Who can be a boat captain?

Neighbors, Friends, Family, etc.!

Anyone ages 18 and older not fishing as a member of a high school team, has a boat, and can drive big motor with knowledge of watercraft safety laws and rules in Minnesota.

All boat captains need to check with their team's coach to go through a background check protocol.

Who cannot be a boat captain?

  • Employees, officers and directors of B.A.S.S. or its parent, subsidiary, and
    affiliated companies and members of their immediate families (spouse, parents,
    children and sibling, regardless of where they live).

  • Local professional fishing guides that receive payment specifically for that body of water. Specific exception will be granted for parents captaining for their own child or the team’s head coach only.

What about the boat?

All boats must:

  • have an operating livewell with aeration system to keep all bass alive throughout the day (checked at morning take-off)
  • have an operating kill switch connected to the boat captain when the big motor is in operation (checked at morning take-off)
  • have minimum 16 foot length and power cannot exceed Coast Guard maximum limitations. Horsepower (250 hp) limitations do apply at National events.
  • carry a $300,000 minimum liability insurance policy with a copy readily available upon random checks at morning check-in.

Things that the boat captain may do or provide

Boat captain/coach MAY:

  1. Verify competition rules are followed. 

  2. Help with hook removal from a fish.

  3. Demonstrate how to tie a knot.

  4. Provide a net for the event.

  5. Assist in untangling of jammed reels, but the student angler’s lure must be out of the water.

  6. Verify length of caught fish.

  7. Provide education on proper fishing ethics and distance away from other teams (i.e., no closer than two cast lengths).

  8. Provide fish handling care and help with culling, however the students must identify which fish is to be kept or released.

Things the Boat Captain may NOT do:

Boat captain/coach MAY NOT:

  1. Fish.

  2. Go on plane in the boat within 150 yards of shore.

  3. Pass other participant boats while traveling to the first location.

  4. Pass in “no wake” zones.

  5. Teach by example.

  6. Tie knots for a student angler.

  7. Land fish with or without a net.

  8. Run the trolling motor.

  9. Allow any student anglers to operate the outboard engine except at initial launch in the morning and only after weighing their fish.

  10. The boat captain/coach cannot make a determination on which fish to keep or release.