NAIFC Tournament Series FAQs
Fact: Every Qualifying Tournament in 2010 was won by a “LOCAL” team… read that again… the winners were not a traveling team, not a professional or even an Ice Men team… the winners were LOCALS. To be competitive all you need to do is sign up. We have had teams with 9-year olds on them qualify for the National Championship. The Qualifying Tournaments are a fantastic way to learn, to test your skills against others and to compete. You do not need tournament experience to enter and be competitive, you just need to step up and sign up.
The registration process is usually done online, using your assigned Team Number. However, if you are not comfortable using the online method, you may register by phone at (320) 252-0428. Either option allows you to pay by credit card.
If you have registered your team for an event that took place after January, 2008, then you have been assigned a Team Number. If you are unsure whether or not your team has been assigned a Team Number, or if you forgot it, you can check the database here, or call (320) 252-0428.
If this is your first time registering for a NAIFC event, you must obtain a Team Number by completing the New Team Registration Form. Once submitted, a new Team Number will be assigned to you automatically, and sent along with a confirmation e-mail.
A Team Number is a permanent, unique ID number that we assign to each team the first time they register for an event. Your Team Number is used by our staff to track your event participation, statistics and helps us better manage your event processing experience.
It is important that you remember your Team Number, as you will need it to register and participate in all future NAIFC events. If you have forgotten your Team Number, you may look it up here, or call (320) 252-0428.
The short answer is to call (320) 252-0428.
If the members of your team change it is considered a new team. You must use the New Team Registration Form to register your new team and receive a new Team Number, or you may register by phone. Your old team will still exist in the database and remain visible on the website for historical purposes, however you MUST use your new Team Number from now on.
If you registered for an event and your teammate changes BEFORE the event takes place, the same rule applies. However, there will be more than one registration for that particular event with at least one teammate's name on it. Since you can't fish the tournament on two teams, you MUST call (320) 252-0428 and have the old registration voided.
If you want to keep the same teammates on your team, but decide to switch who is captain, you DO NOT need to create a new registration or Team Number. Simply call (320) 252-0428 and have the team information modified.
You can email your new contact information to kathy.roberts@naifc.com (please include your team number), or call (320) 252-0428.
NAIFC uses PayPal to process entry fee payments for web-based registrations. If you would like to use an offline method of payment, you have the option to either call us at (320) 252-0428 and arrange payment over the phone with your credit card, or pay by check or money order via the US Mail.
Make checks payable to:
NAIFC Tournament Series
Mail payment to:
NAIFC c/o Kathy Roberts
5764 16th Ave SE
Saint Cloud, MN 56304
Once you complete the online registration process, your team will be registered in our system for the chosen event(s). However, if you choose not to pay online, your account will be flagged as not yet having paid the entry fee until you make payment arrangements over the phone. In this case, be aware that your team will not be allowed to participate in the event(s) unless you make arrangements to pay the entry fee prior to the event(s). Remember that entry fees are subject to an additional $20 administration fee if paid within 24 hours of an event.
90% of Qualifying Tournament Entry Fees goes toward Payouts.
Fee Allocation Breakdown (per team entry):
Each Qualifying Tournament has an entry fee of $200.00 per team. For each entry fee collected...
· 20% ($40.00) goes toward the Championship payout.
· 70% ($140.00) goes toward the respective Qualifying Tournament payout.
· 10% ($20.00) goes toward administrative costs.
You may pay your team’s entry anytime before the Rules Meeting on Saturday night but your starting position will be determined by when you pay your team’s entry fee, not when you sign up your team. The later you pay your team’s entry fee the further back in the starting line up your team will be placed. If you sign-up on the Saturday of the Tournament there is a $20. 00 late fee assessed.
Your team’s starting position is determined by when your team pays its entry fee. The earlier your teams signs up and pays for a tournament entry the closer to the front of the line your team will start. So again, your team’s starting position is not determined by when you signed up but by when your team’s entry fee is paid.
This is a team competition involving two people. If you don’t have a partner you can post on the forum that you are looking for a partner. There are always people looking for a team mate.
No, it is not mandatory to attend the Friday Night Seminar (FNS). Attendance is free of charge and open to the public. The FNS is a two (2) part informational gathering event presented by the NAIFC. The first portion of the FNS is a speaker who talks about and takes questions on the details of ice fishing. The second portion of the FNS features small cracker barrel discussions between those attending and the NAIFC Pro-staff & Ice Men. The NAIFC Pro-Staff and Ice Men are available after the speaker to sit and talk with any of the locals or new teams that want to learn more about the tournaments, fishing techniques or new products on the market. Check the details page under the current tournament for speaker information. There is also a free Christian Brothers sampling with free product give-away.
One member of the team must attend the Rules Meeting. If you are a new team we recommend both of the members attend the Rules Meeting. At the Rules Meeting you will receive your packet with rules, tags, and big fish marker. Prior to the start of the tournament both team members are required to sign a waiver. If one team member is not present at the Rules Meeting that missing team member must sign the waiver in the start/line-up line Sunday morning.
Check the details page for the current tournament for specifics. The Host Community offers food to be purchased before the Friday Night Seminar. The Host Community will usually serve free food to all of the competitors at the Saturday Rules Meeting. Social hour for both nights begin at 5:00 pm with a cash bar. Saturday night Rules Meeting Registration starts at 5:00pm. Usually the food is available from 5:30-7:00pm. The Friday Night Seminar & Saturday Rules Meeting starts promptly at 7:00pm.
Look on the current lake “details page”. Depending on ice conditions the boundaries may change for the tournament. The official boundaries will be announced at the Rules Meeting. Cones that limit a bay or mark an area as out-of-bounds will usually be places on the lake by Thursday night.
Snowmobiles, side by sides and ATV’s are an acceptable way to travel during the tournaments. Ice conditions may restrict the tournament to walking only. The final decision on “walk-only” will be announced at the Rules Meeting with ice conditions being the determining factors. Remember Ice is never completely safe for vehicle travel. Always travel with a friend and check the ice conditions before travel. Automobiles are strictly forbidden on Tournament days.
Each state has different regulations. Be sure and check the DNR for state regulations. Some states require that you wear helmets. Each person fishing is personally responsible for following DNR regulations.
No culling allowed. Keep in mind there are two (2) different “limits”. First you have the Tournament limit, which is defined as the number of fish your team could bring to the weigh-in. The other “limit” is the State daily limit for both you and your teammate. The Tournament limit is always less than the State daily limit. You sort your team’s Tournament limit from your team’s combined State daily “limit”. Part of team tournament fishing is deciding what fish to keep and what to immediately release: having time set aside to sort your fish is part of team strategy. Once you and your team partner have your State daily limit you are not allowed to cull. In other words, once a fish is in your bucket that fish stays in your bucket.
Most walleye and bass tournaments base their pay-outs on a 1 to 7 ratio. If we have a full field of 150 teams and pay down 20 places the ratio is 1 to 7. 5. Sometimes the pay-out ratio will be 1 to 5 depending on the number of teams (Example: 50 teams can pay down to 10th place). The distribution of the entry fees are 10% for administration 20% for the Championship pay-out which leaves 70% for the current tournament. The pay-out amounts are tallied and announced at the rules meeting prior to the tournament.
There is a point system based on 30 points for a win down to 1 point for 30th place. The repeat winners or duplicate qualifiers are subtracted from the total and the remaining places are filled based on the highest number of points awarded to a team in their best three tournaments, then by heaviest weight.
Wisconsin DNR changed its tournament regulations based on size of lakes. Any lakes under 450 acres can only have a maximum number of 150 participants. Therefore, since several of the surrounding lakes in Rhinelander are less than 450 acres, like Thompson, Julia and George and the last two Championships held had 80 teams, to keep the Championship competitive in nature the limit is set at 75 teams. The advantage of having a community with surrounding lakes is to change the body of water the tournament resides for stewardship, conservation and new challenges to the competitors.
The fee for the Championship is based on the amount of dollars collected from the qualifiers. When the Tournament Series grows to a level of 500 total entries (combined from all the Qualifying Tournaments) there will be no fee for the Championship. If total entries do not reach the 500 team level there will be an entry fee to supplement the pay-out for the Championship.
The 5 meter rule is established to keep the competitors from fishing or drilling holes closer than 5 meters from each other. The 5 meter distance is measured from: the edge of hole to edge of hole. You can walk within 5 meters of another fisher. You cannot block a hole by using your gear or machine to keep someone else from fishing an open hole that is more than 5 meters away from your person.
If an observer or the Tournament Director questions whether you are more than 30 steps from your teammate they may ask you to walk off the steps. If you are outside the 30 step limit you may be given a warning. The second time you break the rule you will be disqualified. Pay attention to your partner while drilling or moving about the ice during the tournament. 30 steps is approximately 90 feet.
No. We ask that you only use your phone during the competition for emergencies. If you need to use the phone make sure an official or another team is alerted and the reason for use is stated. At NO time during the tournament may you use the phone to communicate in any way with another team. The same is true for two-way radios. Communication between teams is strictly forbidden during tournament hours.
All fish must be sorted prior to crossing the time-line for the weigh-in. No sorting is allowed after crossing through the cones.
As a competitor it is your duty to keep an even playing field. If you witness an infraction alert the team to the infraction immediately. Minor infractions like the 30 step rule or the ten foot rule are usually unintentional acts. A friendly warning to your competition is a fair gesture. If the infraction goes unchanged then do your best to call over an official to enforce the proper action.
