The tournament is primarily a billfish release competition, with all entrants considered good sportsmen and their fishing reports being accepted in the sportsmanlike manner and honor in which this tournament is held.
All boats, captains and anglers must be registered by 7:30pm with the Tournament Committee at the Captain’s Meeting.
Only the tournament committee or the weather committee may declare NO FISHING prior to 6:00am on any of the scheduled days based upon weather conditions issued by the NOAA or reports from tournament weather boats.
No boat shall be permitted to leave Cape May inlet sea buoy prior to 4:00am. Departure may be made from the Cape May Inlet only.
Fishing Hours: Fishing begins at 8:00am. No lines or teasers are permitted in the water prior to that time. Fishing ends at 3:30pm. Any boat with a fish hooked up prior to that time and not landed or released must contact a committee boat prior to 3:30pm and inform them of such for the fish to be eligible.
Any protests must be made in writing to the tournament com- mittee for formal consideration by 12:00pm on the day of the awards banquet.
Tackle used in the tournament must conform to I.G.F.A. rules. There is no limit on the size of tackle used. Circle hooks must be used with any combination of natural bait. J hooks are permitted in all 100% artificial baits.
Reporting Fish: All fish released must be reported to another tournament participant over the designated tournament chan- nel. Each boat will be supplied with two daily catch reports for each fishing day of the tournament. The daily catch report must be turned in each day to the tournament committee at the Canyon Club weigh station by 8:00pm the evening of each fishing day.
A fish will be considered released when the swivel touches the rod tip or the mate touches the leader.
Team competition will consist of teams of up to three boats each, the teams vying for prizes for first and second place. Teams will be picked lottery style at the captain’s meeting.
All fish caught and/or released shall be final by 8:00pm each fishing day. The boat captain is responsible for reviewing that all fish caught and/or released are recorded properly.
11. Radio communications for fish reporting purposes will be announced during the Captain’s Meeting.
12. Committee and Weather Boats will be announced during the Captain’s Meeting.
13. Scoring: Points will be awarded as follows; White Marlin Released | 100 points Blue Marlin Released | 100 points Spearfish Released | 100 points
Sailfish Released | 100 points
Note: No points for any Billfish Boated
Any ties in points between boats will be decided by time.
14. Anglers awarded points will be accumulated for scoring by two methods; A) IGFA Angler Points whereas from the time that a fish strikes or takes a bait or lure, the angler must hook, fight, and land the fish without the aid of any other person. B) Hook & Hand Angler Points whereas a fish may be hooked by someone other than the angler provided the rod is imme- diately transferred to the angler after hook-up. From that time on, the angler must fight the fish alone until released.
15. Weigh-ins begin at 5:00pm. All eligible fish must be available for weigh-in by 8:00pm at Canyon Club Marina.
16. Calcutta: Entry fee is $1500 total for all categories per boat payable at the captains meeting. $500 Marlin, $250 Tuna, $250 Dolphin, and $250 Daily PointsCalcutta per each avail- able fish day. Participants can enter any category individually, all four, or none. It is entirely up to you.
Winners determined by total accumulated release points on Billfish and by weight for Tuna and Dolphin.
Winnings distributed as follows:
Marlin Division | 1st place boat 75% | 2nd place boat 25% Tuna Division | 1st place boat 75% | 2nd place boat 25% Dolphin Division | 1st place boat 75% | 2nd place boat 25% Daily Division | 1st Place Boat Fish Day One 100%
Daily Division | 1st Place Boat Fish Day Two 100%
