2024 Spring Fever Rules

Tournament Director

By registering for this tournament, all participants agree that they are executing an agreement to abide by all tournament rules. The interpretation and enforcement of the rules is at the sole discretion of the tournament director. The tournament director may change rules or impose sanctions as they deem appropriate; including, but not limited to: disqualification, forfeiture of prizes, and prohibition from competing in future tournaments. All decisions made by the tournament director are final.

Tournament Format and Eligibility

Participation is open to anglers of all ages holding a valid Ontario Fishing License.
Quinte Gold Series walleye tournaments are Catch, Record, Release (CRR) using the FishDonkey App. Fish are entered based on length, using the FishDonkey app.
All fish must be hooked and caught live in a conventional sporting method. Fish cannot be snagged, netted, or speared. Any fish displaying evidence of barotrauma, excessive bleeding, or the general appearance of poor health will be disqualified.
All entries must be submitted using the FishDonkey App and an approved measuring device.
The Spring Fever tournament is a TWO (2) day walleye tournament that commences at 12:00am on May 4th, 2024, and ends at 11:59pm on Sunday, May 5th, 2024.
Prizes will be awarded for the TEN (10) longest walleye daily as well as the FIVE (5) longest walleye overall.
Additional prizes and categories may be added at the discretion of the tournament director.
All fish must be caught, recorded, released and submitted prior to deadlines in order to qualify.
Entry tickets are issued to individuals. Each participant on the boat must possess their own, individual entry ticket.
Entry tickets must be purchased prior to 11:59pm the day before a fish was entered
Disqualification from the tournament, for any reason, will result in the forfeiture of entry fees.
There will be no refunds or credits extended as a result of inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances.

Tournament Boundaries

All fish must be caught on waters accessible, by boat, from the Bay of Quinte.
For the purposes of the tournament, the Bay of Quinte is defined as:
1. East. A line drawn directly between Indian Point and the furthest East smokestack of the Lennox Power Generating Station.
2. West. A line drawn across the opening of the Murray Canal at Twelve O’Clock Point.
The following tributaries are also considered out of bounds:
1. Trent River and Canal. Participants are limited to fishing South of the line drawn by lock one (1).
2. Moira River. Participants are limited to fishing South of the line created by the Dundas Street (Highway 62) Bridge.
3. Salmon River. Participants are limited to fishing South of the line created by the York Rd Bridge.
4. Napanee River. Participants are limited to fishing SouthWest of the line drawn by the dam at Napanee falls.

Entering a Fish

Fish should be immediately recorded for submission as soon as they are caught. All submissions must include at least two photographs – one of the participant holding the fish and one of the fish on an approved measuring board.
All photographs must be taken using the FishDonkey app and measurements must be clearly visible on an approved measuring board.
To measure the fish:
1. Place the approved measuring board in front of you;
2. Place the fish on the measuring board;
3. Close the fish’s mouth;
4. Touch the tip (nose) of the fish to the 90 deg bend of the measuring board;
5. The fish’s tail may be pinched to maximize the length;
6. Take the photo in a horizontal position, so that both the fish’s nose (which is touching the board), and the tail (which is indicating length), are clearly depicted; and
7. Record the length of the fish: If the fish’s tail is touching the graduation line on the board, then that is the exact measurement. If the fish’s tail crosses the graduation line, the measurement will be rounded to the next ¼ inch. If you are using an approved board that is measuring in cm’s the fish will still be rounded to the nearest ¼ inch. Example: a fish that is 45cm long is 17.72 inches and will be rounded to 17.75 inches.; and
8. Rule 4.3.7 applies only when measuring on a board with ¼” graduations. When using a measuring board with ½” graduations; if the fish’s tail is touching the graduation line on the board, then that is the exact measurement. If the fish’s tail crosses the graduation line, the measurement will be rounded down to the last graduation line crossed.
9. An automatic penalty of ¼ inch will be applied on fish measured with an open mouth.
The tournament director reserves the right to correct measurements during verification of the entry.
All images submitted with an entry remain the property of the participant, however, permission is granted to The Quinte Gold Series and/or its affiliates to use the images without compensation.

Approved Measuring Devices

Measuring devices can be requested for validation, at the discretion of the tournament director. Failure to produce the measuring device for validation may result in disqualification.
All measuring devices used for measuring fish must meet the following criteria:
1. All measuring devices must be commercially made (no homemade devices);
2. All measuring devices must be made of solid metal or plastic (no measuring tapes or stickers will be accepted)
3. All measuring devices must be a bump board with a 90o bend indicating the zero mark;
4. Graduation marks and measurements must be clearly indicated and visible.
5. Although graduation marks should be located at every ¼” and will result in fish rounding up to the next graduation mark, boards with larger graduations will be permitted but will result in a rounding down in length as per rule 4.3.8
6. While there are no colour requirements, please try to avoid light coloured boards as they can be difficult to read in photographs.
Any fish submitted using unapproved or difficult to read measuring devices, will be disqualified.

Categories and Prizes
1. Prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the overall tournament, not on a daily basis.
2. Prizes will be paid by e transfer, mailed by registered post or made available for pick up.
3. Overall and daily prizes will be paid out based on total proceeds at the conclusion of the tournament.
4. The total daily and overall prizes will be capped at $40,000. Any additional proceeds will be distributed to charities and not-for profits selected by the tournament director.
5. Total daily prizes will account for 75% of total proceeds, to a maximum of $30,000. Daily prizes will be split equally each day. IE, Saturday will distribute 50% of 75% (37.5% of total) as follows:
  1. First Place – 30% to a maximum of $4,500;
  2. Second Place – 20% to a maximum of $3,000;
  3. Third Place – 15% to a maximum of $2,250;
  4. Fourth Place – 8% to a maximum of $1200;
  5. Fifth Place – 7% to a maximum of $1,050;
  6. Sixth Place – 6% to a maximum of $900;
  7. Seventh Place – 5% to a maximum of $750;
  8. Eighth Place – 4% to a maximum of $600;
  9. Ninth Place – 3% to a maximum of $450; and
  10. Tenth Place – 2% to a maximum of $300
6. Overall prizes will account for 25% of total proceeds, to a maximum of $10,000. Overall prizes will be distributed as follows:
  1. First Place – 35% to a maximum of $3,500;
  2. Second Place – 25% to a maximum of $2,500;
  3. Third Place – 17% to a maximum of $1,700;
  4. Fourth Place – 13% to a maximum of $1,300; and
  5. Fifth Place – 10% to a maximum of $1,000.
7. Ties will result in a pooling of prizes, divided equally by the number of tied participants. IE a two way tie for the overall first would result in the pooling of the first and second place winnings, divided by equally between the two participants.
8. Additional prizes and categories will be made available at the discretion of the tournament director.
9. All prizes are the responsibility of the winners. All incidental or consequential expenses are the responsibility of the winners.

Leaderboards

The leaderboards will be updated throughout the tournament, as fish are submitted. All entries remain unofficial until verified by the tournament director.
At a minimum, all top entries will be verified daily.
The tournament director reserves the right to verify that fish submissions are accurate and that they were legally caught within tournament boundaries.
The decision of the tournament director is final.

Safety

All participants are responsible for their own safety, action and property at all times.
During inclement weather days, the decision to participate is at the full discretion of the ticket holder, and not the responsibility of the tournament.

Laws, Ethics, Violations and Appeals

All local, provincial and federal laws of boating and fishing must be abided by. Failure to comply may result in disqualification and forfeiture of prizes, at the sole discretion of the tournament director.
Under no circumstances can a fish be purposely altered.
All participants are expected to display a high standard of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety and conservation. Any participant who displays poor sportsmanship, violates tournament rules, or brings unfavourable publicity to the tournament or sport of fishing, may be disqualified and forfeit any prizes. Encroachment is considered a sportsmanship rule.
Failure to report violations, or suggestions to another competitor that they violate the rules, may result in disqualification and forfeiture of prizes.
All participants may be required to take a polygraph examination as part of tournament requirements. In the event deception is detected or the participant refuses to take the examination, their prize will be forfeited and the participant will be disqualified.
Any participant has the right to enter a protest against another participant. Barring extenuating circumstances, all protests must be brought to the tournament director within 24hrs of tournament conclusion.
All rules have “loopholes.” It is the intention of the tournament director to provide an honest, sportsmanlike tournament. In the interest of good sportsmanship, participants are reminded that the “spirit of the rule” will prevail in all judgement cases.