IMPORTANT!!!
Rules have been adjusted to reflect joint Wild West Inshore Division and Dogfish 25 rules that will be in affect for Fall 2021 only

*Team may chose to sign up for both the Wild West Inshore and Dogfish 25 that will take place on Saturday, November 20th. Teams may also chose to sign up for Sunday’s Wild West Offshore Division. 

 

It is the responsibility for each Captain & team members to understand & abide by the tournament rules listed below:

Wild West General Rules:
These rules will remain in effect during the Fall  Wild West Tournament in Madeira Beach, FL. Interpretation of these rules will be left exclusively to the Tournament Committee. In the event of a rule violation, the Tournament Committee may impose such sanctions as they deem appropriate, including, without limitation, disqualifications, forfeiture of prizes and prohibition from participation in subsequent tournaments. By competing in the Wild West all competitors agree that decisions of the Tournament Committee are final in all matters and are not subject to appeal, and are not reviewable by any court of law. The Tournament Director can make changes to the stated rules at any time. By participating in the Wild West Tournament you and your team agree to the previous statements, to sign a written legal release form, and to obey the rules stated below, or face expulsion without refund or compensation or any kind.

REGISTRATION:

  1. Entry for the Inshore Division is $500 plus tax
  2. All calcuttas are optional and include sales tax
  3. Registration and calcuttas must be paid for no later than the Captain’s Party on November 18th. They can be paid for online or at the Meeting.
  4. All applications must be approved by the Tournament Committee in order to fish the Wild West
  5. The entry fee and calcuttas are non-refundable unless your application is denied. If your application is denied then you will receive a full refund.
  6. The team member that signs the Wild West application has the ultimate authority over the team including all decisions regarding team composition, boat, sponsors, boat #, etc regardless if they are named team captain or not.
  7. The Captain listed on application is responsible for the safety and conduct of his/her anglers on tournament days.
  8. A Co-Captain must be listed on application. If a Co-Captain change is requested, the new Co-Captain must be an individual listed on the original application.
  9. In the event that the Captain is unable to fish a tournament/s, the Co-Captain is then responsible for the safety and conduct of his/her anglers on tournament day.
  10. Either the Captain or the Co-Captain must be on the boat on tournament day. If both the Captain and Co-Captain are unable to fish, the team will not be allowed to fish & forfeits that tournament.
  11. If there is a change to the original application regarding team members, captain or boat, the tournament must be notified in writing no later than 1 day prior to the tournament. The change/s must be approved by Tournament Committee.
  12. Team Name cannot be changed after the Captain’s Meeting. Name change after application has been submitted but prior to the Captain’s Meeting must be approved by the Tournament Committee.
  13. On tournament day only registered crew and approved auxiliary personnel ie: camera crew, observers, vets etc. are allowed on your boat.
  14. In the event an auxiliary person or persons are needed or desired to be on your boat, you are required to get approval from the tournament director at least 1 day prior to checkout and provide the name/s and purpose of the additional people.
  15. 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.

TOURNAMENT COMMUNICATIONS:

  1. Announcements regarding weather & other important tournament information will be communicated to team captains & co-captains via text messages, phone calls, emails and/or posting on the Wild West home page on www.wildwestkingfishtournament.com
  2. Tournament Officials will operate on Channel 68 for check out, check in and any communications that needs to be directed from or to teams while they are participating in each event.

CAPTAIN’S MEETING

  1. The Captain’s Meeting will take Thursday, November 18th at 6pm at Bay Pines Marina in St. Pete, FL

BAIT FISHING

  1. Bait Fishing is allowed prior to 7am within the call regs
  2. The use of federally managed reef fish as bait is illegal. This includes all rudderfish and snapper species regardless of size. Having a reef fish in your bait well at check out or check in will result in disqualification from tournament.

CHECK OUT

  1. There is no checkout for the Inshore Division
  2. Lines in the water at 7am

MADEIRA BEACH INSHORE DIVISION BOUNDARIES:
These are in nautical miles
North: 28’11.000
South: 27’22.000
West: 83’15.700
This includes all of Tampa Bay.

POINT SYSTEM:

  1. Only one kingfish per tournament can be weighed in for the main tournament.
    **Please Note: If a team is entered into both the Wild West Inshore and the Dogfish 25, they may chose to weigh in one fish that will count for the overall in both tournaments OR they may chose to weigh in one fish for the Wild West and one fish for the Dogfish 25.
  2. The heaviest fish weighed in for the Wild West wins the 1st Place award for the Wild West Inshore.
  3. Teams may weigh in separate kingfish for the Closest to 22lbs Calcutta
    ***Please Note: If a team is entered into both the Wild West Inshore Closest to 22lbs Calcutta and the Dogfish 25 Tournament they may chose to use the same kingfish for both the Wild West Closest to 22lbs Calcutta and for the Dogfish 25 Overall Division.
  4. An optional aggregate competition is available for teams fishing in the Wild West. This will be a best 2 fish aggregate. Teams can weigh in two fish for this calcutta.

BOATS:

  1. Tournament competition limited to motorized boats only.
  2. All boats must carry a Coast Guard approved flotation device for each person on their vessel plus an approved EPIRB and/or PLB plus an approved fire extinguisher and all other safety devices required by the Coast Guard. Go to http://myfwc.com/boating/safety-education/equipment/ for current Coast Guard regulations.
  3. A team may request to use a back up boat. The change in boat must be submitted in writing at least 1 days prior to the affected tournament & approved by the committee.
  4. If an approved Team Boat experiences mechanical issues on their approved boat they may request to use a back up boat up by 7am on tournament day.
  5. Fuel bladders are NOT allowed to be used on any boat during the tournament. If a team has a fuel bladder on board during check out they will not be allowed to compete in the event.

WEATHER:

  1. The Tournament Director will announce any alternate fishing dates if weather or another Act of God should affect fishing conditions.
  2. If a tournament has to be postponed due to inclement weather,  the alternative fish date will be that Sunday following. If Sunday is unfishable due to weather, then an alternate date will be selected by the Tournament Committee and forwarded to all teams as soon as possible.
  3. Teams will be advised after the 4pm weather advisory on the Friday preceding the tournament if the tournament will be postponed. However, the Tournament Committee reserves the right to cancel a tournament up until check out.
  4. It is up to the discretion of the participating Team Captain to determine if their craft is seaworthy for the existing conditions.
  5. The Team Captain is solely responsible for the safety and conduct of their crew, both on and off the water.
  6. The captain has the choice whether or not to compete in any of the events.
  7. In the event of incliment weather, the tournament will be postponed until that Sunday. If that Sunday is also unfishable, a new date will be announced.  The tournament committee holds the right to make the final decision on tournament postponement up until Friday at 5pm. Please plan accordingly

CONDUCT:

  1. The Honor System applies throughout the tournament.
  2. No passing of anything between boats during the tournaments. This would result in automatic disqualification from that specific tournament event day.
  3. After 7am a team may not meet up with any other boat, including bait boats, or they will be automatically disqualified.
  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 from all future Wild West events
  5. Any hooks, wire, rigs (terminal tackle) and/or any other foreign objects must be removed from kingfish eligible for competition.
  6. The tournament committee reserves the right to place a tournament representative on any team’s boat during competition for the purpose of observation.
  7. All fish entered into the tournaments will be inspected for all manners of 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. Winning teams may be subjected to a polygraph test after each tournament. Polygraph will take the morning after the tournament. Failure to submit to a polygraph test will result in disqualification of the entire team from the tournament, entry fees will not be returned and team will forfeit their winnings.
  10. Refunds of tournament entry fees will not be given for failure of a polygraph test. All decisions of the polygraph examiner will be final.
  11. If a team is found guilty of cheating by the Tournament Director and/or the tournament steering committee, they will automatically be disqualified from all future Wild West tournaments.
  12. All decisions made by the weigh master & tournament director are final.
  13. All participants in the Wild West must maintain a high level of professionalism at all times.
  14. Anglers are expected to be role models, and set a positive example to the recreational angling public.
  15. Any team who displays poor sportsmanship, violates these rules, or any Florida Fish & Wild Life Commission, state or local laws, or brings unfavorable publicity to the sport of king fishing is subject to disqualification at the tournament director’s discretion.
  16. The tournament encourages the release of all fish not intended to be weighed in at tournament.
  17. Hand held rods and reels only

INSHORE WEIGH IN:

  1. Fish will be weighed in at Bay Pines Marina in St. Pete, FL
  2. Inshore Division teams may check in for weigh in starting at 3pm.
  3. Boats must be checked in with a tournament official at the check in tent no later than 4:30pm
  4. We ask that teams that decide not to participate in weigh in still check in with the tournament check in official to announce they have made it back in safely.
  5. Fish may be brought to the scales by boat or by car.
  6. Boat must be the vessel listed on tournament documents for that specific tournament day.
  7. Tournament officials have the right to inspect any or all boats entered into the series, after check in.
  8. Teams will offload fish at Bay Pines Marina to be checked in & weighed. Boats must immediately depart from Don’s Dock.
  9. Fish being weighed in the tournament will be inspected for all manners of cheating by a tournament official.
  10. Fish must be weighed in by a registered team member that fished on the team that day.
  11. No rotten or mutilated fish will be allowed to be weighed in.
  12. In the event of a tie, the team that checked in first with the Tournament Check In official wins. If a team failed to check in with the Tournament Check In official, they automatically lose the tie.
  13. Results are unofficial until determined by tournament director.
  14. All kingfish weighed in at tournament become the property of the Wild West Tournament. Fish are donated to Nachman’s Native Seafood and the proceeds are donated to charity.

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:

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:

  1. Checks for the winning teams will be made out to the person on team that filled out the W9 Form
  2. 1099’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.
  3. At least one member of the registered team must be present to receive their check. If no one from team is at the awards, the team forfeits their winnings and their winnings will be donated to charity.
  4. If a team loses their check, they will be charged a fee of $35 in order for a new check to be written.
  5. LADY ANGLER AWARDS: The Lady Angler award is given to the highest winning team that has a lady angler on its team. The lady angler does not have to catch the fish but must be a registered angler on the team and must have been on board tournament day when the fish was caught. PLEASE NOTE THAT LADY ANGLER AWARDS ARE DIFFERENT FOR THE DOGFISH 25 – see Dogfish 25 rules for clarification. 
  6. YOUTH ANGLER AWARDS: The Youth Angler award is given to the highest winning team that has a youth angler on its team. The youth angler does not have to catch the fish but must be a registered angler on the team and must have been on board tournament day when the fish was caught. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUTH ANGLER AWARDS ARE DIFFERENT FOR THE DOGFISH 25 – see Dogfish 25 rules for clarification.