How Best-Five Bass Length Scoring Works
Beer League Fishing Co. • Updated October 7, 2026.
In a best-five length tournament, your score is the combined approved length of your five longest eligible bass. Once five fish count, a longer approved bass replaces the shortest one in the total. The arithmetic is simple; eligibility, measurement increments, penalties and tiebreakers come from your selected event’s rules.
General CPR preparation comes first. The event-specific examples below use the October 2026 Monster Month official rules. They describe that event, not permanent Beer League requirements. Before entering any event, open its Fishing Chaos listing and read the linked official rules and updates.
What counts toward the score?
Start with eligibility. Check the accepted species, minimum length if any, eligible water, catch window, registration requirements and photo rules. A fish has to meet those requirements before its length can count. October 2026 Monster Month’s main leaderboard accepts largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, subject to its official rules.
Catch-photo-release (CPR) provides the measurement evidence: measure, photograph, release and submit through Fishing Chaos. The five best approved lengths are counted; the number of photos you upload is not your score. Each catch may only be submitted as one separate fish.
Add five approved lengths
This is a hypothetical arithmetic example, not a Beer League result or a claim about anyone's catch. Suppose five approved bass measure 18.25, 17.75, 17.00, 16.50 and 15.25 inches.
18.25 + 17.75 + 17.00 + 16.50 + 15.25 = 84.75 inches.
The total is 84.75 inches. Adding weights, averaging the five lengths, or counting a photo that has not passed judging would answer a different question. Follow the current leaderboard and official review for your actual approved score.
A bigger fish upgrades the total
Continue the same hypothetical example. A newly approved 20.00-inch bass replaces the 15.25-inch fish, because that was the shortest of the five counting fish.
84.75 − 15.25 + 20.00 = 89.50 inches.
Your score increases by 4.75 inches. The new five are 20.00, 18.25, 17.75, 17.00 and 16.50. A later approved 16.00-inch fish would not improve that total because it is shorter than the smallest fish now counting. This example assumes every listed catch is eligible and approved; it does not set a minimum eligible fish length.
Use the approved measurement
October 2026 Monster Month example: a properly positioned bass is scored in quarter-inch increments, rounding down when its tail falls between marks. A hypothetical clearly verified tail at 18.37 inches scores 18.25 inches before any other applicable deduction.
For that event, the mouth must be completely closed and visibly touching the bump. Any visible opening receives a minimum 0.25-inch deduction; a larger deduction or rejection can apply under the official rules. An obscured tail or unclear marks can also reduce the length a judge can verify. Read the CPR photo checklist before fishing.
Other tournaments can use different increments or penalties. Use the selected event's official rules, not an old example or a generic CPR rule you remember.
October 2026 example: breaking a tie
Under October 2026 Monster Month rules, two anglers with the same five-bass total are compared by their longest individual bass first, then their second-longest, third, fourth and fifth. The hypothetical numbers below show how that comparison works.
A hypothetical 85-inch total built from 20, 18, 17, 16 and 14 inches beats an 85-inch total built from 19, 18, 17, 16 and 15 at the first tiebreaker, assuming all fish are eligible and approved. The first angler has the longer single bass. These are invented numbers used only to explain the rule.
If all five comparison lengths still match, the next tiebreaker is the earliest timestamp at which the angler completed the final five-fish total used in the tie. That is not a blanket first-uploaded-photo rule. Final standings remain subject to the tournament's official review.
October 2026 example: separate awards
Under October 2026 Monster Month rules, the Tank Award uses verified fish weight. The Dink Award uses the shortest verified qualifying freshwater fish of any species, with length rounded up to the next quarter inch when between marks. Neither award changes the main five-bass length total.
A bass can qualify for Best Five and Tank if it has the separate documentation each requires. A scale photo cannot replace the required bass-on-board measurement photo.
Use the guide, then check your event
Prepare with the first-tournament checklist, make your evidence clear with the CPR photo checklist, and explore Beer League tournaments when you are ready to choose an event. Current dates, divisions, entry details and official rules are in the Beer League Fishing Chaos club. Formats can change; check before you enter.