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1. REGISTRATION - All boats must be registered
with the Tournament Committee and entry fee paid to
qualify for prizes and trophies. Any boat may be
substituted during the week but must be registered with
the Tournament Committee prior to fishing. Any boat
entered in the Big Rock Tournament shall not be entered
in another tournament simultaneously, except for the NC
Governor's Cup. The tournament reserves the right to
deny entry to anyone.
2. RULES MEETING - At least one person from each
boat should be represented and is responsible for
knowing the rules including any changes that may take
place at the Captain's Meeting on Saturday evening,
prior to the tournament at the Civic Center.
3. FISHING TIME AND LAYDAYS - No lines or teasers
in the water before official fishing hours each day.
Official time will be GPS time. Fishing days for all
eligible boats shall be any four out of the available
six days, captain's choice. No single boat can fish more
than 4 total days per entry, during the Tournament.
Non-fishing days must be reported to one of the official
reporting stations on the official lay-day form prior to
9:00 a.m. of the day declared as a non-fishing day.
Forms will be available at the reporting stations. The
form must be signed by a member of the fishing team or
boat's crew. If a boat does not declare a day as
non-fishing, the Tournament Committee will automatically
count the day to be a fishing day for that boat.
4. ROD & REEL RULES - This is a rod and reel,
hook and line tournament. Double line and leader
combined may not exceed 40 ft; neither of which may
exceed 30 ft. The following practices are illegal in
this tournament: a) Use of handline or rope attached to
the line or leader, b) shooting, harpooning, or lancing
and c) no participant may transfer from one boat to
another.
5. REPORTING - All blue marlin, white marlin and
sailfish must be reported to TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS
when hooked, lost, boated or released. Radio frequency
shall be VHF CHANNEL 72 and alternate channel 78a and
SINGLE SIDEBAND CHANNEL 4146.0 Fish hooked prior to or
after fishing hours are not eligible.
6. BOUNDARIES - All boats fishing in The Big Rock
Blue Marlin Tournament must fish between the Southern
boundary of 33 degrees 30 minutes North latitude and the
Northern boundary of 35 degrees 10 minutes North
latitude. All fish must also be hooked within those
coordinates.
7. QUALIFYING BLUE MARLIN - To be eligible for
prize money the Blue Marlin must weigh at least four
hundred pounds or measure at least one hundred and ten
inches. In the event of a tie by weight, the marlin
having the largest total measurement of girth plus
length shall be declared the winner. Length shall be
measured from the V-notch in the tail to the tip of the
lower jaw. Further, all fish must adhere to State and
Federal regulations to qualify for prizes in this
tournament. In the event a Blue Marlin does not meet
these qualifications, the fish will be disqualified, and
the boat will be penalized four hundred pounds from the
weight of the largest Blue Marlin weighed in by the boat
during the week. In addition, a penalty of four hundred
points will be taken away from the total of release
points accumulated by said boat. No official weigh slip
will be given for any disqualified fish. In the event a
blue marlin is boated or gaffed, the fish shall be
presented at the official weigh station, if not
presented the 400 point penalties will incur. A fish is
boated when it breaks the plane of the boat. Weigh
Master has the right to refuse any fish.
8. LEVEL VI $5000. Winner will be the first boat
to weigh in a blue marlin weighing 500 lbs. or more.
Qualifying fish must meet all Big Rock Rules. Boat must
be entered in all categories of the tournament except
gamefish. If no qualifying fish is weighed in, 100 % of
the entry fee in this category will be returned to the
entrant.
9. FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS - (Marlin and
Gamefish) As of 1/1/08
Blue Marlin-99" LJFL (lower jaw fork length) and 1 per
vessel per trip*
Billfish Release Methods-Under these regulations,
anglers are allowed to remove the hook from a billfish
using a hook-removal device. However, fish below the
minimum size cannot be removed from the water,
consistent with previous regulations.
Yellowfin Tuna- 27" curved fork length, 3 per person per
day. Permit required. www.nmfspermits.com.
Wahoo-2 per person per day
Dolphin- 10 per person per day
*Size limits apply throughout Atlantic Ocean and
adjacent waters to U.S. citizens and U. S. flagged
vessels.
HMS Permits
All boats must have one of the following valid permits -
HMS Angling (recreational), HMS Charter/Headboat, or
Atlantic Tunas General Category Permit (commercial).
Beginning in 2007, permits will be valid from the date
of issuance through December 31, 2008. Permits
must be on board the vessel when engaged in fishing. The
Big Rock Tournament is a registered recreational HMS
tournament. For more information -
www.nmfspermits.com
or (888)-872-8862.
North Carolina Recreational Fishing License: As of
01/01/2007
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries will
require a recreational fishing license for anyone
participating in fishing aboard a vessel. This includes
a license for the captain, the mate and the anglers.
These individual licenses can be purchased on a 10-day,
annual or lifetime basis.
252-726-7021.
http://www.ncfisheries.net/recreational/NCCRFL.htm
Participant is responsible for knowing all state and
federal regulations or any recent changes that may
occur.
10. GAMEFISH - Winning gamefish will be
determined by weight. In the event of a tie, the winner
will be determined by the first fish weighed-in. Fish
must be in fresh edible condition and fit for human
consumption. All gamefish must be weighed in the day
they are caught. Hookup time for gamefish should NOT be
reported to Tournament Headquarters..
11. WEIGH-IN - All blue marlin and gamefish
eligible for prizes must be off-loaded and weighed at
the official Tournament weigh station from the boat
landing the fish unless authorized by the weigh-master
at the weigh station. The fish must be entered on the
official entry form by the Tournament Weigh-master. Blue
Marlin take priority over gamefish at the scales. The
same scales and weigh station will be used for all fish
including those entered in the Governor's Cup Series.
Gamefish scales will close at 7:00 p.m. during the week.
Weigh Station is located on the Morehead City
Waterfront. All billfish weighed in shall be donated for
research. Weigh Master has the right to refuse any fish.
12. MANDATORY HOOK REQUIREMENTS - Non-offset
circle hooks are mandatory when deploying natural bait
or natural bait/artificial lures. “J” hooks are allowed
on artificial lures only.
Circle hooks are defined as any hook regarded as a
circle hook designated by the manufacturer and
originally designed and manufactured so that the point
is turned perpendicularly back to the shank to form a
generally circular or oval shape.
13. RELEASE POINTS - Cash prizes will be awarded
to the boats that score the most number of points first.
To be considered a release, the crew cannot have
attempted to boat or gaff the fish. In order for a
billfish to be counted as a release, a member of the
fishing team or crewmember must touch the leader. A fish
is boated when any portion of the fish breaks the plane
of the boat.
Release points (j-hook and circle
hook) are awarded as follows:
Blue Marlin 400 points, White Marlin
125 points, Sailfish 125 points, Spearfish 125 points
and Hatchett marlin 125 points.
In the event of ties, the first boats to achieve the
winning totals shall be declared the winners. Released
fish must be attested to by signature of the angler,
captain and two witnesses (if available) on board the
boat at the time of the release on the Official Release
Form provided by the Tournament Committee. This form
shall be turned in to the OFFICIAL WEIGH-MASTER AT
TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS, or any OFFICIAL REPORTING
STATION. Release forms must be turned in no later than
10:00 p.m. on the day the fish is released to qualify.
Release reports will be taken over the phone from the
reporting station personnel to the Tournament
Headquarters staff each morning of the tournament. The
forms will then be forwarded to the Tournament
Headquarters by the reporting station for verification.
In the event a Boat Designates on the “Release Form” a
release as a Blue Marlin, and the captain, mate and
angler or others as deemed necessary by tournament
officials, is unable to successfully pass a polygraph as
to the same, the Boat shall be penalized 400 points
under the “Release Category”. No points shall be awarded
for the “fish” in any category. Further the Boat shall
be penalized 400 points from the weight of the largest
Blue Marlin weighed in by the Boat.
14. PRIZE PAYOUT SCHEDULE - Prize money checks
will be made payable to the person or entity so
indicated on the registration form of the winning boat.
Social Security number or Taxpayer I.D. number of the
recipient must be provided on the entry form. Proceeds
totaling 90% of the prize money for ALL categories will
be mailed the week following the tournament. The
remaining 10% will be paid within 2 weeks pending
clearance of all checks.
15. PROTEST - Any dispute must be submitted in
writing to the Tournament Rules Committee. Any protest
must be received by 9:00 a.m. on the day following the
catch of the disputed fish and by 7:00 p.m. on the last
day of the tournament. Any member of the Rules
Committee, or the Official Weigh-Master, retains the
right to hold and keep any fish deemed questionable by
him with respect to being qualified for any prize or
cash award. If retention of the fish is refused, the
fish is automatically disqualified.
16. WEIGHT ALTERATION - Attempted weight
alteration of any blue marlin or gamefish will
automatically disqualify the boat from the tournament.
IGFA rules apply regarding mutilated fish. The Rules
Committee reserves the right to cut open any fish for
inspection of suspected weight altering efforts such as
inserted weights, ice, water, etc.
17. POLYGRAPH - Polygraph Tests shall be
administered to the top money winners; release winners;
(captain, mate and angler) and others as deemed
necessary by tournament officials. Individuals that are
required to take the polygraph test must not have
consumed alcohol or any controlled substance within
eight hours prior to the test.
18. WITHDRAWAL FROM THE TOURNAMENT - No Level I
fees will be refunded. 100% of all other levels will be
refunded 14 days after the tournament and following
collection and clearing of all funds paid. All refund
requests must be received in writing by 12:00 noon
Sunday prior to the tournament at Tournament
Headquarters.
19. REFUNDS - In the event that no qualifying
fish are caught, the prize money will be handled as
follows; a) 85% of Level III entry fees will be returned
to Level III participants equally b) 100% of Level VI
will be returned and c) all other entry fees will be
retained by the tournament and added to the following
years purse accordingly. In the event that no fish
qualify for the daily release prize, the money will be
retained by the tournament.
20. RULES COMMITTEE - Any boat breaching any of
the above Tournament Rules may be disqualified, except
as previously stated. Decisions of the Rules Committee
and Board of Directors are final.
15% OF FEES RETAINED BY TOURNAMENT EXCEPT FOR LEVEL I.
(SEE PRIZE SCHEDULE FOR LEVEL I)
Download
Rules Here as PDF
Last
update
05/16/2008 12:01 PM
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