By participating in the Hogfish Hunt Tournament you and your team agree to the rules stated below:

TOURNAMENT COMMUNICATIONS:
1. Announcements regarding weather & other important tournament information will be communicated to team captains via posting on the Angler Armory Facebook Event Page and Angler Armory.com
2.Tournament Officials will operate on Channel 68 for any communications that need to be directed from or to teams while they are participating in each event.

PARTICIPATION:
1. All teams must fill out a registration form & pay registration fee in order to participate in the Hogfish Hunt
2. The online Captain’s Meeting is mandatory. One person from each team must view the online meeting
3. Teams must be entered into the main hogfish tournament in order to enter into the optional calcuttas
4. 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. License not required when fishing with a charter captain. Go to www.myfwc.com to obtain current Florida fishing regulations.
5. This is a rod and reel tournament only. No spearfishing allowed

POINT SYSTEM:
1. Only one hogfish can be weighed in for the main tournament division. A separate hogfish may be weighed in for the Closest to 5lbs hogfish calcutta.
2. 1 point per 1lb for the hogfish main division and for the calcuttas
6. Teams must be registered and paid in each division and/or calcutta in order to weigh in a fish for that division/calcutta.

CHECKOUTS:
1.There is no check out for this tournament.
2.Lines in the water at 6am

BOATS:
1.Tournament competition open to motorized boats and kayaks. Boats and kayaks are fishing for same prize – there is not a separate kayak division.
2.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 for current Coast Guard regulations.

BOUNDARIES:
North: 28’11.000
South: 27’22.000
West: 83’15.700
This includes all of Tampa Bay.

WEATHER:
1. Alternate fishing date will be announced if weather or another Act of God should affect fishing conditions. Teams will be advised after Saturday’s 4pm weather advisory if the tournament will be postponed.
2. It is the discretion of the Team Captain to determine if their craft is seaworthy for the existing conditions.
3. The captain has the choice whether or not to compete in the Hogfish Hunt Tournament.

TOURNAMENT:
1.Fishing begins at 6am.
2.Bait fishing is allowed prior to 6am inside the call regs.
3. Hand held rods & reels only – no spearfishing allowed
4.The tournament encourages release of all fish not intended to be weighed in at tournament.

CONDUCT:
1. The Honor System applies throughout the tournament
2. No passing of anything between boats during tournament hours. This will result in automatic disqualification from the Hogfish Hunt
3. One angler must hook, fight & bring fish up to point of gaff.
5. There will be no feeding and/or stuffing of any tournament fish with any bait fish, fish and/or any foreign objects (ie ice, weights, etc). This will result in immediate disqualification.
6. Hooks,wire,rigs (terminal tackle)and/or any other foreign objects must be removed from in order to be eligible for competition.
7. All fish entered into the tournaments will be inspected for cheating prior to fish being brought to the scale.
8. Fish will be sliced open after the fish has been weighed to verify there are no foreign objects or stuffing of fish.
9. Team members may be subjected to a polygraph test after the tournament. Failure to submit to a polygraph test will result in disqualification of the entire team for the remainder of the tournament series. Refunds of tournament entry fees will not be given for failure of a polygraph test. All decisions of the polygraph examiner will be final.
10. If a team is found guilty of cheating by the Tournament Director, they will automatically be disqualified from the tournament without refund of their entry fee, membership dues or calcutta fees.
11. All decisions made by the tournament director are final.
12. All participants in Hogfish Hunt must maintain a high level of professionalism at all times.
13. Anglers are expected to be role models, and set a positive example to the recreational angling public.
14. Alcohol is not allowed on stage during the weigh in.

WEIGH IN:
1. Fish will be weighed in at the bell tower in John’s Pass Village in Madeira Beach, FL
2. Fish may be brought to the scales by boat or by car. The tournament takes place during the Seafood Festival so please allow yourself plenty of time to get to weigh in because of traffic.
3. Tournament officials have the right to inspect any or all boats entered into the tournament before & after check in.
4. Check in begins at 3:00pm. Teams must be in line no later then 4pm or they will be disqualified
5. Teams must check in with the Tournament Official before proceeding to the weigh in line.
6. Teams will weigh in the order that they check in at the tournament.
7.  Fish must be weighed in by a registered team member that fished on the team that day.
8. No rotten or mutilated fish will be allowed to be weighed in.
9. Hogfish must have a minimum size of 14” fork length
10. In the event of a tie, the team that checked in first with the Tournament Check In official wins.
11. Results are unofficial until determined by tournament director.

DISPUTES:
1. Protests must be submitted in writing along with a $500 cash deposit to a tournament official within 10 minutes of the last fish weighed in.
2. The cash deposit will be returned to the contestant submitting the protest if the protest is upheld.
3. If there is a dispute of any kind, the decision of the Tournament Director is final.

TOURNAMENT DISCRETION:
1. The tournament director reserves the right to implement his 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:
Hogfish Division
Main Event – Heaviest hogfish wins. In the event there is a tie the team that checked in with tournament official at weigh in first will win 1st Place. # of spots paid out will be based on # of teams entered into tournament.

Closest to 5lb Calcutta – hogfish closest to 5lbs wins (can be over or under 5lbs). A separate hogfish may be weighed in for this calcutta. Winner takes all

Big Hog Calcutta – heaviest hogfish wins. 50/30/20 split

Reeling Freedom Calcutta – in order to qualify for this calcutta, there must be a current or former military service person or a 1st Responder on board the boat and registered with team for the tournament. Heaviest hogfish wins. The fish weighed in the main event will also be used for this calcutta. A separate hogfish cannot be weighed. 50/30/20 split

Grunt Calcutta – heaviest grunt wins. 50/30/20 split

Porgie Calcutta – heaviest porgie wins. 50/30/20 split

Checks for the winning teams will be made out to the person listed as Captain on the registration form unless otherwise noted to tournament director.
W9’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.
If a team loses their check, they will be charged a fee of $35 in order for a new check to be written.