Please be advised – read the rules in their entirety. Captain’s are responsible to understanding all of the rules.

By participating in the Monster Kingfish 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 the Monster page on Angler Armory.com
2.Tournament Officials will also operate on Channel 68 for any communications that need to be directed from or to teams on tournament day.

REGISTRATION:
1. All teams must fill out an application form & pay entry fee in order to participate in the Monster Kingfish Tournament
2. Teams must be entered into the main kingfish division in order to enter into any calcuttas.

ENTRY FEES:
1. EARLY REGISTRATION – $350 entry fee if registered between August 1, 2023 and October 1, 2023
2. $400 entry fee if registered between October 2, 2023 and October 26, 2023
3. Checks will be accepted by mail up until October 15th. After October 15th only credit card or cash will be accepted.
4. If paying by check, print and mail registration form along with check to:
Angler Armory Inc
14181 83rd Place
Seminole, FL 33776
5. If paying by cash, please make sure to include 7% sales tax on both the main entry and all calcuttas. Registrations will not be considered complete without 7% sales tax included.

PARTICIPATION:
1. 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.
2. By participating in the Monster Kingfish Tournament, all teams registered give permission for Angler Armory Inc and it’s sponsors to use video and/or photographs that are taken of them during the tournament Captain’s Party and Weigh In for promotional purposes on social media and their websites.

CAPTAIN’S PARTY: 
1. The Captain’s Party is not mandatory.
2. The Captain’s Party will take place from 6pm to 10pm Wednesday, October 25th at OCC Roadhouse located at 10575 49th St N. Clearwater, FL
3. A “Captain’s Only” rules meeting will take place at 7pm in the lobby of Bert’s Harley Davidson, which is located next door to OCC Roadhouse. We ask that only the captain or one team member attend this meeting. The rules meeting will last approximately 30 minutes.

POINT SYSTEM:
1. Only one kingfish can be weighed in for the main division.
2. 1 point per 1lb for the kingfish division
3. If all team members are current Angler Armory Members on tournament day, the team may weigh in a separate fish for Angler Armory’s Closest to 20.23lb free entry contest.
4. Only one spanish mackerel can be weighed in for the spanish mackerel division.
5. 1 point per 1lb for the spanish mackerel division.

BOATS:
1.Tournament competitors may fish by motorized boat, by kayak or on land within the designated boundaries.
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:

**If a fish is hooked and takes a team outside the boundaries, the team is allowed to continue fighting the fish outside the boundaries but must immediately return to inside the boundaries as soon as the fish is gaffed and in boat.

WEATHER:
1. Alternate fishing date will be announced if weather or another Act of God should affect fishing conditions. Teams will be advised after Friday’s 4pm weather advisory if the tournament will be postponed. The make up date will be Sunday, October 29th so please plan accordingly. If the tournament is postponed until Sunday no refunds will be given. If Sunday is not fishable and the tournament is postponed to another weekend then teams can request a full refund if they are unable to fish.
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 Monster Kingfish Tournament.

TOURNAMENT FISHING:
1. Fishing day is Saturday, October 28th only
2. There is no check out for this tournament.
3. Lines in the water at 7:30am
4. Bait fishing is allowed prior to 7:30am
5. Hand held rods & reels only
6. No more than 4 kingfish rods may be fishing at one time
7. The tournament encourages release of all fish not intended to be weighed in at tournament.
8. Fish weighed in at the tournament become the property of Angler Armory Inc. Proceeds from the sale of the fish will be donated to charity. (CLICK HERE to see the list of charities Angler Armory donates to)
9. Lines out of the water at 5:00pm. All fish must be caught and in boat no later than 5:00:00pm.

CONDUCT:
1. The Honor System applies throughout the tournament
2. Anglers may touch land at any time during tournament hours (anglers may go eat lunch, go home and go back out to fish, go get fuel, ice, etc)
No passing of anything between boats during tournament hours. This will result in automatic disqualification from the Monster Kingfish Tournament
3. One angler must hook, fight & bring fish up to point of gaff.
4. There will be no feeding and/or stuffing of any kingfish with any bait fish, fish and/or any foreign objects (ie ice, weights, etc). This will result in immediate disqualification.
5. Hooks, wire, rigs (terminal tackle)and/or any other foreign objects must be removed from kingfish in order to be eligible for competition.
6. All fish entered into the tournaments will be inspected for cheating prior to fish being brought to the scale.
7. Fish will be sliced open after the fish has been weighed to verify there are no foreign objects or stuffing of fish.
8. All participants in Monster Kingfish Tournament must maintain a high level of professionalism at all times.
9. Anglers are expected to be role models, and set a positive example to the recreational angling public.
10. Alcohol is not allowed on stage during the weigh in. If a team member refuses to place their alcoholic beverage on the designated table and brings their alcohol onstage with them, the fish will not be weighed and the team will automatically be disqualifed.

FISH DROP OFF:
**All fish must be in a fish bag with a working zipper in order to be weighed in. Fish not in a fish bag will not be eligible to be weighed. 

1. Teams have two options on where to drop off fish:
Option 1: OCC ROADHOUSE
Fish drop off is from 4:00pm to 5:45pm
-Teams may choose to go through the fish drop off line, park and remain at OCC until weigh in (see image at bottom of page)
-Teams may choose to drop off their fish at OCC, leave and return to check in & claim their fish by 6pm
-Teams may also choose to park and walk their fish up to check in by the 6pm check in time
-Teams that choose to drop off fish will have their fish bags zip tied closed and tagged with team name. One member of team will receive a wrist band. That team member will be the only person that can retrieve your bag at OCC check in.

Option 2: Don’s Dock/Wild Seafood (east end of John’s Pass Village) Madeira Beach
Fish drop off is from 3pm to 5pm
– There will be one to two drop off docks at Don’s Dock for the tournament
– Tournament officials will call on Channel 68 when a dock is free.
-Teams will bump the dock. Stay on your boat. A tournament official will come to your boat to receive fish.
– If you need fuel, ice, drinks, etc you will have to leave the “tournament dock” and go to another area of Don’s Dock that is receiving customers.
– Tournament officials will leave Don’s Dock at exactly 5pm to bring fish to OCC Roadhouse weigh in – NO EXCEPTIONS so plan your time accordingly
– We anticipate many teams dropping off fish at Don’s Dock. Expect a back up of boats so make sure you anticipate that and have enough time to get fish to dock before 5pm.
– Fish bags will be zip tied closed & tagged with team name
– One member of the team will receive a wrist band. That team member will be the only person that can retrieve your bag at OCC check in

**There will be limited boat/trailer parking at the weigh in site. Parking for boats/trailers will be available in the grass parking lot that is located adjacent the south end of Bert’s Harley Davidson/OCC. Parking will be on a first come, first serve basis. 

WEIGH IN:
1. All tournament fish will be weighed in at OCC Roadhouse located at 10575 49th St N Clearwater, FL
2. Teams must be checked in with tournament official and in line to claim their fish no later than 6pm
3. Weigh in starts at 6pm. Please plan accordingly and give your team enough time to get to weigh in location on time.
4. Fish being weighed in the tournament will be inspected for all manners of cheating by a tournament official both before and after weigh in
5. Fish must be weighed in by a registered team member that fished on the team that day.
6. No rotten or mutilated fish will be allowed to be weighed in. The Tournament Director has the ultimate say so on what constitutes a mutilated fish.
10. In the event of a tie, the team that checked in first with the Tournament Check In official at OCC wins.
11. Results are unofficial until determined by tournament director.
12. All kingfish weighed in at tournament become the property of Angler Armory Inc. Fish are donated to Nachman’s Native Seafood and the proceeds are donated to charity.
13. Kingfish must have a minimum size of 24” fork length
14. 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.

LIE DETECTOR TEST:
1. Winning team or teams will be selected to participate in a mandatory lie detector test that will take place Sunday, October 29th at 10am at OCC Roadhouse. The team/s selected will not receive their check until they satisfactorily pass the lie detector test. If team is called to do a polygraph test and fails to submit to test it will result in disqualification of the entire team for all future Angler Armory tournaments. Refunds of tournament entry fees will not be given for failure of a polygraph test. All decisions of the polygraph examiner will be final.
2. 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.
3. All decisions made by the tournament director are final.

AWARDS:
1. Awards will take place approximately 60 minutes of the last fish weighed.
2. Awards can only be accepted by a registered team member.
3. Attendance at the award ceremony is mandatory in order to receive checks and/or trophies. If a team does not have a registered member present to receive check then they forfeit their winnings.
4. Checks for the winning teams will be made out to the Captain listed on the registration form unless otherwise noted on registration.
5. Teams will be required to fill out a W9 form for all winnings over $599 before they will receive their check
6. If a team loses their check, they will be charged a $35 fee in order for a new check to be written.

*Biggest kingfish wins. In the event there is a tie the team that checked in with tournament official first wins.

Calcuttas

High Roller: $500
50/30/20 split
Biggest kingfish wins

Low Roller: $200
50/30/20 split
Biggest kingfish wins

No Roller: $100
50/30/20 split
Biggest kingfish wins

Spanish Mackerel: $100
50/30/20 split
Biggest spanish mackerel wins

BONUS PRIZE
Closest to 20.23lbs
$2500 payout, winner takes all
Free Entry for Angler Armory Members
***All anglers on team must be current Angler Armory Members to be eligible for this prize
Can go over or under 20.23lbs.
Can weigh in a separate kingfish for this prize.