1) The tournament is open to all desiring to enter. This is a sporting event. All fish must be taken on a rod and reel No boat lines, No wire lines, No electric reels will be allowed. Downriggers are permitted if used as fishing line carriers only. Cast nets are permitted for catching baitfish only. No tournament boat will be allowed outside of the Sebastian, Ft. Pierce or St. Lucie Inlets after 7:00 pm, Friday, May 7, 2010 until checkout at 6:30 am, May 8, 2010. No Exceptions. Number of lines shall be limited to six. Teasers without hooks will not be counted. |
2) By signing the entry form and registration, the Captain and/or signatory hereby agrees to abide by all rules and regulations in place at the time of the tournament, and further binds ALL participants fishing, whether they are anglers, crew, captain or any other occupant of the vessel registered. Attendance to Captains’ Meeting is Mandatory by Captain and or signatory. Captains’ Party starts promptly at 6:00 pm. Captains’ Meeting at 7:30 pm. Last registration taken at 9:00 pm. |
3) The entry fee shall be $225 per boat through April 30, 2010. Entry fee shall be $250 after April 30, 2010. Each boat shall have a minimum of two anglers and a maximum of four. The committee boat need not be notified of angler changes. A professional captain and mate(s) on a chartered, (chartered for this tournament), boat are not eligible for prizes. |
4) Tournament Headquarters shall be the Ft. Pierce City Marina, 1 Avenue A, Ft. Pierce, FL 34950. |
5) Check-Out will be accomplished by committee personnel stationed @waterfront side(of the public restrooms at South side of Sebastian Inlet), committee boat between (buoy #9 and #11 of the Ft. Pierce Inlet-in front of the old Coast Guard station) and committee boat opposite (markers at entrance to Hole in the Wall-North side of the St. Lucie Inlet) from 6:30 am – 8:00 am. All boats must Check Out with their respective committee boat/person visually while monitoring VHF channel 78. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Once the Inlet is cleared, you may proceed to go fishing. |
6) All Boats Checking Out, Please show your number to the committee boat/person. Radio communication should be kept to a minimum during this time. You must pass your committee boat/person in a SINGLE FILE LINE and IDLE SPEED. Continue at IDLE SPEED to the east end of the jetties or the closest Resume Normal Speed marker. Failure to obey the IDLE SPEED rule may result in disqualification. |
7) There are No Boundaries to this tournament. |
8) Weather ----- Captain’s choice. Anglers fish at their own discretion and accept full responsibility for their respective crew and boat. The Tournament will be held Saturday, May 8, 2010; if postponed due to weather, the Tournament will be held Sunday, May 9, 2010. |
9) No refunds of any kind will be made for any reason. |
10) In the event that a participating boat is in an aid or rescue situation or a participating boat which is specifically asked by a committee boat to render aid or rescue to another vessel in the tournament or otherwise, does not return to the committee boat(at Check In point) by 5:00 pm, the boat rendering aid or rescue shall be exempt from the 5:00pm deadline but must call in and get approval, and will be subject to a later deadline to be determined by the Tournament Committee. The aided or rescued vessel will not be allowed to weigh in after the 5:00 pm deadline. |
11) Any boat in direct physical contact with another boat without permission of the committee boat will be disqualified. If a boat intends to give aid or rescue to another vessel, the committee boat should first be notified of location and purpose….conditions permitting. |
12) Official Observers may be randomly assigned to several boats in the tournament. Please make them comfortable and extend courtesy. |
13) Weigh-In will be at Tournament Headquarters at the Ft. Pierce City Marina starting 3:00 pm. All boats planning to weigh fish must Check In with the Committee TIMER at the Ft. Pierce City Marina Entrance Channel by 5:00 pm SHARP and wait in line, according to chronological time of Check-In(to be assigned by Committee TIMER), to be weighed.. Boats “waiting in line to weigh in” must then proceed directly to the weigh-in dock. All fish must be brought to the weigh-in dock on the vessel from which the fish was landed. The vessel must be in the water, not on a trailer, and not in a private slip. One angler from each boat must accompany the fish to the scale and immediately return back to the boat after being weighed. Awards Presentation will begin immediately after last fish weighed and scores have been finalized. |
14) Only Dolphin, Kingfish, and Wahoo are eligible species to be weighed for the GUARANTEED "Offshore BIG 3",aka "OB3" prize monies. Only one fish per specie per boat per category will be weighed. It will be the captain’s decision which fish will be weighed.
OB3 Categories are:
---OPEN 1st (PAYS $2500), 2nd (PAYS $1000) and 3rd (PAYS $500) place each for Dolphin, Kingfish and Wahoo
---LADIES Biggest of Dolphin, Kingfish or Wahoo (PAYS $500)
---JR WOMEN Biggest of Dolphin, Kingfish or Wahoo (PAYS $250)
---JR MEN Biggest of Dolphin, Kingfish or Wahoo (PAYS $250)
Cash payout based on 100 boat entry. Matching Weight payouts for 1st Place Dolphin, Kingfish or Wahoo . ONLY ONE FISH MAY BE WEIGHED PER CATEGORY and SAME FISH IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ANY OTHER CATEGORY. |
15) Fish are the responsibility of the boat and must be removed from the weigh station upon completion of weigh-in, unless donated. |
16) The JUNIOR ANGLER categories are open to all young men and women who have not reached the age of 16 prior to Monday, May 10, 2010. The largest fish of the eligible species will be the winner and may not be pre-weighed from other categories (can not use the same fish). |
17) EXTENDED CATEGORIES are:
---50/50 Grouper Only GAG or RED Groupers are eligible. Captain's choice of best 1 (ONE) fish. 50% of monies taken in for this category is paid to winning fish. Number of total entries this category will be posted on the official scoreboard prior to 3pm weigh-in.
---50/50 Yellowfin Tuna Captain's choice of best 1 (ONE) fish. 50% of monies taken in for this category is paid to winning fish. Number of total entries this category will be posted on the official scoreboard prior to 3pm weigh-in.
|
18) All Categories: In case of a tie, the first fish weighed in by time (Committee TIMER) will be awarded the higher place.
|
19) The Tournament Committee, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to refuse awards and to make changes, additions, deletions, or modifications of these rules, regulations or awards being posted, announced, or otherwise disseminated. The Tournament shall be governed by the Tournament Committee of the Hibiscus Children’s Center, and the Tournament Committee has the full authority to prescribe and interpret the rules and regulations of this tournament. Nothing in any of these rules and regulations shall be construed to limit or restrict the Tournament Committee’s authority in these matters. |
20) Any protest made must be made in writing, accompanied by a $200 protest fee, and in the hands of the Tournament Committee prior to 5:30 pm on the tournament day. All decisions and rulings by the Tournament Committee regarding any protests are final and binding. All participants and boats shall exercise good sportsmanship and courtesy (whether at dock, underway or fishing) or may be subject to disqualification without refund. All decisions will rest with the Tournament Committee and such decisions will be final. The Tournament Committee reserves the right to reject any registration, for any reason. |
21) The Tournament Committee reserves the right to subject any and all winners and/or crew, in its sole and absolute discretion, to a polygraph examination and/or voice stress test to be administered by such person or persons as the Tournament Committee, in its sole and absolute discretion may choose, and further reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify any winner failing said test. The Tournament Committee shall have the right to inspect any and all boats, tackle, and equipment. |
22) Any disqualification of a winner, angler, crew member or fish shall disqualify the ENTIRE vessel and all occupants aboard, including ALL fish weighed. The Tournament Committee reserves the right to ban any person(s) disqualified from this tournament from entering or participating in any future Hibiscus Children’s Center fishing tournament. |
23) All door prizes, special drawings and “waiting in line to weigh in” will be done by either ticket or boat number. You must be present and have your ticket or boat number with you to claim these prizes at the Captain’s Meeting and Awards Presentation. |
24) Participants in the Hibiscus Children’s Center fishing tournament enter at their own risk. Officials, committee members and all persons directly or indirectly connected with the Hibiscus Children’s Center or with the operation of the tournament will be exempt from any liability for loss, damage, negligence harm or injury suffered to any participant, entrant, angler, sport fisherman, their companions, boat captains, crew members, vessels and equipment which may occur during this tournament. |
25) The Hibiscus Children’s Center encourages the release of all fish that are not to be entered in the tournament or kept for food. |
26) Any billfish will be recognized as a release species only. All released billfish should be reported to Tournament Committee and an attempt made to have the release witnessed by another boat. All releases will receive an award if release is reported to Tournament Committee. |
|
