Rules
By entering this tournament participants agree to abide by all rules and decisions.
All decisions made by the weigh master and/or tournament directors are final.
Weather
100% refundable prior to July 1, 50% refund after July 1
It is the intent of the Tournament committee to refund 50% of entry fees if the tournament is cancelled.
Should Mother Nature play havoc with our scheduled fishing days, we will reschedule our fishing days to Saturday/Sunday. If those days are not suitable for fishing either, it will be at the Tournament Director's discretion to reschedule or cancel. Tournament committee reserves the right to run the tournament on a 1 day format if needed due to weather.
Contestants
Contestants are boats. Pooling of catches or transfer of catches from one boat to another is prohibited. A fish must be brought to the dock and weighed from the boat on which it was caught. In the event of a mechanical failure that disables a participant's boat, a substitute boat may be used IF COORDINATED WITH THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS. No boats may be substituted after the start of fishing time.
Anyone may set the hook and then hand the rod over to an angler. The angler must reel the fish in entirely on their own without anyone else touching the rod or reel thereafter. As a participant in this tournament, any and all participants (anglers and crew alike) agree to submit to a lie detector test if deemed necessary by the weigh master or tournament directors.
Communications
All boats must report billfish releases to a tournament director. Report releases by Sat Phone or Sat Text. Boats failing to report a release may be disqualified.
Tackle
All fish must be caught on rod and reel with hooks only. Fish as many lines or size classes as desired. NMFS regulations require circle hooks when fishing with bait for billfish to be released.
Conduct
Any person with a protest must present it in writing to the tournament directors by 7:00pm, Saturday. Tournament directors and weigh master reserve the right to refuse entry to any contestant for any reason.
Tournament Time
Use your GPS and/or phone to determine time. Boats may begin fishing as soon as they leave the jetties on Thursday July 16th at noon (Shotgun Start). All boats must be back inside the Port Aransas Marina Jetties (little jetties) by 3pm on Saturday July 18th. There is no lines out time.
100 Mile Fence
Fishing will be limited to 100 Nautical Miles from the tip of the South Jetty in Port Aransas. To determine this in case of protest contestants must erase all old GPS tracks and start new at the time of departure for the tournament. Sat texting your releases also sends your GPS location which will also determine that you were inside the 100 nautical mile fence.
Scoring
Blue Marlin - 300 points
White Marlin/Spearfish - 150 points
Sailfish - 100 points
Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo, - 1 point per pound
Billfish
In the event of a tie in the billfish categories, first and second place trophies will be determined according to the time of the releases. The boat that accumulated all of their points in that category first will be the winner.
Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo
A mutilated fish will be disqualified. If there is a tie in weight, the length will determine the winner. If there is also a tie in length, the girth will determine the winner.
Overall
The winner of the overall trophy will be the boat with the most points in the billfish category plus 1 point per pound in the dolphin, tuna, and wahoo divisions. Only one fish per species (Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo) per boat will count towards this total.
Each boat may weigh in more than one fish in each species but only the heaviest will count towards the overall points. In the event of a tie in overall points, the boat that accumulated all of their release points first will be the winner.
Trophies & Other Awards
Trophies will be awarded for the following divisions:
1st Place Pachanga Grand Champion Trophy
1st Place Overall Billfish Trophy
2nd Place Overall Billfish Trophy
3rd Place Overall Billfish Trophy
1st Place Blue Marlin
2nd Place Blue Marlin
1st Place White Marlin
2nd Place White Marlin
1st Place Sailfish
2nd Place Sailfish
1st Place Dolphin
2nd Place Dolphin
1st Place Tuna
2nd Place Tuna
1st Place Wahoo
2nd Place Wahoo
Video Release Rules:
The billfish division of this tournament is CATCH AND RELEASE ONLY! A video must be submitted verifying the type of fish caught with the designated object of the day in plain view along with time and date. The object of the day will be presented at registration on Wednesday night.
The video footage must include the following:
- The angler catching the fish (at least the last 30 seconds prior to the mate grabbing the leader)
- The release is to include the mate with the leader in his/her hand and the release of the fish, whether by cutting the line, removing the hook, breaking the line, or pulling the hook.
- This footage must be recorded without pauses in the tape or turning the camera off and on. The video must show time and date along with the object of the day. Any billfish that is mutilated will be disqualified. It is against Federal Regulations to boat any billfish in a ‘release only' tournament. If the fish species is not identifiable without question only 100 points will be awarded.