Wasn't it Roland Martin in the middle of the tourny had a jet boat air lifted to CT?

You are correct, one boat per year....here is the article



Still An Option For '12 Classic
New Elite Series Rule Eliminates Boat-Switching
Friday, January 13, 2012




Photo: BassFan
Bassmaster Elite Series anglers such as Steve Kennedy (who ran an aluminum rig in the 2009 Classic) will no longer have the option of using a different style of boat when they think it may give them an advantage.
(Editor's note: BassFan will observe Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so a new top story will not appear until Tuesday.)

By Jonathan Manteuffel
Special to BassFan

BassFan has received confirmation that Bassmaster Elite Series anglers will be required to fish the entire 2012 season from the same boat they start with. In other words, competitors no longer have the option to use a fiberglass rig in one tournament and an aluminum boat in the next.

The rule goes into effect on March 1, shortly after the conclusion of the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.

The rule was requested by a number of Elite Series anglers and approved by B.A.S.S. within the last couple of weeks. It is an addition to Rule P4. UNIFORMS, WRAPPED BOATS, ETC. and reads as follows: "Pros are required to start the season with one wrapped boat for all 2012 Elite series competition. Any changes during the season must be to a comparable boat as approved by tournament officials."

B.A.S.S. tournament director Trip Weldon explained what "comparable boat" means.

"If they start the season in a 21-foot glass boat and say (for example they) change sponsors, then it must be to another boat comparable in the 21-foot range," he said. "Or they can compete in a jet boat or walleye-type boat all season. They just won't be allowed to switch back and forth within the season."

Weldon said the rule came about because "Elite anglers wanted to level the playing field." That sentiment was confirmed by several pros.

"As we like to say, 'Run what ya brung,''' said John Crews. "I think it is good for keeping the anglers on an even playing field. B.A.S.S. has a good history of setting the benchmark for rules and this will be an important year to continue that tradition."

ARTICLE SOURCE

We had a lot of that happen when the Foxwood's Bass Challenge Tour was around. There were always some team that ran jetboats on the CT River and Hudson River. They usually won too!

I've seen that here too. If your fishing the river and you want to get real shallow guys would take a jhonboat style boat to get way back in the creeks till the clubs started making certain areas off limits. Since i fish in buddy style tournaments and we are both registered as boaters. We can use either my boat a basstracker 170 pro v or his boat a ranger camanchee 170. for small lakes or electric only we use mine for large water or the river we use his. I really like his for big water when its rough out it has more room and a windsheild to hide behind in bad weather. But for small skinny water you can't beat the tracker.

I have a 16' Alumicraft MV Tex-Mex that I use on Long Island mostly, but I baught it with the idea that if I ever needed to, I could throw a jetdrive motor on it. For now I just pulled the console and throttle linkage out. It's an easy convert.



Length 16' 10"
Beam 84"
Max HP Rating 55 HP

Whats next registering your rods and reels at the beginning of the season. Seriously, its just another piece of equipment. I can use a flippin stick for one tourney and the next might be all spinning tackle, what makes the boat different?
Although I think the tours would be quite different if the anglers were limited to 18 foot aluminums with 75 HP Motors. Now that would level the playing field!

I think guys are just complaining because not everyone has a friend near the river with a jet boat they can borrow. These guys are driving all over the country, it's not like they can just stop off at the house and switch boats (even if they own an aluminum too).

I'm sure they had enough people complaining to warrant the decision.

Well now there is a petition online that people can sign to ban the Alabama Rig. Go to BassFan and there is an article that has link to take you to site. I think there is over 600 signatures so far, some of the big names are signing anonymous. But there are some signatures you might recognize......

This is what the FLW had to say about it:

FLW


The Alabama Rig has taken the bass-fishing world by storm. Every discussion about its use seems to generate an emotional response unlike anything I’ve seen in my more than 30 years in the sport.

For every passionate plea that it be banned from tournaments, there is an equally passionate plea that it be allowed. No matter which side of the debate you are on, one thing is undeniable: The Alabama Rig has generated a level of excitement and interest in bass fishing unlike anything that has come before.

Since their inception, tournaments have been the spawning ground for lure, equipment and technique innovations that help recreational anglers catch more and bigger fish. It’s the reason fans tune in to our television shows, visit our websites, read our magazines and attend our events. There are millions of bass anglers out there with an insatiable appetite for cutting-edge information that will make them better at their sport. To argue that the Alabama Rig and other castable umbrella rigs be banned from tournaments is to believe that we’ve finally reached the end of innovation; that the great equalizer has been found; that the only thing separating novice anglers from the world’s top professionals is a weighted head with five wire leaders and swimbaits. There is nothing more to learn.

We believe professional anglers deserve more credit than that. We believe their skill and intuition will not be undercut by a baitfish-imitating technique that helps less experienced anglers catch fish when otherwise they might not. Will it force some pros to elevate their game and adapt? Of course it will. Just like GPS, side-imaging sonar, sight-fishing, shallow-water anchors and countless lure, line and rod innovations have done over the years. Buzzbaits and ChatterBaits were once considered radical, as were flipping and sight-fishing. But they are all simply tools of the trade now. The same will hold true for Alabama Rigs. It’s not the end of fishing as we know it.

Anglers are still held to a daily five-fish limit. Tournaments are still catch-and-release. Our conservation ethic has not changed. We’ve taken the additional step of contacting wildlife officials in each state hosting an event in every FLW circuit to urge them to study the effects of castable umbrella rigs on live release rates. If conservation issues are discovered, we will reevaluate our rules accordingly. For now, we are leaving that in the capable hands of the experts within each state, and castable umbrella rigs will be permitted in our 2012 tournaments.

Sincerely,

Kathy Fennel

President, Operations Division

FLW Outdoors
Source