Colorado Walleye Association
“Encouraging family, friendships and fun through education and competitive angling, while conserving our walleye resource”
2018 Tournament Rules and Application
Points Tournaments $200(2 day)/$110(1 day)Per Team, $25 late fee if signed up week of tournament – $20 non membership fee for all non CWA members – Pueblo is limited to first 100 teams and Cherry Creek, North Sterling, Jumbo and Jackson is limited to the first 60 teams. 1 in 5 up to 10 places paid out each day.
We will be offering 1 day tournament entries, please see section below for more details.
Points # 1 Cherry Creek Reservoir / April 22 & 22, 2018Points # 2 Pueblo Reservoir / May 5 & 6, 2018
Points # 3 Jumbo Reservoir / May 19 & 20, 2018
Points # 4 North Sterling Reservoir / June 9 & 10, 2018
Points # 5 Jackson Lake / June 23 & 24, 2018
Colorado Cup - TBD
Best of the Midwest (Harlan County Reservoir, NE) / September 29, 2018
July 21 & 22, 2018
Note: Tournament Dates are subject to change without notice
Daily Payout: (50 Boat 2 day field) / Additional Recognition Awards1st place / $ 1130.00 / Big Fish
2nd place / $ 740.00 / 1st Place Youth Team Overall
3rd place / $ 520.00 / 1st Place Mixed Team Overall
4th place / $ 435.00 / Ranger Cup 1st overall
5th place / $ 350.00 / Top Team of the Year Award
6th place / $ 305.00
7th place / $ 260.00
8th place / $ 240.00
9th place / $ 195.00
10th place / $ 175.00
Ranger Cup Ranger boats will pay $150 each day for Qualified Ranger Cup teams for a 1st Place win for all Points Tournaments. All teams must adhere to Ranger Cup program and be registered for the 2018 season. Please refer to website for official rules;
Shootout Day 1 at Cherry Creek. Day 1 Pueblo. Refer to website for more information
RULES: All CWA tournaments will be conducted as “Catch and Release” events unless overriding state laws apply or mandated as a “Catch & Keep” tournament prior to the event. The competitor is responsible for knowing and understanding all regulations pertaining to specific waters and state regulations. Competitors are also responsible for obtaining any license and/or permits as required by specific state laws to lawfully participate in a CWA tournament. On the tournaments that we fish with a combined club we will operate with the home club’s rules. Make sure that if you are not sure to ask questions at the rules meeting. Rules meetings are the final say on specific changes at a tournament.
ELIGIBILITY/TEAM: A team is two active members of the CWA in good standing at the time of application. The CWA reserves the right to refuse applications based on individual or team applicants. If the CWA refuses your application you will be notified verbally or in writing within 10 business days of receipt of the application and receive a full refund.
2018 Colorado Walleye Association (CWA) Tournament Regulations
MEMBERSHIP CWA memberships run January 1 through December 31. Members are responsible for maintaining and having membership up to date and current. If membership is not current the day prior to the tournament and if you didn’t pay the $20 non membership fee you will not be allowed to fish and your entry fee will be forfeited.
TOURNAMENT ENTRY Forms must be RECEIVED via mail, website or hand delivered 5 days (Sunday at midnight) prior to the tournament; otherwise there is a $25 late fee for any entry received past this deadline. All tournament entries close the Wednesday, midnight, before the tournament. No exceptions. This rule also applies to the single day entries. Payment must accompany each entry and all applications must be completely filled out to be accepted. (i.e., No "Partner TBD" or unknown partner names on the entry forms will be accepted). Check, money order or credit cards are acceptable payment. A $25 processing fee will be applied to all declined credit cards or checks. Repeat offenders will be assessed a $75 processing fee for the second declined credit card or check and participants must pay entry with cash or money order thereafter. Entries will be accepted based on a first-come, first-served basis until the tournament is full or until Midnight, the Wednesday before the tournament. Rosters will be updated on the CWA website ( Please check website to ensure your entry has been received.
Mailing Address: (Aaron Raichel) 5035 Bayou Gulch Street, Parker, CO 80134.
YOUTH TEAMS An adult club member must accompany any team member under the age of 16. Anglers who are under 19 years of age by April, 2018 may be considered as a Youth co-angler for the entire 2018 tournament season. The CWA retains the right to request and review youth age verification. Both team members must possess all required valid State or Local fishing licenses or permits.
MIXED TEAMS Defined as a male/female team. (No exceptions)
SUBSTITUTIONS are allowed but shall be submitted to the tournament director 5 days prior to the tournament. All substitutes must complete a tournament application prior to the rules meeting. If either of the two anglers or substitute is unable to complete in the tournament, the remainder of the tournament will be forfeited. Each team is allowed one substitute for the points tournament and the points will be applied to the teams yearly point standings. If the two members are from two current teams the points will be applied to both teams. Substitutions under exceptional circumstances <5 days and up to the beginning of the rules meeting will be evaluated by tournament director and or tournament committee on a case by case basis. The Tournament Committee reserves the right to refuse entry to any individual who has been disciplined for tournament rules violations.
REFUNDS Entry fee refunds will be made only if the Tournament Director receives a written cancellation notice 5 days prior to the tournament date. A cancellation fee of $30.00 will be assessed for each tournament cancelled. No refunds or credits are extended to teams that choose not to fish due to inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances during or prior to the tournament.
MANDATORY PRE TOURNAMENT RULES MEETING will be held at or near the boat ramp at 5:30 PM, Friday evening prior to each tournament. Please reference the website for location of meetings. At least one team member must be present and checked in between 5:00 PM and 5:30 PM or the team will be disqualified from fishing the tournament without a refund of entry fees. Exceptional circumstances or conflicts will be acknowledged with prior notification to the Tournament Director and will be assessed case by case by the tournament director and or committee. During the pre tournament rules meeting tournament packets, boat inspection overview, start times, starting sequence and special announcements will be made. The CWA reserves the right to assign boat numbers based on approved protocol and methods.
SPORTSMANSHIP All CWA anglers are expected to act in a sportsmanlike manner at all times while attending a CWA event. Ethical and safe behavior, courteous respectful communications with tournament officials, director, sponsors, guests and general public is expected by all participants. Any demeaning conduct through actions or speech that results in a negative effect on the CWA will result in tournament committee review and disciplinary actions may be taken ranging from but not limited to verbal or written reprimand, disqualification, revocation of membership, life time ban from all CWA events and activities. Every competitor is expected to participate in the marshaling of the tournament field to maintain the highest integrity to the CWA and competitors. Incidents observed and witnessed should be reported to tournament officials for further investigation.
Colorado Cup Tournament All teams with a minimum of 3 point tournaments fished with the same partner
(1 substitute is allowed) will receive an invitation to the Colorado Cup tournament. The association will seed the Tournament pot and take 2.5% from every entry fee for this State Championship tournament.
Best of the Midwest This is a new tournament the CWA is participating in this year. The Nebraska Walleye Association has reached out to us in conglomerate with the Kansas Walleye Association, High Desert Walleye Association and Walleye Stampede(WY) to create a Midwest championship. Please visit the Nebraska website for more information:
Cabela’s NTC (National Team Championships) National Team Championships (NTC) The top CWA point leaders with a minimum of 3 point tournaments fished with the same partner(with 1 substitute allowed) will receive and invitation to the championships. If you fish more than 3 point tournaments, your highest 3 scores will counted. If a situation arises where the top CWA cannot attend, the CWA Director and committee will provide guidance on invitations. Timelines for acknowledgement and number of invitations to the NTC the CWA will receive is determined in January or February of the following year. (Cabela’s is solely responsible for the number of teams allowed to participate from each club yearly.)
Team of the Year is decided by the team who has the highest accumulation of points in 2018 for point tournaments #1-#5. Teams participating in all 5 points tournaments will have the ability to drop their lowest score. Team of the year will be calculated on the three highest point totals.
PROTEST The following rules for a tournament protest will be used and applied. Solely, the Tournament Committee, which consists of the Tournament director, and two CWA board members, (which will be appointed prior to the tournament) will interpret and apply the rules. The Tournament Committee, or any contestant, has the right to protest another team or contestant. All protests must be submitted to the Tournament Committee in writing and include a protest fee of $150.00 (cash), within 30 minutes of completion of the daily weigh in. Following interviews with the concerned parties, a ruling will be made; all decisions are final. In the event, it is determined a violation occurred; daily and /or tournament weight will be forfeited as well as entry fee, cash, prizes and awards and the reason for the disqualification will be announced at the awards presentation. If the protest is valid the $150.00 (cash) protest fee will be returned to the team protesting. If the protest is found invalid the fee will be forfeited to the CWA treasury. The Tournament Committee will interpret the rules according to the spirit and the intent of the rule and their decision in all disputes is final.
BIG FISH - Anglers are responsible to declare which, if any, of your fish need to be weighed for big fish. Ties for big fish each day will be resolved by splitting the prize awards equally.
SCORING All tournaments are catch and release unless otherwise noted or informed by the Tournament Director or Committee. Each team has sole responsibility for the care and the handling of their fish, prior to turning them over to the weigh staff. Final placement will be determined by total weight for the day. In the event of a tie, the two finishing teams will be combined and the winnings and prizes will be split equally dividing the collective prized and points if no other means to split the tie breaker is evident by Tournament Director or Tournament Committee. Example; 1st and second place have a tie with no means to split the tie (e.g., no big fish), the winnings will be combined for a first place win and the winnings will be combined and split equally between the two teams.
AWARDS All awards will be based on a guaranteed 87% payback to the field. Awards will be awarded for 1st place overall as well as overall top adult and youth team. Tournament payouts are strictly based on participation per tournament and the payouts listed on the entry form are calculated on a full 100 boat field. In the event there is a tie for total daily weight, the tie will be resolved by equally dividing the collective prize and points if no other means to split the tie is apparent by tournament director.
POINTS The first place team will receive 100 qualifying points, decreasing down to the last team weighing fish; all other teams will receive 5 points. This excludes the Invitational. Both team members must be annual CWA members for a team to receive points. These points will be used to determine the Team of the Year standings for overall placement and invitationals. To qualify for Team of the Year, a team must fish at least three of the point’s tournaments with one substitute allowed. The top three teams, top Adult/Youth and Top Mixed teams will receive trophies and other contingency prizes at the end of the year. In case of a tie, the total aggregate weight from the team’s top three tournaments will determine the winner.
TOURNAMENT CANCELLATION Tournament officials retain the right to delay, cancel, or restrict tournament waters in the case of severe weather or for any other safety reasons. All CWA tournaments will be two-day events (with the exception of the Fall Classic which is a one day event), unless shortened or delayed due to weather or any unforeseen circumstances. In the event that the scheduled fishing is interrupted, all of one day or parts of two days will constitute a completed event. If one day of a tournament is cancelled, and a refund is due, only the teams that check-in and pass boat inspections with the tournament officials are entitled to a refund. CWA will prorate and refund 80% of the tournament entry fees for the specified tournament based on time fished. In the event a cancellation occurs in advance of the tournament due to severe weather or travel conditions and is rescheduled, participants who have a scheduling conflict will receive a full refund.
FISHING AREA Fishing will only be allowed within the legal boundaries of the lake. Areas buoyed and otherwise defined by the body of water’s governing agency as off limits, and the area adjacent area (within 50 yards) to the weigh in area, shall be declared off limits. You may not operate any boat outside the designated fishing area during tournament hours.
PRE LAUNCH INSPECTION Check in will start approximately 1.5 hours prior to launch. All boats must check in for inspection prior to launch, please be on time. All tournament boats will be inspected to have all the Coast Guard required safety equipment, including a type IV throw cushion, fire extinguisher, a distress horn/flag/whistle, and display tournament packet credentials. All tournament boats are recommended to have a marine band radio of VHF. Tournament boats will also be inspected for functioning live-wells. All tournament boats must be cleaned and ANS inspection ready prior to entering the water and upon departure from infected waters.
Once your boat has been inspected you must launch at the same boat ramp. The CWA also provides on the water inspection, if you wish to launch from a different location upon requests. Once you are inspected you may not leave the area, doing so is grounds for disqualification. All teams are subject to inspections any time during the tournament. CWA boats may come along side and conduct inspections at any time. Any team found in violation of any rule or regulation will be disqualified.
Tournament Boats consist of two person teams; dogs are permitted on vessel during tournament hours and are the sole responsibly of the pet owner to ensure the safety, safety of others and operation of their vessel. All teams are subject to official inspection during the tournament and agree to an inspection at any time from any current board member and any tournament team can request the same from any board member fishing the tournament. No other boat or physical contact is permitted during tournament hours with participants’ boats with the exception of an emergency, boat or motor failure, a TV camera or official staff boat during tournament hours. No fishing information should be given to participants during tournament fishing hours. Only friendly non-fishing conversation between competitors is allowed during tournament hours. Cell phones are allowed for safety purposes only. CB’s, cell phones, text messaging, and marine band radios are permitted for emergency transmissions or contact with tournament officials only. No internet access is allowed during tournament hours. Use of such devices to communicate fishing information, gather or to listen to fishing information is prohibited and will be grounds for disqualification. The CWA tournament officials reserve the rights to review or request tournament angler’s phones and records (including but not limited to call logs, messages and internet) and GPS coordinates due to discrepancies during an investigation. Participants agree to provide such records if requested of them.
Contestants may not leave their boats at any time except in cases of weighting in fish at the weight station, during an emergency or under special permission from Tournament Official during Tournament hours. Special accommodations for departures are allowed if permission is granted by Tournament Official under supervision and the boat will be re-inspected prior to continuing to fish. In the case of severe weather or lightning, that poses a threat to personal safety, team boats may proceed, to the nearest shore until it is safe to continue.