Yes, open to the general public. Backwoods is getting ready to make a big impact on the kayak community, and this is a great start!

Yes, show up at the Panther Island parking lot that morning and you will sign up there!

I asked this on the facebook page but figured I would ask here as well. If we have 30+ guys show up to this will there be additional parking once the small lot at the end of Taylor St. fills up? I got to thinking about that and thought it could be a problem. Its not a very big parking lot

It says roadrunner so maybe some will drive to other locations to launch?

Didn't know that was an option since there are supposed to be boundaries set within the "city limits" which puts a pretty big limit on other areas you could put in. If that's the case though Im cool with that. I know plenty of other put in spots for this stretch.

Within city limits means official city of Fort Worth limits not just the urban area that encompasses downtown. After talking with the general manager at Backwoods, expect boundaries to be from below the dam at Lake Worth to East 1st Street. The west boundary will be up to about Camp Bowie Blvd and down to the Benbrook Dam.

yes he answered me on Facebook in great detail. He really opened it up which is going to be great! Now I have to figure out what spot I want to hit up first and what spot I want to finish it up in . This is great for me because I know the river really well really looking forward to this event!

If I'm still around DFW I plan to be at this event! Always do well on the trinity . I expect the winner to have 90+ inches

YUP!

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Tim Martin Backwoods GM tmartin@backwoods.com

Tournament Director cell phone number for use on tournament day only. 817-773-2510

TOURNAMENT TIMETABLE

Saturday, April 11, 2015
5:30 a.m. Registration � Panther Island Pavilion Parking Lot
6:30 a.m. Captain�s Meeting- Panther Island Pavilion Parking Lot
7:00 a.m. First Cast
3:00 p.m. Score Cards In- Backwoods Paddlesports at Panther Island Pavilion.
4:00 p.m. Award Ceremony- Panther Island Pavilion

Sage Fly Rods rep will be demoing fly rods and BOTE SUP rep will be demoing paddleboards from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Demo watercraft will also be available for trial from Hobie, Wilderness Systems, and Diablo. There will be free coffee at registration and free beer and food at the award ceremony.

The Panther Island Pavilion Parking Lot is at 395 Purcey St, Fort Worth Texas, 76102. It is also recommended that you park here to turn in your scorecard since there is a limited number of public parking spaces closer to Backwoods Paddlesports on N. Taylor St. There is a several minute walk to Backwoods Paddlesports from the parking lot on Purcey and everyone needs to plan for this to ensure that they are able to meet the 3 p.m. deadline to turn in their scorecard and memory card.

EVENT RULES

GENERAL RULES

This will be a roadrunner style tournament on the Trinity River in the Fort Worth Floodway. The boundaries of the eligible fishing water to the west will be the Lake Worth Dam on the West Fork and the Lake Benbrook Dam on the Clear Fork and the eastern boundary will be the East 1st Street Bridge on the West Fork of the Trinity at Gateway Park. All tributaries that join the Trinity River within these boundaries are eligible for fishing, but they must be accessed by watercraft from the Trinity River.

All fish must be caught within the aforementioned boundaries within the tournament timeframe and released back into the river.

Any disorderly conduct, illegal activity, or violation of rules will result in disqualification.

In the event of inclement weather or unsafe river conditions, the tournament director may delay, reschedule, or cancel the event. The tournament will first be delayed by one hour and up to three hours before it is rescheduled. The reschedule date will be the following day. If there is inclement weather or unsafe river conditions on the second day, the tournament will be delayed in the same manner. If the weather or river conditions prevent the start of the tournament on the second day, the tournament will be canceled. If the tournament is rescheduled, entrants that cannot participate on the rescheduled date will be refunded. If the tournament is cancelled, all entrants will be refunded. No refunds will be given for non-attendance if the tournament is run on the originally scheduled date.

Participants grant Backwoods and Backwoods Paddlesports at Panther Island Rentals the unconditional right to use their photographic likeness obtained in relation to the tournament in connection with future tournaments, production, promotion, and/or articles and press releases and shall not be entitled to receive any royalties or other compensation in connection with such use.

PRIOR TO START

All participants must pay entry fee of $40 and sign a release of liability prior to competition. All participants under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian present at registration to sign the release of liability on their behalf. Entry into the Big Bass Pot is optional and is an additional $5.

There will be two divisions, one for those fishing with conventional rods and one for those fishing with fly rods. Each participant must declare the division in which they choose to compete when they register.

All participants must have a valid Texas fishing license with a freshwater stamp endorsement or be exempt under state regulations and provide their own coast guard approved personal floatation device

All participants must provide their own Hawg Trough with the raised � in increments visibly darkened with a permanent marker, their own digital camera, removable SD card, a compatible USB cord (as a back-up), and a blue or black writing pen to comply with scoring requirements.

All participants will be provided with a score card and a unique identifier.

All participants must be present at the Captain�s Meeting and abstain from casting a line until 7 a.m.

DURING COMPETITION

Participants must wear a PFD at all times while on the water.

Participants may fish from kayaks, canoes, or stand up paddleboards propelled by human power. No motorized propulsion may be utilized at any time while on the water during the tournament. Only one individual, the participant, will be allowed in a watercraft.

All participants must maintain a distance of 10 yards from one another at all times and there is to be no electronic communication between anglers or those observing the event except in the case of an emergency. The event director is to be notified in the event of any kind of emergency.

All fishing must be done from your watercraft. At least one foot must be on or inside the watercraft at all times when fishing or landing a fish. You may not leave the watercraft to land a fish. All fish must be photographed with the angler on or in the watercraft.

Fishing may only be done with rod and reel and only with artificial lures and flies. Only one rod may be used at a time. Trolling is allowed, but you cannot troll with one rod and cast with another.

Only largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass 10 inches or longer will qualify for scoring.

Qualifying fish must be documented according to the following Catch, Photo, and Release standards. All objects that are to come into contact with the fish should first be made wet. The fish must be laid on a Hawg Trough left-side up with either the upper or lower lip of the fish (mouth open or closed) against the left end of the device with the tail lying unpinched by the angler along the measuring scale. One overhead photograph must be taken with both the lips and the tail of the fish visible along with the angler�s left hand displaying the unique identifier. The fish is then to be returned to the water and completely revived before being released. The length of each fish, rounded down to the nearest � inch, is to be recorded on the scorecard along with the number of photographs taken of that fish.

All participants must be in line to turn in their scorecard and camera memory card at the check in at Backwoods Paddlesports at Panther Island Rentals by 3 p.m. There will be no exceptions made to this rule.

AWARDS

The length in inches of each participant�s five longest fish, verified according to the previously outlined Catch, Photo, and Release standards, will be added together and the sum will be the participants score.

The participant with the highest score in each division (conventional and fly) will be first place, the second highest score will be second place, and the third highest score will be third place.

In the event of a tie between any of the top three highest scoring participants, the award will go to the participant in the tie with the longest fish. If each participant�s longest fish are the same length, the next longest fish will be considered and so on until the all fish have been compared. If all fish are of exactly the same length, a coin toss will decide the winner.

The cash prize pot for each division will consist of ninety percent of all entry fees collected from participants in that division. Within each division, the cash prize pot will then be split as follows:

First place � 60%
Second place � 30%
Third place � 10%

The Big Bass Pot will be awarded in full to the single participant among all competitors ( both conventional and fly) that have paid the additional $5 to enter the Big Bass Pot with the largest bass caught during the tournament and documented according to the aforementioned Catch, Photo, and Release standard.

Please contact Tim Martin, Backwoods General Manager and Tournament Director, at tmartin@backwoods.com with any questions.

Really looking forward to this

Oh ok cool so now it is paying out 3 places! Sweet! This is going to be a GREAT tournament and the timing is perfect because the fishing is really heating up on the river!

Agreed! I've been crushing em. Need to find new places though

I got this whole week off. Gonna do a BUNCH of scouting on all my spots to figure out where would be my best bet come April 11th! Cant wait!

Here is the link to register online. You may also pay the morning of the tournament with cash--exact change only.
Backwoods Paddle, Fish & Deliver Tournament (PFD)