TOURNAMENT ENTRY:
1. Entry fees to participate in the 2018 Battle at the Pass:
Spanish Mackerel Division
Entry Fee: $100.00 per team
Big Fish Calcutta – $100.00
Kingfish Calcutta – $100.00 (must be entered into Spanish Mackerel Division)
2. Payment can be made by cash or check only
3. Entry fees must be paid in full at the Captain’s Meeting on October 25th 2018
4. Upon receipt of your registration, entry fees becomes non-refundable and will not be refunded in the event the person/team does not participate in the 2018 Battle the Pass unless tournament is canceled by tournament director
5. Entrants must show their boat # when checking in prior to weigh in. If a person/team does not have their boat # at check in, one angler that is listed on application must show valid ID to tournament check in official.
6. Weigh in will take place at Don’s Dock in John’s Pass Village (Madeira Beach, FL)
7. Check in/Weigh in for Spanish Mackerel tournament begins at 3:00pm. You must be in the check in line no later than 4:00pm.
TEAMS:
1. The Captain is responsible for the safety and conduct of his/her anglers.
2. A Florida saltwater fishing license is required for each team member except from a boat which has a valid recreational vessel saltwater fishing license or any FL Resident 65 years or older, or anyone excluded by FL law. Go to www.myfwc.com to obtain current Florida fishing regulations
3. Registered Youth Anglers must be 15 years or younger.
TOURNAMENT COMMUNICATIONS:
1. Announcements regarding weather & other important tournament information will be communicated to team captains via posting on the Battle at the Pass home page on AnglerArmory.com and the Battle at the Pass Facebook Event Page.
2. Tournament Officials will operate on Channel 68 for any communications that need to be directed to teams while they are participating in each event.
BOATS:
1. All boats must carry a Coast Guard approved flotation device for each person on their vessel plus all other safety devices required by the Coast Guard. Go to http://myfwc.com/boating/safety-education/equipment/ for current Coast Guard regulations.
BOUNDARIES:
North – Anclote Key (27.24)
South – Siesta Key (28.25)
West – 20 miles (83.1787133)
Includes Tampa Bay
WEATHER:
1. Make up date for inclement weather will be announced.
2, The Tournament Committee will announce by Saturday, October 27th at 7pm if an alternate fishing date will be put into affect if weather or another Act of God should affect fishing conditions.
3. It is up to the discretion of the participating Team Captain to determine if their craft is seaworthy for the existing conditions. The Team Captain is solely responsible for the safety and conduct of their crew, both on and off the water. The captain has the choice whether or not to compete in any of the events.
FISHING TIMES & BASICS
1. Lines in water & fishing may begin at 6am on Sunday, October 28, 2018.
2. Hand held rods & reels only
3. The tournament encourages release of all fish not intended to be weighed in at tournament.
CONDUCT:
1. The Honor System applies throughout the tournament
- No passing of anything between boats during the tournaments. This would result in automatic disqualification from that specific tournament event day.
- One angler must hook, fight & bring fish up to point of gaff.
- There will be no feeding and/or stuffing of any fish with any bait fish, fish and/or any foreign objects (ie ice, weights, etc). This will result in immediate disqualification from the entire 2018 Battle at the Pass.
- Any hooks, wire, rigs (terminal tackle) and/or any other foreign objects must be removed from fish eligible for competition.
6. All fish entered into the tournaments will be inspected for all manners of cheating prior to fish being brought to the scale. - Fish may be sliced open after the fish has been weighed to verify there are no foreign objects or stuffing of fish.
- All decisions made by the weigh master & tournament director are final.
PAYOUTS:
1. One place per ten teams will be paid out in tournament winnings
WEIGH IN – Spanish Mackerel
1. Fish in the Spanish Mackerel division and Kingfish Calcutta will be weighed in at the tournament stage of the John’s Pass Seafood Fest located in John’s Pass’s Bell Tower (Madeira Beach, FL)
- Fish may be brought to the scales by boat or by car. Because boat parking is very limited in John’s Pass, we highly recommend you come by car.
- Fish being weighed in the tournament will be inspected for all manners of cheating by a tournament official.
- Fish must be weighed in by a registered team member that fished on the team that day.
- No rotten or mutilated fish will be allowed to be weighed in.
- In the event of a tie, the team that checked in first with the Tournament Check In official wins.
DISPUTES:
1. Protests must be submitted in writing along with a $300 cash deposit to a tournament official within 10 minutes of the last fish weighed in.
- The cash deposit will be returned to the contestant submitting the protest if the protest is upheld.
- If there is a dispute of any kind, the decision of the Tournament Director is final.
- All team members may be subjected to a polygraph test after each tournament. Failure to submit to a polygraph test will result in disqualification of the entire team. Refunds of tournament entry fees will not be given for failure of a polygraph test. All decisions of the polygraph examiner will be final.
- If a team is found guilty of cheating by the Tournament Director they will automatically be disqualified without refund of their registration fees.
TOURNAMENT DISCRETION:
1. The tournament committee reserves the right to implement their discretion at any time during the tournament as it may apply to the rules or any other circumstance that should arise during the course of the tournament series.
AWARDS:
1. Checks for the winning teams will be made out to the Captain of the team unless otherwise requested by Captain. Request must be made within 5 minutes of the conclusion of weigh in if check should be made out to alternate person on team.
- W-9’s for all winnings over $599 will also be made out to the person listed on the check that was written for the team’s winnings.
- At least one person from each winning team must be present to receive check. If no one from team is at event for Awards Ceremony, they forfeit their winnings and their winnings will be given to a charity of Angler Armory’s choosing. If a team loses their check, they will be charged a fee of $45 in order for a new check to be written.