Tournament Rules

Costa Bass Derby

Sanctioned by XFL and First Flight Tournament Production

All entries and waivers must be received by close of business-10/7/2024.

Entries and waivers accepted online and / or by email, or U.S. mail (no fax submissions allowed) to the Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office.

Email: [email protected]; or by U.S. mail:
Attn: Luke Stoner 
Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office
7120 E. 13th Street, Tulsa, OK 74112

PARTICIPATION – Participation is open to anglers who own at least one pair of Costa Sunglasses and currently registered for the Costa Compete + Conserve program. At least one member of the registered team must be a current, eligible Compete + Conserve Program participant and must wear Costa Sunglasses during the tournament. (All frames / lens combinations eligible). Any person entering this tournament under the age of majority, must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the entry form. All contestants must have in their possession a valid fishing license.

ELIGIBILITY – In order to be eligible to participate in the Costa Bass Derby Tournament, one member of the registered team must be a current, eligible Costa Compete + Conserve Program member and must wear Costa Sunglasses during the event. Amateur teams only—Bassmaster Elite, Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour and Major League Fishing Invitational Pros are not eligible to participate in the Costa Bass Derby. In addition, participants must complete the Tournament Registration Form (either online or pdf version of the form) and submit to the Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office via email or U.S. mail. (Fax submissions aren’t allowed). The following additional forms are also required to be completed in order to be eligible to compete in the 2024 Costa Bass Derby: 1) Completed event waivers forms for both team members; 2) Completed W-9 Forms for both team members. All forms must be completed and submitted to the Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office via email or U.S. mail, no later than 10/7/24 by each tournament participant in order to be eligible to participate in the 2024 Costa Bass Derby. Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office email: [email protected]; U.S. Mailing Address: Costa Compete + Conserve Program Office- 7120 E. 13th Street, Tulsa, OK 74112.

1. Rule Changes: Decisions of the Tournament Director are final and are not subject to appeal. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Director. Protests must be made in writing prior to the official closing of the scales at each tournament.
2. Participation/Eligibility: (see above)
3. Pre-Tournament Practice: The Costa Bass Derby will have no off-limits period prior to the tournament.
4. Registration: Entries may be mailed, paid online, dropped off at the Costa Compete + Conserve program office or paid in cash at The Regatta the day before the tournament. The cut off for entries dropped off at the program office is 5:00 p.m. on Friday prior to the event.
5. Fees: Entry fee is $200 per team. Cash only entries will be accepted at the ramp.. Entry fees are non-refundable.
6. Safety: Safe boating must be observed at all times. Each contestant is required to wear a fastened, U.S. Coast Guard approved, personal flotation device anytime the boat is on plane. All boats must be equipped with an emergency ignition shut-off device, which must be securely attached to the driver’s body any time the boat is on plane. Tournament days may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or any conditions that would endanger the safety of the competitors. The decision to shorten or cancel tournament days will be determined by the Tournament Director.
7. Permitted Fishing Methods: All bass must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only artificial lures may be used with the exception of pork trailers. Only one fishing rod per angler may be used at any one time. Additional rods may be in the boat and ready for use; however each cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast or rod is used. Trolling with the combustion engine as a method of fishing is prohibited. Sharing fish with other teams or individuals will result in immediate disqualification. All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing waters.
8. Sportsmanship and Conduct: All contestants are required to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, conservation and to conduct themselves in a manner that will be a credit to themselves, to XFL Tournaments, sponsors, the sport of fishing and XFL Tournament’s efforts to promote that sport. Examples of conduct not complying with those standards include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any mind-altering substance during tournament hours, 2) Abuse of, or addiction to, mind altering substances, 3) Any other words, conduct or actions reflecting unfavorably on XFL Tournaments or the sponsors of those tournaments or reflecting unfavorably upon efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, fair competition and compliance with tournament rules. If conduct does not comply with the standards set forth, XFL Tournaments, and its director shall have the right to refuse any application, or to deny a confirmed application, by returning the entry fee of a previously accepted application or disqualify a contestant. XFL Tournaments reserves the right to place an official observer in a contestant’s boat at any time during competition hours. XFL Tournaments reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone.
9. Boat Operation: During hours of competition, contestants may not receive assistance from non-competitors, follow a non-competitor’s boat, participate in the practice of “hole sitting”, or the placing of markers by non-competitors. The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular phones, marine radios, walkietalkies, CBs, etc., to communicate fishing information during tournament hours is strictly prohibited.
10. Boat and Horsepower Regulation: Each boat must have all required U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment. Boats must contain a properly aerated live well with space to maintain alive a limit catch of bass. Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as displayed on the manufactures rating plate. By signing the entry form, each contestant agrees to submit their boat and/or motor to an inspection. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate will be cause for disqualification from the tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter any XFL Tournaments.
11. Permitted Fishing Locations: Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible by boat, except areas designated as “off limits” or “no fishing” by state or federal officials or within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat which was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by anything attached to the boat, holding it to the bottom of the lake, with the trolling motor in the up position).
12. Off-Limits Areas: Will be established and announced on the Costa Bass Derby web site, and the morning of the tournament. Contestants fishing inside the established off-limits area will be immediately disqualified. Contestants’ boats must remain in the tournament waters during the event.
13. Trailering: All boats must leave the official check point by boat in the order designated at registration. Contestants may launch their boat at a ramp other than the designated take-off location, but all contestants must come through the official check point location before leaving to fish. In the event of severe weather alternate take-off instructions will be given at the registration site. Trailering of boats before weighing is only permissible at the tournament site ramp.
14. Official Checkpoints: There will be only one official checkpoint for boat inspection in the morning and one official check-in point in the afternoon. Failure to go through boat checkout in the morning or failure to check-in (if you have fish) at the check-in point will result in disqualification. During morning take off, all teams are required to idle a minimum of 100 yards past the take-off boat before putting their boat on plane. It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to arrive at the designated check-in location on time, regardless of what they are told. It is the angler’s responsibility to verify their provided flight time. All fishing must cease upon check-in.
15. Scoring: Will be determined by the pounds and hundredths of pounds of each angler’s catch during the tournament. Only Largemouth, Spotted, or Smallmouth Bass are accepted species. The limit will be five bass per contestant boat. Any team who possesses more than the tournament limit (except while in the act of culling) will have their catch for that day disqualified. Official length limits will be 14” minimum at each Oklahoma event. Bass presented for weigh-in, which fail to measure the prescribed length limit, will result in loss of that particular fish and a one-pound penalization to remaining weight. Each contestant’s catch must be presented in an official XFL Skeeter/Yamaha weigh-in bag. The Pro-Rule measuring board is the official measuring board of XFL Tournaments. A courtesy board will be provided at the tanks upon request.
16. Live Fish: Every effort must be made to keep bass alive through the use of a properly aerated live well. The use of chemical live well additives which promote the healthy return of bass to their natural habitat are recommended. A one Pound Penalty will be deducted for each dead bass presented for weigh-in.
17. Late Penalty: Contestants who are not at the official check-in point at the appointed time will be assessed a one pound per minute penalty from the total weight. Any contestant more than 10 minutes late will forfeit that day’s catch. In the event of a mechanical breakdown, a contestant may return to the check-in location with their catch by receiving a ride from another registered contestant or with another boat with prior tournament official authorization. The contestants must return to the official check-in location by their assigned check-in time to avoid late penalty.
18. Closing of the Scales: Scales will close 20 minutes after the last flight is due in. Due to certain weigh-in locations this time may be lengthened or shortened at the tournament director’s sole decision. Any change to the above stated official scale closing time will be announced during the boat checkout. It is the angler’s responsibility to verify the official scale closing time and to be in the weigh-in line by that time.
19. Ties: All ties will be decided by the total number of fish. All ties will be resolved by splitting that place and the next place’s money. The Tournament Director may elect to break a first-place tie with a fish-off.
20. Payout Definition: All payout checks will be made payable to the registered team captain. Teams will be responsible for handling the division of monies won and payment concerning 1099’s. NO team will be allowed to enter an event without first submitting a filled out W9 form.
21. Polygraph: By signature on the entry/waiver form, contestants agree to a test by a qualified polygraph examiner. Refusal to or failure of a polygraph test will result in the disqualification and banishment from all future XFL and First Flight Tournament Productions events. Those contestants finishing in first, second, big bass, and a random top 20 team must be present at the conclusion of the weigh-in for the polygraph examination. Any contestant scheduled for a polygraph test, and not present, will have their winning held until a test has been administered. Any additional polygraph will be at the contestants’ own expense of $250.00.
22. Restricting, Seeding or Baiting: No restricting bass by any method which disallows natural movement throughout the entire impoundment. Seeding bass from one impoundment to the tournament impoundment, or any coordinated effort in the use of live bait, in baiting holes for the means of attracting or maintaining bass is prohibited.