Updated March 1, 2009
Rules, including published rules, are subject to change without notice. Final instructions are given at each Captain’s Meeting:
East Cape: Tuesday, July 28th at 6:00pm, Pool Deck
Los Cabos: Friday, October 16th at 6:00pm, Baja Cantina DOCKSIDE
Black & Blue: Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00pm, Puerto Paraiso Mall
1. Rules Acceptance & Captain’s Meeting
A) It is the sole responsibility of the participating anglers, captains and crews to know and abide by the tournaments' rules. By entering the event they acknowledge this and agree to such.
B) Anglers and boat captains should attend the scheduled Captain’s Meetings. If they don’t attend, they automatically accept and agree to be bound by instructions given at the meetings.
C) By entering any of the the Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournaments, all participants agree to accept the rules of the tournaments and accept all decisions made by the Rules Committee as final.
2. Permits & Licenses
All participating anglers must possess a valid personal Mexican Fishing License. A representative from the Mexico Department of Fisheries will be on-site during registration at all events to sell Licenses and Permits. Permit & License Information
3. Tournament Start
The official start of the fishing day is a shotgun-flare start. All boats must be behind the official starting line 15 minutes prior to the shotgun start. Any boat not clearly behind the start line at this time will be disqualified from the day’s fishing. Any anglers or captain disqualified for this violation a second time will be immediately disqualified from the entire event, and forfeit any winnings and/or entry payments.
4. Bait Fishing Prior to Tournament Start
Teams may attempt to catch bait until 15 minutes prior to the official start time. At this time, all fishing lines and teasers must be removed from the water.
5. Fishing Days and Times
East Cape—Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 7:00am–4:00pm
Los Cabos—Saturday, Sunday 8:00am–5:00pm
Black & Blue—Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:00am–5:00pm
A fish hooked prior to end of fishing may be fought until boated, released or lost provided the team arrives at the weigh station prior to its closing for the day if they have a fish to weigh or release to report.
The Tournament Committee reserves the privilege of changing starting and ending fishing times to coincide with weather, tides, and improved probability of better fishing conditions.
6. Extending Fishing Time
Fishing time will not be extended during the tournament unless all anglers are included and no qualifying fish have been caught.
7. Hand-Offs Between Vessels
Between the tournament’s fishing hours, no vessel entered in the tournament may be involved in the handing off or receiving of anything from another vessel whether that vessel is entered in the tournament or not, or any other entity of any sort including bait receivers. The Rules Committee may choose to grant special permission IN ADVANCE to waive this rule if someone's personal safety or health is at risk.
8. Weather
In the event of inclement weather, the tournament will commence on the first day the tournament organizers declare. Should this day fall on the second out of three originally scheduled days of fishing, two days will be fished and all tournament awards will be presented based on these two days of fishing. Should this day fall on the last originally scheduled day of fishing or if this day falls after all originally scheduled fishing days, one day will be fished and all tournament awards will be presented based on that one day of fishing. The tournaments are "fish at your own risk" events.
9. Official "Tournament"
If any portion of the scheduled fishing days is fished, the time fished will constitute a tournament, and the awards money will be presented as per the tournament’s official rules.
10. Cancellation
In the event a tournament is canceled prior to any portion of the scheduled fishing days being fished, or no qualifying fish are caught in the tournament, the published percentage amount of Entry Fee and Optional Category monies that were allocated for cash awards will be returned by mail to the Team Contact. One check per team.
11. Boundaries
Teams are required to fish within the boundaries laid out by the Tournament’s Grid Map, and to call in the grid location of every hook-up. Grid maps are published in the Tournament Journal and are available during registration at each event. In general these boundaries are: East Cape—50 mile radius from host resort, Los Cabos and Black & Blue—40 mile radius from Cabo San Lucas.
12. Communications
The VHF radio channels, backup channels and telephone numbers used to contact Radio Control are provided during the Captain’s Meeting. You can also pick up a copy when you pick up your team bags during registration.
13. Eligible Species & Points
For the Black & Blue Marlin Tournament
For the East Cape & Los Cabos Offshore Tournaments
14. Penalty Points
Black or blue marlin weighing less than 300 pounds are awarded zero (0) points and additionally penalized twenty-five (25) points plus two (2) points for every pound under 300 pounds. For example, a 290 lb. black or blue marlin would be awarded 0 points and penalized 25 points plus 20 points, making the total points for the fish -45. The negative points are deducted from the team’s overall weight points and affect the scoring for the Top Five Teams only.
15. Official Billfish Release
A billfish is considered officially released when the leader connection is wound to the tip of the rod, or the mate or other crew member touches the leader.
16. Reporting Billfish
Boat captains are to report to Radio Control at the time of hook-up Boat Name, Angler Name, Grid Area and Species. The boat captain must again report to Radio Control when the billfish is lost, released or boated. In addition, billfish still being fought at lines out must be reported to Radio Control. Gamefish do not need to be reported.
Times are recorded to the whole minute. The time recorded by Radio Control is the official time of release.
Any team or crew intentionally reporting wrongful information to tournament control for the purpose of altering the tournament standings or results will be immediately disqualified from the event, and forfeit any winnings and/or entry payments.
17. Billfish Catch Affirmations
The Billfish Catch Affirmation (BCA) form is the Team’s record of billfish hooked and subsequently released, tagged, lost or boated. Affirmations are compared to the radio logs for verification. Billfish should be recorded as caught to ensure accuracy. If you catch a billfish, you must turn in a BCA on the same day it was caught. Billfish Catch Affirmation forms are distributed during Registration.
Lost billfish may be recorded on the BCA for statistical purposes. The same applies to recording whether it was tagged.
Before turning in your BCA be sure it’s filled in completely including a suffix if necessary for the angler (i.e. Jr., Sr., III). If the angler was a Lady check off under the L column.
The boat captain and all anglers who caught billfish must print their name and sign the BCA indicating they affirm the information as recorded. BCAs must be turned in daily at the Weigh Station before it closes. If you did not catch a billfish you do not need to turn in a BCA.
18. Cash Release Division Verification
The following pertains to the Black & Blue only.
Each team in the Cash Release Division (Level 2) is issued an Official Tournament Camera during Registration. Additional cameras are available at the Weigh Station during fishing days.
At the beginning of each fishing day Radio Control will announce the day’s verification object. At that time you must take a photo of the verification object so Tournament Officials can verify on which day the billfish was caught. The team then takes photos of billfish as they are released. The photo must show the billfish next to the boat, and identify the billfish species. If the species cannot be positively identified the team will not be awarded points for the release.
BCA forms must be turned in daily, however, cameras should not be turned in until the end of the tournament. If you fill up the camera you can turn it in at the Weigh Station and pick up another camera. All cameras must be turned in to the Weigh Station by 9:00pm of the last day of fishing.
19. Boating Marlin & Weigh-In
A) ANY marlin brought onboard a boat must be weighed. Any team intentionally mutilating a fish for the purpose of altering tournament standings or results will be immediately disqualified from the event, and forfeit any winnings and/or entry payments.
B) All fish intended to be weighed must be presented to the weigh station on the same day they are caught.
C) All marlin that are weighed during the tournament must be weighed at the tournament's official weigh station.
D) The rod, reel, line, leader, lure and hook(s) must accompany each fish to be weighed and be presented to the weighmaster.
E) Any fish brought to the weigh station may have its mouth taped closed. However, once the weighmaster has raised the fish the angler will be asked to remove whatever is sealing the mouth closed (tape, string etc.), and clip any external leader material to the outer edge of the fish’s mouth. Except for artificial lures, nothing will be pulled from the fish’s mouth, however, whatever may fall from the fish due to gravity will remain out when determining the fish’s weight.
20. Weigh Station Locations and Times
East Cape: located on the beach in front of the Hotel Buena Vista; weigh-in hours for all three days of fishing are 7:00am–7:00pm.
Los Cabos: located in front of the Puerto Paraiso Mall; weigh-in hours for the first day 8:00am–8:00pm, second day 8:00am–7:00pm.
Black & Blue: located in front of the Puerto Paraiso Mall; weigh-in hours for all three days of fishing are 8:00am–9:00pm.
Weigh station officials will continue to weigh fish for all boats that arrive in front of the weigh station prior to its closing.
21. Breaking Ties
Ties between the weight of two or more fish are broken by the time the fish was weighed. Ties between Release Points are broken by the time of release as recorded on the radio logs. Times are recorded to the whole minute.
22. Protests
Any protest must be presented in writing to the Tournament Director before the official closing of the weigh station on the day of the alleged infraction. The Tournament Director will turn over the protest to the Rules Committee and the Committee will rule as soon as is feasibly possible. All protest letters must be accompanied by $500 USD cash, which will be returned to the protesting team only if the protest ruling is in favor of the protest.
23. Truth Affirmation Examination
The following pertains to the Black & Blue only.
One person from each team that is receiving cash awards must complete a polygraph examination. This person must have been directly involved with the capture of the fish (angler, captain or wireman). The selection of the person to receive the examination is made by Tournament Officials. We try to schedule the exam at the time of weigh-in, however, please leave your local contact information with tournament officials at the weigh station in case we have to change the schedule. Examinees must be sober at the time of the examination.
Failure to comply, or failing the examination, will result in disqualification of the entire team. Disqualified teams forfeit any and all entry money, prizes or prize money. The decision of the Rules Committee is final.
24. Waiver
By entering the tournament, all anglers, crews and guests, hereinafter referred to as Participant(s), agree to and understand the following:
THAT deep sea fishing has numerous obvious and non-obvious inherent risks that are always present in such an activity despite all safety precautions. Related injuries can be severe requiring more hospital days and resulting in more lasting residual effects than injuries in other activities. All participants acknowledge such risks and hereby freely assume same.
25. Disputes
All disputes, claims, differences or controversies including, without limitation, protests arising out of, or in relation to, any aspect of the tournaments shall be decided by the Rules Committee and shall be final and binding.
26. Binding Arbitration
In the event the Rules Committee cannot render a final and binding decision in regard to the claim, difference, controversy or protest under review the matter shall be resolved by binding arbitration under the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association in Orange County, California USA. The decision rendered pursuant to arbitration shall be in writing and shall be final, binding and conclusive between the parties. The parties shall have no further recourse, except for those provided for review and nullity. Once the decision is rendered and is final it will produce the effect of "res judicata" and the parties shall fully comply with the decision without delay. All parties waive any right to a trial by judge or jury.
END OF TOURNAMENT RULES
Click on link to see:
ANGLING & EQUIPMENT RULES
|
|