Upcoming Events

1. Event Overview

Dates

Saturday–Sunday, September 18–19, 2027 (rain or shine)

Location

Silos Recreation Area, Canyon Ferry Reservoir, Townsend, MT

Check-in

0700 both days

Rules and safety meeting

0715 both days, Silos Recreation Area

Lines in / launch

0800 both days (shotgun start)

Lines out

1400 both days

Awards / final check-in

1500 both days, Silos Recreation Area

Target species

Walleye (Sander vitreus) only

Format

Catch, Photo, Release (CPR) — no fish possessed, no physical weigh-in

Field limit

30 anglers total across both divisions

Registration closes

11:59 p.m. MDT, Tuesday, June 1, 2027

Scoring app

LiveWire (primary); TourneyX Pro (backup)

Registration & info

turmanatortrailers.com/events → Tournaments → Register

Tournament Director

Daniel Turman, Turmanator Trailer & Ironworks

2. Divisions & Entry Fees

• Solo Division — $30 per angler
• Team Division — $50 per team ($25 per angler); 2 anglers per team, fishing together in the same registered kayak or paired kayaks
• Optional Big Fish Side Pot — $10 per solo entry / $20 per team entry, winner-take-all, for the single longest walleye recorded across both divisions combined

Solo and Team divisions fish the same water, dates, and hours as one combined event, and are scored and paid out separately — not as two standalone tournaments.

3. Interpretation, Regulations & Enforcement

1. Each competitor is responsible for knowing all rules; interpretation rests exclusively with the Tournament Director.
2. Federal, state, and local law always supersedes these rules.
3. Licensing. Every competitor aged 12 or older must hold all three of the following, current for the 2027 license year: a Montana Conservation License, a Montana Base Fishing License, and an Angler Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Pass. The Angler AIS Prevention Pass is required of residents as well as nonresidents, and is separate from the Vessel AIS Prevention Pass in Section 5. Montana sells fishing licenses online only — buy well in advance, as they cannot be purchased at the launch. All three are verified at check-in.
4. This event operates under Montana FWP fishing contest regulations (ARM 12.7.801–809). [Permit number to be inserted upon FWP approval.] A Fishing Contest Report Form is due to FWP within 30 days after the event.
5. Contest authorization for walleye events on Canyon Ferry Reservoir is capped by FWP policy at up to three contests per calendar year, no more than one per month, and is evaluated against FWP's walleye relative-abundance goal range for the reservoir (5–7 walleye per standardized gillnet) under the Upper Missouri River Reservoir Fisheries Management Plan. ARM 12.7.805(4) additionally prohibits contests on consecutive weekends on any water under 100,000 surface acres; Canyon Ferry is approximately 35,000 acres.
6. Current Canyon Ferry walleye regulations as of this revision are 10 daily, only 1 over 15 inches, with a possession limit of twice the daily limit. There is no minimum length limit for walleye on Canyon Ferry. Regulations will be reconfirmed ahead of the event, as they can change year to year.

4. Participation & Eligibility

7. Registration: online at turmanatortrailers.com/events — open the Tournaments tab and use the Register button. Competitors select Solo or Team division at registration; Team registration requires both anglers' names and contact information. Payment is accepted via PayPal. The liability waiver (item 13 and Section 21) must be read and accepted as part of online registration and signed in person at check-in; it is posted on the same page alongside the current rules, the course boundary map, and event updates.
8. Registration deadline: 11:59 p.m. MDT, Tuesday, June 1, 2027. Limited late registration is available June 2–15, 2027 for an additional $10 late fee, subject to space in the field.
9. Field limit: 30 anglers total across both divisions, accepted in order of completed registration and payment.
10. Phone number and emergency contact are required at registration.
11. Refund policy: entries are refundable, less a $5 processing fee, for cancellations received on or before Wednesday, August 18, 2027 — 30 days before the event. No refunds are issued after that date. If the organizer cancels the event for weather or safety, entrants receive a full refund or may transfer to a rescheduled date.
12. Minor participation: anglers aged 13 and older may compete with a signed parent/guardian release. Anglers under 16 must be accompanied on the water by an adult in a separate craft. That adult must be registered with the event as a non-competing escort, is not eligible for scoring or prizes, and may not assist with the catch, the photograph, or the handling of any fish submitted for scoring. The escort's craft must meet the same AIS, registration, and safety requirements as a competitor's craft.
13. A signed liability waiver is required before participating. The waiver is accepted online during registration and signed in person at check-in; its full terms are set out in Section 21 and the current version is posted at turmanatortrailers.com/events. Photo ID and signature are checked at check-in, and age is verified at check-in against the date of birth given at registration.
14. Prior disciplinary action at other events is grounds for the Tournament Director to reject or revoke a registration.
15. Registration constitutes agreement to these rules.

5. Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Compliance

16. Clean, Drain, Dry: every competitor's watercraft must be clean, drained, and dry before launching — this is a Montana state requirement (ARM 12.5.706), not just event policy. The Tournament Director will confirm this with every competitor at check-in.
17. Vessel AIS Prevention Pass. Any watercraft owned by a nonresident of Montana must carry a valid Vessel AIS Prevention Pass, physical or electronic, available for inspection. The fee differs for nonmotorized craft and for any craft fitted with a motor of any kind, including an electric trolling motor; current fees are set by the state and are not listed in these rules. Montana-resident-owned craft do not need this pass.
18. Any watercraft entering Montana, or crossing the Continental Divide into the Columbia River Basin, must pass an open AIS inspection station before its first launch in-state.
19. Competitors arriving from out of state or from outside the drainage must complete any required FWP inspection or decontamination before arriving at the launch, and must present proof of inspection at check-in. Decontamination is performed at an FWP inspection station, not at the event site.
20. Participants must comply with any on-site FWP inspection prior to launch. Non-compliance results in disqualification.

6. Safety

21. Required equipment: worn and fastened USCG-approved PFD; sound signaling device; 360° white overhead light in low-light conditions; a landing net. A high-visibility flag is recommended on waters with motorized traffic.
22. PFDs are mandatory at all times while underway or fishing, and may only be briefly removed while beached, anchored, or adrift with no line in the water and safe conditions.
23. Equipment violations receive an opportunity to correct on the spot; repeated disregard results in disqualification.
24. The Tournament Director will announce a safety/weather cutoff plan at the rules meeting and may delay, shorten, or suspend the event at their discretion for lightning, high wind, or other hazardous conditions.
25. A designated safety/support boat will patrol the course during tournament hours, at a minimum ratio of one support craft per 15 competitors on the water.
26. In an emergency, call 911 first, then notify Tournament Officials.
27. September water temperatures on Canyon Ferry can still require cold-water precautions — wetsuits and drysuits are recommended and may be required by the Tournament Director below a stated water temperature.

7. Watercraft & Propulsion

28. Single-hull kayaks only. Inflatable kayaks are permitted. Every competitor checks in at the rules meeting and is assigned an event ID number.
29. Propulsion: paddle, pedal drive, pole, or a single electric trolling motor. No gas motors.
30. Motorized craft requirements. Under Montana law, any vessel — including a kayak — propelled by a motor of any description is a motorboat. A craft fitted with an electric trolling motor must therefore carry a current title, current registration, and a current AIS sticker/pass, must display its assigned registration numbers and validation decal, and is subject to the motorized-craft rate of the nonresident Vessel AIS Prevention Pass under Section 5. Nonresidents may operate on valid current home-state registration. Title, registration, decal, and AIS documentation are checked at check-in; a craft that cannot produce them may not launch with a motor fitted, but may compete with the motor removed.
31. One motor per craft, within the hull's rated capacity; a kill switch/lanyard must be worn while underway. Battery storage must be enclosed and secured. DIY motor mounts require inspection and approval before competition.
32. No towing or “mothershipping” except in a genuine safety emergency.
33. Prohibited craft: any watercraft other than a kayak, including canoes, stand-up paddleboards, powerboats, jon boats, pontoon boats, inflatable rafts and RIBs, sailboats, and twin-hull craft. Use of a prohibited watercraft, or failure to check in at the rules meeting, results in disqualification.

8. Format — Catch, Photo, Release (CPR)

34. No possession of fish at any time. All walleye must be measured, photographed, and released immediately.
35. CPR is used instead of a livewell / weigh-in format because it fits kayak logistics better and because FWP fishing contest guidelines permit transport of live fish only in the Eastern Fishing District, which Canyon Ferry is not part of.
36. Each qualifying fish is placed on an approved bump board (Section 12) with the angler's event ID tag clearly visible in frame.
37. A brief release video — fish returned to the water and visibly swimming away — is required for each scored fish.
38. Official scoring app. Photos and release videos are submitted through the official scoring app before the lines-out cutoff each day. Late submissions are not scored. The primary official scoring app for this event is LiveWire, the event's own platform. TourneyX Pro is the backup app. The Tournament Director will decide on the day of the event whether the backup is needed and will announce the app in use to all competitors. Where these rules refer to the scoring app, they mean the app in use that day.
39. App failure fallback. If LiveWire is unavailable or fails during the event, the Tournament Director may direct competitors to submit photos and release videos through TourneyX Pro, the backup app. If neither app is available, the Tournament Director may direct competitors to submit by an announced backup method — email or text to the Tournament Director — before the lines-out cutoff. A competitor is responsible for submitting by whatever method has been announced; an app outage does not extend the cutoff unless the Tournament Director announces an extension for all competitors.
40. Tournament scoring minimum: 14 inches. This is an event standard, not a state length limit — Canyon Ferry has no minimum length limit for walleye. Fish under 14 inches may be caught and released but are not scored.
41. Daily limits. Under ARM 12.7.808(2) and FWP fishing contest guidelines, fish caught during approved contest hours and released alive are not counted toward an angler's daily limit, and no participant may possess more than one daily limit at any time. Because this is a no-possession event, competitors should have no walleye in possession at any point during contest hours. Standard Montana daily and possession limits apply to any harvest outside contest hours.

9. Fish Eligibility

42. Eligible species: Walleye (Sander vitreus) only.
43. Fish must appear alive, unmutilated, and undamaged.
44. Hook placement must be in the mouth or jaw; incidental body or fin hooking is acceptable if the primary hook is in the mouth.
45. All fish must be released before fishing resumes.

10. Competition Area

46. The contest course runs from the Silos Recreation Area launch southeast along approximately 3.8 miles of shoreline to the river-arm / “Ponds” area, as plotted on the official course boundary map.
47. Boundaries will be announced by visible shoreline landmarks at the rules meeting, shown on a physical map, and marked with buoys at both ends on the morning of the event where practical.
48. LiveWire, the primary scoring app, uses GPS to verify whether a catch was made within the marked course boundary. It does not track competitors continuously: it takes a location fix for a competitor only when a catch is submitted, when a safety beacon is raised (then about every 60 seconds while the beacon is up and the app stays open), or when the competitor manually checks their position. At submission, the fix is compared with the boundary in effect at that moment, and the result (in or out of bounds, and how far outside) is stored with the catch; if no fix can be obtained, the catch can still be submitted without a location. LiveWire also keeps each competitor's most recent position, visible to the Tournament Director, but not a location history. Boundary compliance also relies on visible landmark and buoy marking, GPS metadata captured on each submitted catch photo, the peer-reporting requirement in Section 19, and the volunteer marshal / safety boat patrolling the course.
49. Fishing outside the marked boundary results in disqualification of that day's catches. Fish must be caught on public water via legal public access only.

11. Cooperation & Assistance

50. Competitors may share gear, tackle, or information freely with other registered competitors.
51. No assistance from non-competitors during the competition period. Registered non-competing escorts (Section 4) are present for supervision and safety only.
52. No professional guide use during the competition period.
53. No assistance with the specific catch, photo, or fish being submitted for scoring — a violation results in denial of the catch and possible disqualification for both parties.

12. Fishing Tackle, Equipment & Methods

54. Permitted: nightcrawlers, leeches, jigs, spinners, crankbaits, and trolling rigs.
55. Live baitfish are not permitted. Canyon Ferry is not one of the Central Fishing District waters on which live fish may be used as bait. Leeches brought in from out of state must be purchased from an FWP-approved leech dealer, and the angler must carry the dealer receipt while fishing.
56. Line and hook limits. Central Fishing District standard regulations apply: a maximum of two lines with no more than two hooks per line. All lines must be attended and in the angler's immediate control at all times.
57. Hooks and landing nets. Barbless or pinched-barb hooks are strongly encouraged. A landing net is required equipment and must be used to land any fish presented for scoring.
58. Prohibited: snagging or foul-hooking; chumming; fishing from shore or while wading; setlines, trot lines, hoop nets, and traps; spearing or gigging; and more than two rods in use at once.
59. Required equipment: a smartphone with LiveWire (primary) and TourneyX Pro (backup) installed and tested prior to the event, and an approved bump board. Approved bump boards are the Ketch 32" X Board, the Bubba 28" Bump Board, and the YakAttack 28" LeaderBoard. No other board is accepted.

13. Photo Standards

60. Submitted via the official scoring app; GPS metadata enabled if supported.
61. Each photo must be of a different fish.
62. Automated review is advisory only. Where the scoring app applies automated or AI-assisted screening to a submission, that screening is a first pass. Every acceptance, denial, and length determination is confirmed by a tournament official before it affects standings, and no catch is denied on an automated result alone. Disputes are handled under Section 20.
63. A flat, unaltered, approved bump board is required.
64. Fish position: nose touching the zero line, tail pinched flat against the board, mouth closed, eye fully visible, consistent body orientation toward the camera.
65. Photo quality: clear, in focus, well-lit, entire fish and board visible — no portrait-mode crop, first-generation image only.
66. The angler's event ID tag must be legible in the same frame.
67. The competitor's own kayak must be visible in the background.
68. Hands may touch the caudal peduncle but must not cover the tail fin, gill flap, or eye, and must not obstruct the gills or mouth.
69. No restraining devices in the photo — no stringers, grippers, or clips attached to the fish.

14. Fish Care & Handling

Fish mortality in warm water is a documented FWP concern on Canyon Ferry, where temperatures commonly exceed 65°F through the summer months. This event is scheduled for mid-September specifically to fish outside that window. The standards below are mandatory regardless of measured water temperature and apply to every fish presented for scoring.

70. Hands must be wetted before handling any fish. Do not handle fish with dry hands, gloves, or towels.
71. Total time a fish is out of the water — from net or hand to release — may not exceed 60 seconds. This is a hard limit. Tournament officials will deny any catch that appears to exceed it. Work efficiently: no extended posing, and no setting the fish aside to finish other tasks first.
72. Fish must be supported horizontally at all times — no dragging or dropping, and no laying a walleye on a hot deck, dry kayak bottom, or other hard surface.
73. Fish must be released at the point of capture and revived if needed — gentle forward motion through the water — until the fish swims off under its own power.
74. Dead fish penalty. Any fish that does not swim away under its own power is scored as zero and must be reported to the Tournament Director immediately. A competitor's or team's second dead fish results in disqualification for that day. Any fish that cannot be revived must still be released.
75. Competitors must report any observed high mortality — fish not reviving, multiple floaters — to the Tournament Director immediately.
76. If water temperature at the course exceeds 65°F, announced at the rules meeting based on same-day readings, the Tournament Director may shorten the allowed handling window below 60 seconds or require additional revival time before continued fishing.
77. A violation of this section is treated as a Photo Standards violation under Section 13 and is penalized under Section 17. Repeated or severe violations result in disqualification.

15. Scoring

78. Placement is determined by the total length of each angler's or team's single longest qualifying walleye recorded across the two days of the event.
79. Solo and Team divisions are scored and ranked separately — two leaderboards, one event.
80. Officials review submissions for eligibility and standard compliance; deductions or denials are applied as needed. The judge's decision is final, subject to the dispute process in Section 20.

16. Tiebreakers

81. A tie in placement is broken by the combined total length of the competitor's or team's best three qualifying walleye across both days. If a competitor has fewer than three qualifying fish, the combined total of the fish they do have is used.
82. If competitors remain tied after the best-three comparison, the earliest submission timestamp in the official scoring app wins.

17. Penalties & Disqualification

83. Sportsmanlike conduct is required at all times. Harassment of other anglers, non-anglers, or wildlife results in disqualification.
84. Fishing outside marked boundaries, exceeding the 60-second handling limit, incomplete or fraudulent photo or video submissions, or possession of fish results in disqualification of the catch or the full-day entry, at the Tournament Director's discretion.
85. Alcohol or drugs in-craft, or before or during competition, results in automatic disqualification.
86. The Tournament Director determines the penalty based on severity, intent, and history; appealable per Section 20. Tournament Director decisions are final.

18. Prizes & Payout

87. Prize pools are funded entirely by entry fees, paid back separately per division: the Solo Division pool from $30 entries, the Team Division pool from $50 entries.
88. Each division pays out independently, scaled to the number of paid entries in that division:
    • 6 or more entries — 1st 50%, 2nd 30%, 3rd 20%
    • 3 to 5 entries — 1st 60%, 2nd 40%
    • 2 entries — 1st 100%
    • Fewer than 2 entries — the division does not run. Those entrants receive a full refund of the entry fee, or may transfer to the other division at their option if eligible.
89. Sponsor contributions, cash or product, may supplement either division's pool beyond straight entry-fee payback. Where confirmed in advance, sponsor contributions will be announced as a guaranteed minimum payout ahead of the event.
90. Big Fish side pot. Optional buy-in of $10 per solo entry or $20 per team entry, winner-take-all for the single longest walleye recorded across both divisions combined. The pot is paid to the entry — a solo angler or a team — that records the fish; a winning team divides it between its two anglers. If fewer than two entries buy in, the side pot does not run and buy-ins are refunded.
91. Awards attendance is mandatory for prize eligibility. Prizes are distributed via PayPal after disputes are resolved.
92. Winners are responsible for reporting taxable winnings where applicable; a W-9 may be required for cumulative winnings of $600 or more in a calendar year.
93. Prizes won should not be advertised for resale on event or Turmanator channels for one year.

19. Competitor Conduct

94. Respect for competitors, officials, sponsors, and the resource is required; ethical, conservation-minded fishing is expected.
95. Zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment.
96. Illegal activity is reported to authorities and may result in disqualification or a ban from future events.
97. Public disputing of a ruling results in a warning, then further discipline — use the formal dispute process in Section 20 instead.
98. Competitors should report known rule violations to the Tournament Director within 24 hours of standings being posted.

20. Disputes

99. Filing: submit a dispute within 24 hours of standings or results being posted, including the event, date, disputed decision, rule cited, and requested action.
100. The Tournament Director and event officials will review the dispute and issue a ruling.
101. Appeal: submit in writing to the Tournament Director within 24 hours of the ruling.
102. Appeal rulings are final.

21. Waivers, Releases & Force Majeure

103. Completing the liability waiver releases Turmanator Trailer & Ironworks, its organizers, sponsors, volunteers, and Montana FWP from liability for injury, loss, or death arising from participation, and includes a name and likeness clause for marketing use of competitor photos and video.
104. Turmanator Trailer & Ironworks is not responsible for cancellation due to weather, natural disaster, government action, or other circumstances beyond its control.

22. Cancellation & Weather

105. The event will run rain or shine. In the event of unsafe conditions — lightning, dangerously high wind, or similar — the Tournament Director may delay, shorten, or cancel a day's fishing.
106. No refunds will be issued for weather-related shortening once the event has begun. A full cancellation prior to the event will be refunded or rolled to a rescheduled date at organizer discretion. No rain date is scheduled in advance.