Team format
American Bass is a team trail. Two anglers fish together from one boat as a single team, and the team is the unit that registers, weighs in, and earns standings. Partners share the day's catch and a single result — there is no separate individual score inside a team event.
Teams may fish any event on the trail. Your membership carries your home region, and your season points follow you to the region whose Angler of the Year you are chasing.
The five-bass limit & size
A team may bring its best five bass to the scales, weighed together as one bag. Each bass must meet the minimum length — 14 inches unless a region's published rules set a longer minimum for a particular water. Fish are measured on a flat board with the mouth closed; a short fish does not count and may carry a penalty.
Only largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass count unless a region states otherwise. Culling to your best five is allowed while your fish are alive and in the livewell.
Catch, care & release
American Bass is a catch-and-release trail. The goal is to bring every bass to the scales alive and return it to the water in good shape. Run your livewell, manage your fish through the day, and keep the bag healthy.
A bass that is dead at weigh-in carries a dead-fish penalty, deducted from the team's weight under the schedule each region publishes. Teams that reach the scales after their flight's check-in time are assessed a late penalty, up to disqualification for the day. The exact deductions live in each region's rulebook.
Scoring & ties
A team's result for an event is the total weight of its bag after any penalties. Standings within an event run heaviest bag to lightest. Big-bass awards, where a region offers them, go to the single heaviest qualifying bass weighed that day.
Ties are broken by each region's published tiebreaker — commonly the heavier single bass, then the earlier weigh-in. Where a tie cannot be broken, tied teams split the combined placings and payout.
Angler of the Year points
Every event a team fishes in its region awards season points, scaled by where the team finishes. Points accumulate across the season, and the team with the most points crowns its region's Angler of the Year. Region championships feed the national championship — the season's final cast.
Each region publishes its points schedule, how many events count, and any drop-event or tiebreaker rules ahead of the season, so teams know exactly what the season demands.
Conduct & safety
Everyone on the water carries the name of the trail. Follow all boating and fishing laws, respect fellow competitors and the public, and fish with sportsmanship. A worn, serviceable life jacket and a working kill switch are required while the combustion engine is running.
Boats and equipment must meet state requirements. Directors may hold or shorten a day for weather or safety, and their call on the water is final for that event. Conduct that brings the trail into disrepute can cost a team its standing.
Protests
A team that believes a rule was broken raises it with the region director at the weigh-in, before the results are made final — not after the field has left. The director reviews the facts and rules on it that day.
Each region publishes how protests are filed and any deadline that applies. The director's decision, under the region's published rules, settles the event.
This is the trail-wide format. The full rules — including each region's specific minimums, penalties, points, and payouts — are published by each region ahead of the season. Have a question the rulebook does not answer? Contact the office or find your region director on any region page.