2023 TOURNAMENT RULES &
GUIDELINES
Acceptance of Rules |
Captain’s Meeting
It
is the sole responsibility of participating boat owners, captains, anglers,
crews, and guests to know and abide by these printed rules. Any rule changes or
additions at the Captain’s Meeting will take precedence over these printed
rules.
Tournament
participants enter at their own risk.
All sponsors, officials, committee members, and all persons connected
with the tournament shall be exempt from liability for loss, damage, negligence,
harm or injury suffered by participant, entrant sport fisherman, his/her
companions, boat captain, vessels and equipment which may occur during the
tournament.
Fishing Days | Times |
Weather | Territories
Fishing Days
Thursday, June 22–Saturday, June 24
Boats
may compete a maximum of two days. If all three days are non-fishable then
Sunday will become a fish day. One day
of fishing constitutes a tournament. Any
day a participating boat leaves the dock will be counted as a fish day unless
withdrawal and/or a lay day is reported by radio to a Committee Boat and/or
contact the tournament director by text or e-mail (843 568-5230 or lweston@charlestonharborresort.com) by "lines in" that same day.
Lay Days Lay Days must be reported by 8 am on declared lay day by
one of the following: emailing lweston@charlestonharborresort.com,
govcup@dnr.sc.gov, submitted on the Carolina Classic app by ReelTimeApps, text
Loyd at 843.568.5230, Amy at 843.209.9053, or Elizabeth at 843-494-0901.
Fishing Hours: 8 am - 3 pm each day
Overnight
fishing is not permitted and no lines or teasers in the water prior to fishing
hours. No fishing before 8:00 am or after 3:00 pm during tournament fishing
days.
Scanning sonars will be allowed;
however, they cannot be used prior to lines in at 8:00 am or after lines out at
3:00 pm. All boats must return to docks at the end of
each day’s fishing hours.
Weigh Station Hours
- Gamefish: 5 – 7 pm each day.
- Blue
Marlin: Opens 8:00 am on the first eligible day of fishing and closes 7 pm on
Saturday, June 24. No exceptions
-
Boats should be off plane by the time they pass Red Buoy #34 which is
located about 250 yards south of Charleston Harbor Marina. Boats that do not
pass red buoy #34 by 7:00 p.m. will not be eligible to weigh their fish. GPS
time will be the official time.
Late Hook-ups & Arrivals
Boats must return to Charleston Harbor Marina each day to weigh any fish eligible for the tournament. In the event of a hook-up prior to the close of fishing, the fish may be fought to completion outside of tournament fishing hours provided the Committee Boat has been notified. Any landed fish must be weighed in during scheduled weigh-in times.
Breakdowns
The Governor’s Cup Series does not allow the substitution of
boats; however, the Carolina Billfish Classic will allow a substitute of a boat
provided: 1) the originally registered boat has not entered any fishing lines
into the water; and 2) the Tournament Director is notified immediately upon
realizing need for change.
Weather
In consideration for the safety
of all participants, the CBC has adopted the use of a posted NOAA Weather
Service "Small Craft Advisory" (winds 25 - 33 knots and/or seas 6
feet or higher) to cancel that day's fishing.
The tournament director or committee boat captain will announce each
day’s weather conditions by 6:00 am on VHF Channel 72. The safety of the
participating vessel is ultimately the responsibility of the captain.
Territorial Limits
There
are no territorial limits set for this tournament. However, tournament boats must return to
Charleston Harbor Marina by the prescribed weigh-in hours to have any boated
fish considered for competition.
Eligible fish must return on the boat on which it was caught.
Angling Rules
All fish must be caught in accordance with all state
and federal fishing laws, and under IGFA Rules with the exception of passing
the rod to qualify to earn SC Governor’s Cup points / awards. In addition,
every individual (age 16 and above) aboard the vessel must have a valid
official S.C Saltwater Recreational Fishing License in their possession. After a fish
strikes, the rod may be passed to one angler one time as soon as possible. All anglers may have the rod passed one time
to them. After the rod has been passed,
only the angler is allowed to touch the rod/reel/mainline. Once
the leader is brought within the grasp of the crew member or is wound to the
rod tip, then the angler may have assistance to catch and release or boat the
fish. Series points will accrue towards
series awards for these fish. Vessels
may provide assistance to other vessels for boating fish. Violation of state or federal fishing laws
will lead to disqualification of all fish caught on that fishing day, and the
day will be counted as an eligible fish day for the tournament.
Youth Anglers
Any
angler who has not passed his/her 16th birthday by April 1 of the current year
may fish in the Youth Angler division.
Any angler in this category is in this category only (i.e. An
Angler that is female and under sixteen years of age on April 1 of the current
tournament year is a Youth Angler, not a Lady Angler.) It is the responsibility of the angler to
identify a catch as eligible for the Youth angler award. This is typically done at the time of
weigh-in.
Junior Anglers
Any
angler who has not passed his/her 10th birthday by April 1 of the current year
may fish in the Junior Angler division.
Junior anglers are eligible for all other awards unless they choose not
to follow IGFA rules. Those choosing not
to follow IGFA rules will only be eligible for Junior Angler awards. Junior Anglers may be assisted as needed to
boat a fish for Junior Angler awards only.
Eligible Species |
Points | Disqualifications
Eligible
Billfish Species in this tournament are Blue
Marlin, White Marlin, Spearfish, and Sailfish.
Other
eligible species are Dolphin, Wahoo, and Tuna. To remain consistent with the SC Governor’s
Cup Series, eligible Tuna Species include Yellowfin, Bluefin, Blackfin, and
Bigeye.
Dolphin - Creel limit - 10 per angler per day with a limit of 54
per boat per day, with a minimum size limit of 20 inches fork length
Yellowfin Tuna - Creel limit - 3 per angler per day with a minimum legal
size of 27 inches curved body fork length. See current federal size and creel
limits for other Tuna species.
Wahoo - Creel limit - 2 per
person per day
Note: Size or creel limits will automatically be
changed in SC Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series tournaments to reflect changes
in federal or state laws.
All
registered boats and anglers must be in compliance with vessel registration /
documentation and with Federal (HMS Permit) and State Regulations (saltwater
fishing license) regarding recreational fishing, as well as SC Governor’s Cup
Tournament Series Fishing Guidelines.
Per
HMS compliance guide published April 2019, anglers fishing from Atlantic HMS
permitted vessels and participating in Atlantic billfish tournaments must use
only non-offset circle hooks when deploying natural bait or natural bait/artificial
lure combinations. A billfish tournament is defined as any fishing tournament
that awards points or prizes for billfishes, even if billfishes are not the
main species targeted in the tournament. Billfish tournament anglers may deploy
“J”-hooks only if they are fishing with artificial lures.
Catch and Release
White
marlin, sailfish, and spearfish are catch and release only. Tagging is optional
and not required for points.
Only
blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, and spearfish are eligible for billfish
catch and release points. Billfish boated for any reason will not qualify for
release points. Scoring for billfish caught and released in good condition is
as follows:
Blue
Marlin | 600 pts | *If Landed, see below under Boating Billfish
White
Marlin | 300 pts | Release Only
Spearfish | 300
pts |
Release Only
Sailfish
| 200 pts | Release Only
A
billfish is considered caught and points awarded when all the following have occurred:
1)
the leader is grasped by the crew or the leader is wound to the rod tip (a
leader may be no longer than 30 feet);
2) the billfish is positively identified through
digital photography/videography (if species cannot be determined yet it is
identified as a billfish, 200 points will be awarded); and
3)
the fish is released in a healthy condition and the fish is no longer attached
to the boat/line. Boats should attempt
to remove the hook or to sever the leader as close as possible to the hook.
Federal regulation dictates: 635.21
(a) All Atlantic HMS fishing gears. (1) An Atlantic HMS harvested from its
management unit that is not retained must be released in a manner that will
ensure maximum probability of survival, but without removing the fish from the
water. (2) If a billfish is caught by a hook and not retained, the fish must be
released by cutting the line near the hook or by using a dehooking device, in
either case without removing the fish from the water.
Boating Billfish
Registered
boats will have the option of boating only Blue Marlin over the course of the
event, providing the fish meets or exceeds the prescribed tournament minimum
length requirement (105”).
Note:
105 inches exceeds the federally mandated minimum size limit. Should the
federal size limit be increased, the minimum size for blue marlin eligible for
weighing in S.C. Governor's Cup Series tournaments will be increased
automatically to exceed the new minimum size by two (2) inches if required.
Boats
earn One Point per Pound and fraction of a pound for their SINGLE Heaviest Blue
Marlin weighed. A minimum size has been set for Blue Marlin (105” – measured in
a curved line along the body from the fork of the tail to the tip of the lower
jaw).
A
billfish may not be brought into the boat unless it is to be brought to the
dock for weigh-in. Any boated Blue Marlin must be weighed in at Charleston
Harbor Marina.
A
penalty of 600 points will be assessed against a boat for each blue marlin
brought to the dock not meeting minimum SC Governor’s Cup Series size
requirements.
A
penalty of 600 points will be assessed against a boat for each billfish if it
is determined that the fish was boated and subsequently released.
Any
billfish gaffed or otherwise injured in an attempt to boat the fish will not
qualify for catch and release points.
Additionally,
if the gaff crosses the vertical plane of the boat in an attempt to land a blue
marlin yet it is unsuccessful, the boat will not qualify for catch and release
points.
All landed fish are to be iced or refrigerated
until such time as the edible tissue can be processed and the carcass disposed
of. Boats landing Blue Marlin will have a maximum of three hours to
complete this task after the fish is released by Series staff or Tournament
officials.
Fish must be fresh, not frozen, fit for human
consumption, not mutilated, nor its weight altered in any manner. Hook and gaff
marks are acceptable. It is the sole responsibility of the crew to remove all
hooks, lures, and leaders prior to presenting the fish for weigh-in.
Boats found guilty of wanton waste of fish taken
will be disqualified from earning points in tournament.
Points
Prizes will be awarded to the boat
accumulating the most points during the competition.
Boat points are awarded at the time
of release or landing (boated). Ties
between points are broken by the time of release/landing. The date of the release/landing is based on
the boat’s fishing day (Day 1 or Day 2).
Prizes
will be awarded for the heaviest eligible meat fish species measured to the
nearest tenth of a pound. In the event
of a meat fish tie, the winner will be determined by the earliest weigh-in date
and time.
Reporting Billfish
A
tournament committee boat must be notified on the radio immediately after an
angler hooks up and releases or boats a billfish. Release and boated times will
serve as a tie-breaker. The Tournament
Committee Boat will acknowledge the report over the airways and keep a log of
all hook-ups, losses, releases, and boated fish. Boats which cannot make radio contact with
the Committee Boat for any reason should contact another boat for a relay. Radio failure will not disqualify a
participant. (Release time will serve as
a tie breaker).
Radio Channels
VHF
channel 72 shall be the primary radio channel during this tournament. In addition, an alternate VHF channel will be
chosen at the captain's meeting. The
primary channel is to be reserved for all official tournament announcements and
angler reports of hookups and releases and boated fish meeting minimum
requirements.
Affidavits &
Photographs
For
a vessel to qualify any billfish for points, every person aboard the vessel who
is 18 years of age or older, must sign an affidavit swearing that all rules and
regulations were observed in reference to the described fish. Failure of any person to sign the affidavit,
for any reason, disqualifies that fish.
To sign an affidavit under false pretenses is an act of fraud punishable
under state law.
All affidavits and photos must be
submitted and verified to DNR Staff no later than one hour after scales close
on the day the fish was caught, except
when a medical emergency involving the boat’s crew prohibits completion of the
form or when a mechanically disabled boat cannot return within the prescribed
weigh-in period. In these instances, the forms must be completed and returned
within three days of the catch.
A
designated DNR check station may be located at the host marina to
receive/qualify affidavits and photos/videos.
If fishing out of an alternate marina (other than the host marina),
affidavits and photos/videos must be delivered to the DNR check station, or may
be submitted via email to the Governors Cup at govcup@dnr.sc.gov. No
call-ins or text messages will be accepted.
All released billfish must be clearly
digitally photographed or videoed (preferable photo would include a visible
dorsal fin) by each vessel using a digital/video camera provided by the
vessel. The image must include a time
and date stamp that corresponds to the time of release recorded by the
tournament designated committee boats.
Photos/videos must be provided on a removable storage device, and will
be used to confirm species identification, release information, and will be
used to resolve conflicts or formal protests.
Each boat is required to keep their
billfish photography available to the tournament and DNR for up to ten days
after the conclusion of the event.
Polygraph | Judging | Protests
Polygraph
Polygraph tests will be administered at the sole discretion
of the tournament committee. Captains and an occupant of the winning boats must
be available for a polygraph test on Saturday June 24, 2023. Refusal by any
participant or occupant of a registered boat will result in disqualification.
All decisions of the polygraph examiner are final.
Official Tournament Judges
The official tournament judges are the Tournament Rules
Committee. Violation of the tournament
rules will subject the boat and angler to disqualification from the entire
tournament without refund. The tournament director and tournament judges, at
their discretion, can enforce the rules or make decisions on any other
circumstances that may arise during the course of the event. The tournament
director and/or the tournament judge’s decisions are final.
Unsportsman-like conduct during the tournament or at any
function will be grounds for immediate disqualification.
Protests
Only a registered boat’s owner or captain may
protest any fish entered in the tournament. All protests must be
submitted in writing to the Tournament Director on the day of the protested
catch no later than one hour after scales close. The Tournament
Director will convene the official Tournament Rules Committee to consider the
protest. The ruling of this Committee is final. All protests must be
accompanied by a nonrefundable cash fee of $1,000. The individual(s) who
submit any protest must provide indisputable evidence to prove the infraction.
