Rules

• MNTFA Competition Rules
  
• Competitors must be fully paid up MNTFA members for at least two weeks prior to the date of the competition, with all fees paid.
  
• All competitions will be fished to reservoir rules (i.e. rules applicable to the venue) unless otherwise stated in the information published on our web site.
  
• Weigh in your first 4 fish only.
  
• Catch & release competitions will be based on the total length in mm of the first four fish caught.
  
• No fixed oars or rudder shall be used in any competition unless designated as a rudder competition. Steerage on the drift can be controlled by use of the drogue, attached on the broad side of the boat.
  
• There shall be no fishing while under power.
  
• The start and finish times for all competitions will be published in the competition schedule and detailed in the calendar on the MNTFA website. You are advised to synchronise your watch at the start.
  
• Boats must not leave the jetty area before the start of the match.
  
• In the event of a bank match finishing time will be measured at the lodge.
  
• If one of a pair of competitors is unable to fish a substitute MNTFA member may take his place in the competition.
  
• Guests (non-member) can fish with the competition, but will not be part of the competition.
  
• If two anglers weigh in the same weight, the winner will be the angler with the highest number of fish. If the result is still tied the trophy will be shared for equal lengths of time.
  
• Competitors must possess a current rod fishing license.
  
• Any objections must be made as soon as practicable and in any case before the results are announced and presentations made.
  
• Objections will be settled by committee members present. Their majority decision will be final.

The Association of Major Flyfishing Clubs (AMFC)
Loch-Style Rules – 2025/04

It is the responsibility of all competitors to fully understand the rules for the AMFC loch style
events. If you fall foul of the rules you will be disqualified and may be prevented from entering future events. Cheating in any form will not be tolerated and may result in a total ban from all future AMFC competitions. Each competitor will be issued with a ‘Score card’. You and your boat partner are required to complete this card each time you or your boat partner catches a fish. You will mark your partner’s card and he/she will mark yours. The card must be signed by both anglers and presented to the match officials at the weigh in.

1. Betting.
Competitors are not permitted to engage in any form of betting, including sweepstakes,
connected with their competitions.

2. Disputes and Complaints.
Any dispute or complaint must be reported to an event official via team captain within 10
minutes of the competition ending after which time the weigh-in will commence. If a
complaint is made, a sub-committee will be formed comprising the organiser and Team
Captains (This may include anglers that have fished the event). If the sub-committee considers that a competitor has not complied with the rules, he/she may be disqualified. A competitor may appeal against a decision to the Chairman of the AMFC in writing, within 7 days of being informed of any penalty.

3. Flies & Hooks.
Events shall be fished with artificial fly only. Flies may be dressed on single hook only.
tandem flies and double hooks are not permitted. No fly shall be artificially weighted.
Attractor chemicals and light emitters may not be used on flies. No more than 4 * flies, only
may be mounted on a cast (subject to the rules of the fishery) Hooks may not measure more
than five-eighths of an inch overall, including the eye. The overall length of the fly may not
exceed fifteen-sixteenths of an inch. NOTE – the overall length of any fly includes any dressing that lies forward of the hook eye – beware when measuring Booby type flies and popper hoppers! Ensure that legs on hoppers and daddies fit the gauge. Some material ‘stretch’ when wet – it is advisable to continually check that the dressing does not exceed the fly size limit ie. 15/16th of an inch

4. Debarbed or barbless flies are to be used throughout the match. Debarbed flies must
not pull threads when pulled from material.

5. Lines & Leaders.
Lines, casts and leaders shall not be additionally weighted. No form of shooting line, metal
core line or metal core braided leader is permitted.

6. Bungs / indicators.
Any bung or indicator must be capable of hooking and catching a fish, not have its gape
obstructed and can only be attached on a dropper. Droppers must not be free to move up
and down the line. Threaded indicators are not permitted. If in doubt, show your indicator to
the match official prior to the event. Bungs/indicators must conform to the recognised
International fly sizes for loch-style competitions.
The TASHE is not allowed.

7. Rods / lines.
A competitor may use one rod not exceeding 12 feet in length and may have a spare rod of
the same maximum length. But only one rod may be mounted. A rod is considered mounted
if any two sections are joined or if a reel or line is attached. A competitor’s rod, when working
flies or retrieving casts must be hand held and must be above water level. The only exception to this is when using a Roly Poly retrieve. In this case the rod may be held under the arm

8. Drifting.
The anchoring of boats whilst fishing is prohibited. Boats must be allowed to drift freely
during fishing and must not be held on oars or engines in such a manner as to interfere with,
or gain advantage over, any other competitor. When motoring between drifts the fly line must not be in the water – it is however permissible for the flies to be in the water. Trolling of flies behind the boat is not permitted and fishing should not commence until a boat is ‘set’ and static on the next drift and there is no forward or reverse momentum of the boat. During an event no boat may encroach within 50m radius of any other boat engaged in fishing. The water between boats may be shared.

9. Fishing Zone (see diagram above).
Competitors shall fish within the bounds shown in this diagram and may not fish in their
partners’ zones.

NOTE. On days of high winds care should be taken when fishing sinking lines that they are not allowed to sink under and behind the boat. Both anglers must fish in the same direction which is out of the front of the boat. Anglers should decide which side of the boat is deemed to be the front and remain fishing in that
direction.

If your boat partner is not fishing you may fish all of the area.
It is permissible to cast to a fish that has risen behind the boat and is on your side of the boat.
You must do this from a seated position.

10. Out of Bounds Areas.
Whilst a competitor may cast into an ‘Out of Bounds’ area, the boat may not enter these areas whether fishing or under power. Each venue will have its own OOB area and these will be briefed to you on the morning of the round before the round commences.

11. Sitting & Standing.
Boat seats, thwart boards and the use of tackle boxes as seats are allowed, provided the
height of the seat is not more than 125mm (5 inches) above the gunwales. (ie. 150mm from
the underside of the seat) Note – ‘Backrests’ are also allowed on boat seats. Competitors must not stand in the boat when casting or retrieving lines. Standing in the boat is allowed only when playing or landing a fish.

12. Command of the Boat.
The Person drawn first on the boat sheet draw will have control of the engine if they so wish.
Command of the boat will change every 1hr 45min or as mutually agreed. Competitors may
physically change ends every two hours but must return to the boat dock to do so.

13. Drogues.
A single un-weighted drogue is permitted, of no more than 60 x 60 inches or 25 square feet.
It may be fitted with functional metal fittings such as small link rings and swivels. The only
control device allowed is one or two ‘G’ clamps. Note in 8 above – You may also attach the
drogue at one or two points using Velcro straps that wrap around the thwart boards.
“Boats must be allowed to drift freely during fishing and must not be held on oars or engines
in such a manner as to interfere with, or gain advantage over, any other competitor.” The
drogue may be fixed on either side of the boat such that the drift is square to the wind. The
drogue must trail no more than 15 feet behind the boat and may be attached at 1 or 2 points
subject to local fishery rules. Drogues may be ‘towed’ when moving between drifts or taken
out of the water – again subject to local fishery rules. NOTE. Drogues must not be used to
‘anchor’ the boat by allowing it to snag on any underwater obstacles such as tree stumps,
rocks, weed beds, buoys, stone walls and embankments etc.

14. Respect for Other Anglers.
In congested areas, boats must not deny reasonable access to other boats by undertaking
repeated short drifts. Special care must be taken in such circumstances, especially when
manoeuvring the boat. Boats are to keep at least 50m from bank anglers.

NOTE. In flat calms / back eddies caused by winds passing over a dam or other steep bank,
anglers must ensure that the boat does not ‘back drift’ or remain static in one area thereby
preventing other anglers access to that area. Boats should not under any circumstances be
allowed to rest upon any dam wall or bank – they must always be free drifting.

15. Electronic Devices.
Competitors may not use electronic devices, such as echo-sounders, fish finders or radios on
match days. Mobile ‘phones and other ‘Smart’ devices may only be used in an emergency and
with the prior approval of the organiser / boat partner. They must not be used in a ’location
recording’ mode (GPS) to log where fish are caught on practice or match days.

16. Local Rules.
The event organiser will advise competitors of any local rules which augment or otherwise
affect the competition rules. These will be applied as if they are part of these written rules.
Anglers will be made aware of any local rules prior to any events.

17. Hours of Fishing.
The organiser shall fix the hours of fishing which are normally 10am to 5pm.
Team Captains must report to the match offical/s upon arrival and sign-in.
The weigh-in will not commence until 10 minutes after the end of the match, this is to allow
time for the event organiser, if he too is competing, sufficient time to organise himself prior
to the weigh-in.

In the event of dangerous weather, the organiser may change the match hours, or the date,
as necessary. Competitors shall not fish before the start time and must begin from the start
zone. They must return to the finishing zone, in the boat in which they set out (except in the
event of damage to a boat, failure of a motor or being overcome by a storm), no later than
the event finish time. No allowance will be made for any angler landing a fish (unless that fish
is hooked and being played in the designated finishing zone). If the match is called off before the start or stopped before a result can be determined then the match may be rearranged.

18. Species and Size of Fish.
Trout are the only permitted species Unless a restriction on brown trout has been briefed prior to any round, all brown trout will count within your 12 fish limit.

19. Multiple ‘hook ups’
A fish is deemed landed if it is in the landing net and net lifted from the water.
In the event of more than one fish being hooked on one cast, all fish ‘landed’ will count as
caught and released. Landed means they must have been in the landing net, lifted from the
water and the net turned over to release the fish.

20. Weighing-In
Once a competitor has caught their 12 fish limit they are to stop fishing.
If both both reach their individual bag limits early, they must leave the water.
Score cards must be signed and presented at the weigh-in.

All competitors must report directly to the weigh-in, in their boat pairs, within 15 minutes of
the event finish time. Nil returns are required. Anyone not reporting within 15 minutes of the
end of the event will be deemed to have a nil return.

21. Placings / Scoring.
Match cards will be issued to each angler. You will be responsible for completing the card of
your boat partner. You should record each fish caught by your boat partner after every fish
landed. Your partner should also record whenever you catch a fish. Therefore both anglers
will record each fish caught. If you catch one fish the number 1 is to be entered into the first
box. The second fish you return, A number 2 is to be entered into the second box and so on.
Place an X into any boxes left. Remember to sign your boat partners card.

Anglers must ‘weigh-in’ in their boat pairs and present their partner’s signed match card to
the match official/s. Any incomplete, unreadable or defaced cards will mean that the anglers
catch may not be weighed-in or may cause a delay in announcing the results.

22. Catch Formats
From the start of the 2025 season all matches will be fished to full catch and release format.
You are to catch & release a maximum and of 12 fish. Once you have caught & release your 12 fish you are to stop fishing. Returned fish count as 2lb and the time bonus will be 1lb per hour (i.e. 4oz for each complete
15 min remaining in the match).

The placings will be decided by the teams combined bag weight including any time bonuses.
In the unlikely event of a tie for placings at any round, the points shall be split by the number
of teams who tied.

22a. End of season Group winners
At the end of the season the winner of the group shall be the team with the most points
from all matches and the loser the team with the fewest points. In the case of teams with the
same number of points, table position shall be calculated by totalling the weight of catch for
all matches.

The results of teams who withdraw after they have fished in any round shall be calculated as
though they remain members of the group.

23. Emergencies.
If assistance is required, an oar should be raised to alert officials or a phone call made to the
organisers / fishery. During competition hours, a boat may be beached only in an emergency
such as medical, boat breakdown, or severe weather problems

24. Safety.
Competitors MUST wear buoyancy aids and are recommended to wear eye protectors when
either travelling in, or fishing from boats.

25. Local rule variations.
These will be advised at the competition briefing.
Anglers must be aware that AMFC does not have control over local rules imposed by a fishery. These rules may need to be made prior to the event and will be based on advice from the fishery. Examples would be out of bounds areas created by the fishery, areas that cannot be fished due to expected adverse weather conditions etc. AMFC is subject to the Health and Safety requirements imposed upon it by the fisheries. AMFC does all it can to ensure a match creates a level playing field for all. For example AMFC has no control over when, where and how many fish are stocked into a venue, whether a specific area will be out of bounds due to construction work or pumping of water / air etc.

A note on Sailing.
On waters where sailing takes place be aware that powered craft (fishing boats when under
power) must give way to sailing craft including windsurfers. It is advisable to also avoid fishing in an area where sailing turning buoys are located especially on sailing competition days. AMFC has no control over where a sailing course is set out. Sailing craft have the same rights to be using the water as fishermen do.