B.I.A. and Coast Guard requirements; no over-powered boats. Stick steering will not be allowed. Each boat must have a functional bilge pump and live well space, properly aerated, capable of keeping alive one limit of fish per angler.

6. SAFETY. Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear an approved personal floatation devise, snapped and zipped, anytime the combustion engine is operated above an idle speed while pre-fishing and fishing all Heartland tournaments. All boats must be equipped with an ignition shut-off device securely attached to the boat operator when boat is operated above idle speed while pre-fishing and fishing Heartland tournaments. At the discretion of the Tournament Committee, tournament days may be shortened or cancelled due to unsafe weather or water conditions. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in boats during tournament hours.

7. SPORTSMANSHIP. All contestants are required to follow the highest degree of sportsmanship, courtesy and conservation as well as conduct themselves in a manner that will bring credit to themselves, Heartland Trails, sponsors and the sport of tournament fishing. Any words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules will not be tolerated and may result in disqualification. During the hours of competition, contestants may not obtain or receive assistance from non-competitors, follow a non-competitors' boat or participate in the practice of “hole sitting”.

8. COMMUNICATION DEVICES. The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CB's, etc., to communicate fishing locations or fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited.

9. TACKLE EQUIPMENT & DIP NETS. Only artificial baits or lures may be used. Pork style baits are allowed. All bass must be caught on a rod and reel. Only one rod and reel in use at any time per angler is allowed. Trolling or Strolling, as a method of catching fish, or the use of bugging devices to locate them is not allowed. Dip nets are allowed to assist in landing fish, however, culling nets in live wells are not allowed.

10. PERMITTED FISHING LOCATIONS. Anywhere on the designated tournament waters except within 50 yards of another contestant's first anchored boat, or within 50 yards. of any Corps of Engineers leased concessions, or marina. Also any area marked off limits or no fishing by the Corp of Engineers, local, state, or Federal officials. Any additional off limits will be announced at the pre-tournament meeting. No tournament boat may be loaded on the trailer before weigh-in except with the permission of a Tournament Committee member. There are no off-limit days.  

11. SPECIAL SITUATIONS. Contestants must remain in the boat at all times. Contestants must not depart the boat to land fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters. Contestants must leave and return to official checkpoint by boat. Each competitor must remain in the boat at all times except in case of a dire emergency. In such an emergency, competitors may be removed from their boat to: A boat operated by other competitors or a rescue boat. NOTE: It is the responsibility of each contestant to have their own bag large enough to transport a tournament limit of bass plus water to the weigh-in sight. Fishermen should have their name printed on the bag with permanent ink for identification; this rule applies to emergency situations only.

12. MEETING, TAKE-OFF MEETING & INSPECTION. A pre take-off meeting will be held on the water 10 minutes prior to take-off for all tournaments. All contestants are required to attend. Failure to comply may result in either forfeiture of tournament and entry fee, or loss of take-off position. If contestant is unable to be in the staging area 10 minutes prior they are encouraged to contact Heartland's emergency number. A drive-by boat inspection will be conducted at take-off time.

13. OFFICIAL CHECK POINT. There will be only one site for check out in the morning and check-in in the afternoon. At the time of morning inspection, all competitors must be in full compliance of all rules set forth by the Tournament Committee. All boats shall identify themselves at check-in sites by means of boat number and proceed IMMEDIATELY to the designated weigh-in area. Failure to check out in the morning or to check in at the check-in point will result in disqualification.

14. SCORING. Largemouth Bass, Kentucky Bass, and Smallmouth Bass will be counted. Dead fish will result in a .50 (1/2) pound penalty. If dead fish is the largest of the creel, that ½ pound will be deducted from your big bass weight.  Culling of dead fish is not allowed.  Any bass under the tournament legal length limit presented for weigh-in will result in disqualification of that fish and an additional two (2) pounds being deducted from the total weight of the remaining creel. There will be a five (5) fish tournament limit. Contestants are not allowed to continue fishing until they have culled down to the tournament limit. 

15. QUALITY ASSURANCE TESTING.  By contestants' signature on an HT entry form and/or participation in HTA tournaments, contestants agree to quality assurance testing and will abide by its conclusions.  These tests may include all or any part of the following: polygraph examination, urinalysis, or blood test.  Refusal to submit or failure to pass any quality assurance test will result in disqualification.  Quality assurance tests will be used at the sole discretion of the HT. Determination of the meaning of the results will be made solely by HT.

16. LATE PENALTY. Contestants not at designated check-in site by official designated time will be penalized one pound for each minute late up to a maximum of ten minutes (ten pounds). Penalized weight will be deducted from the total weight of the angler's stringer. If the maximum of ten minutes is exceeded, contestants will forfeit all weight for that day's competition.

17. PAYBACK & TIES. Cash awards for the Team/Elite events will be based on one place for each five entries. Additional sponsor merchandise may be awarded on availability. For HT tournaments, ties will be broken by, number of fish, big fish then by date of original entry registration for the tournament.

18. 2011 SEASON & SECTIONS. The Heartland tournament circuits will be divided into two (2) sections for 2011 Team/Elite season. First section will consist of: March 5 & 6 @ Lake of the Ozarks, April 9 & 10 @ Table Rock & April 30 & June 1 @ Lake of the Ozarks. Second section will consist of: June 4 & 5 @ Stockton, June 25 & 26 @ Truman & September 10 & 11 @ Table Rock. A total of two (2) boats will be awarded April 30 & June 1. Two (2) more boats will be awarded September 10 & 11.

19. QUALIFICATION. There will be 6 Team and 6 Elite tournaments. The winning Team/Elite angler of the 3rd and 6th Heartland event will be awarded a 2011 Nitro Z powered by a Mercury 150 Optimax in lieu of their finish place prize money which will be redistributed throughout the field of paying positions per paragraph 17 above. For the contestants to be eligible to win the boat packages they must have paid in full the appropriate entry fees for the previous two events leading up to the 3rd & 6th tournaments, prior to entry deadline. In the Team events, substitutions will not be allowed for the 3rd. or 6th. tournament. One member of the team may fish alone to remain qualified for the boat packages. Teams must designate official team with their initial registration. All prizes, models and sizes are subject to manufacturers' availability at time of winning awards. If a Team/Elite angler does not enter the previous two events they are still eligible for the appropriate prize money for the position finished.

20. SIGNATURES. Every contestant must sign the release waiver, along with a fully completed entry form.

21. KNOWLEDGE OF THESE RULES IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Failure to read these rules or ignorance of these rules is no excuse. Any extreme violation of rules will be grounds for disqualification from all future HTA events. Any announcement made by the Heartland Tournament Committee Chairman at tournament sites takes precedence over written rules.

22. OTHER HEARTLAND EVENTS. Other bass tournaments conducted by HT may or may not be qualifiers for the Heartland Team/Elite prizes.