MWBA Tournament Rules

Click this link for the 2026 Tournament Rules

Our Tournament Rules are the bedrock of our competitive fishing. They establish a level playing field for all competitors, from Draws to awards bestowed at Annual Banquets. They require compliance with all applicable boating and fishing rules and regulations for the waters we fish. That includes compliance with any tournament permits a federal, state or tribal agency has issued to allow us to conduct a tournament on “their” waters.

On the Colorado River, we also comply with USCG and CDFW watercraft regulations. Such restrictions are summarized in our Facts Sheets for tournaments on the Colorado River, from Lake Mohave almost to Yuma.

In case you are wondering, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Department do not regulate (i.e. issue permits for) fishing tournaments. Riddle me that, Batman!

Facts Sheets & More About Tournament Rules

An updated, lake-specific Tournament Facts Sheet is emailed to members two weeks before each event. All of them are also available for download from this website. Each Facts Sheet summarizes a variety of requirements and other information for a specific Tournament. The sheets are useless if you don’t read them, but helpful if you do. The same is true of the MWBA Tournament Rules (also available for download from this website; link provided below).

It’s best to read Facts Sheets and Rules before Tournaments, to know what to do and what not to do. Waiting to read them to see if you did something wrong can be painful, and co$tly.

To be redundantly and abundantly clear, MWBA members are responsible for reading our Facts Sheets and our Tournament Rules. Whether or not you have read them, compliance is mandatory. Ignorance of the law, Tournament Rules and Facts Sheets excuses nothing and no one.

Rule violations can result in disqualification from a tournament or revocation of membership. When a Rule violation is also a violation of law, the lucky angler might win citations from a variety of law enforcement agencies that patrol all or parts of the Colorado River (i.e. AZGFD, CDFW, U.S. Coast Guard, USFWS and Tribes).