BIG ISLAND INVITATIONAL
MARLIN TOURNAMENT
Wednesday August 7 7:30 AM til 4:00 PM
Thursday August 8 7:30 AM til 4:00 PM
Friday August 9 7:30 AM til 4:00 PM
Blue and Black Marlin Only
Striped Marlin, Spearfish and Sailfish do not count.
It is required that a marlin weigh 300 pounds or more before it can be brought to the scale to be weighed. If a marlin under 300 pounds arrives at the boat dead, or deemed not able to survive tag and release, and the team does not want to waste the fish to sharks, the team may elect to bring the fish to the scale. All marlin brought to the scale under these circumstances shall receive 100 consolation points, regardless of actual weight.
All fishing with live bait shall be done with circle hooks only. Any marlin caught with a hook not a “circle hook” shall be disallowed.
There are certain responsibilities inherent to, and accepted by teams and management.
Upon payment of entry fee(s), teams are from that point forward bound by the rules of the tournament as printed herein, and accept this responsibility.
Upon acceptance of entry fee(s) from any number of teams, management becomes responsible for scoring of the tournament, judging of catch(es) in relation to the rules printed herein, and disbursement of purse and/or refunds as determined by the outcome of the tournament.
Should a team find that there are rules in the tournament that they do not find acceptable, they may withdraw from the tournament without penalty prior to the call of start fishing on Day One of the tournament.
Once the tournament has started, the teams are bound by the rules printed herein. Violation of one or more rules is grounds for disqualification and/or ejection from the tournament. A team may withdraw after commencement of the tournament, but all entry fees shall be forfeited and remain in the purse as per normal.
Management reserves the right to deny entry to anyone.
Any protest or notification of a potential rule infraction must be filed in writing by 6:00 PM on the day of the infraction.
North of the Green Buoy, inside 100 fathoms. A lane must be left between the Green Buoy and land.
Control will be on VHF channel 68. Cell phone calls are not accepted for reporting fish catch or loss etc. Control will be located on the camera boat with Jody Bright. Cell phones can be used to relay a catch to another boat to radio in.
On Day One, all boats must swing by the Fuel Dock and pick up their official camera. If the team tags a fish and turns the camera in, they will pick up a replacement camera at the fuel dock the next day.
All boats must check in with tournament control by radio when “On the Line”. Boats must also “secure” at the end of the day. A boat may “secure” prior to actual arrival at the harbor, but from the time that they announce that they are “secure” the are holoholo.
All hook-ups, lost fish, tagged fish and captured fish MUST BE CONFIRMED BY TOURNAMENT CONTROL RADIO. If direct confirmation is not possible between the vessel calling and tournament control – for any reason – a confirmation must be made by relay. If confirmation is not made, either by direct contact or relay, there will be no qualifying of your fish. This applies to tag and release and killed fish, alike. Fish and/or tag cards that appear at the pier will no be recognized if control has no knowledge of the tag or capture. Cell phones can be used to relay information to someone with a radio, who then relays the information to tournament control. Cell phones may not be used to call in catch info to tournament control. The intent of this rule is to insure that the entire field of boats hears all hook ups, catches, tags and/or loss of marlin and there are no “behind the scenes” catches perceived.
The Official Weigh Station will be the Fuel Dock. Fish may be weighed at any time during fishing hours. Fish reported as boated prior to 4:00 PM must be weighed by 6:00 PM. Fish hooked prior to 4:00 PM but not boated by 4:00 PM may be fought until captured, with no time limit.
If there are fish on board that you boated prior to 4:00 PM and you hook up but do not land a fish that bit later (but did bite before 4:00 PM) your first fish will still count and you will be exempt from dock time. Any falsification of a hook up in order to be exempt from dock time is cheating and you will be ejected from the tournament, and forfeit the entire entry fee paid.
When bringing a fish to the Fuel Dock to be weighed, secure the boat lines before handling catch matters. Please pass catch report across before fish is hoisted. Have rod, reel, leader, lure (if used) and hook sets ready to be inspected. Hand across in order of request.
ANGLING RULES
All fish must be angled to IGFA specifications in order to qualify.
130 lb. (60 kg) line is the maximum breaking strength line allowed.
There are no bonus points for fish caught on line classes below 130 lb.
Tag poles cannot exceed 8 feet in over all length.
No transfer of catch is allowed under any circumstances.
No transfer of “stuff” between boats between the call of start fishing and the call of “stop fishing” shall be allowed in any manner, or with any thing(s).
Grounds for disqualification include but are not limited to; cheating in any manner, which includes but is not limited to - filling fish with water, using line heavier than 130 lb. test, faking a tag photo in any manner, disfiguring official cameras in any manner, using tag poles longer than 8 feet in length, and/or using “non-conforming gear”.
“Non-conforming gear” includes but is not limited to guns, bombs, slide gaffs, gill nets and over testing line. Non-conforming gear, on board, used or not, will result in disqualification of each and every fish caught by that vessel.
Terminal tackle must be tied to IGFA specifications.
Mis-tied terminal tackle is not considered non-conforming gear, and if found, will result in the disqualification of the specific individual catch being judged at that time, only. Any mis-tied terminal tackle found through random checks shall be assumed to have caught every fish attempting to be qualified, and qualification(s) shall be denied.
A fish may be tagged and then observed to determine better if the fish is 300 pounds or larger. Should that marlin be lost during said observation period, the tag points will still apply to the team score.
Should the team decide that the fish is large enough to be taken, the fish may be gaffed. At the point that a gaff touches a fish, the tag points are lost. Should the fish subsequently be lost after a gaff touches the fish, all points are lost.
A lure may be re-used after a capture only if this method is strictly adhered to:
Cut the leader 12 inches up from the eye of the front hook. Save the hook with the 12 inches of leader attached. Save the long piece of leader separately. Present both pieces to the judge along with your lure, tackle and fish or tag card. Cuts, scrapes and scratches that do not match on the two pieces of leader can be grounds for disqualification.
A lure may be re-used if hooks are left in the fish, but the leader must be cut as close to the fish as safely possible. The leader must be presented to the judge along with the tag card and photo(s).
For the Largest Marlin of the tournament payable from the Base Entry fee, the actual weights of the marlin shall be compared.
In the total points department from the Optional Entries, all marlin brought to the scale, 300 pounds or better, will score 1 point per pound.
All blue or black marlin tagged and released shall be scored at 200 points per fish tagged.
Biggest Marlin
In case of a tie in the largest marlin department, the tie shall go to the team with the longest marlin in inches – short measurement only. The shorter marlin shall be awarded the next place.
If there are two marlin tied for first place with 800 pounds and three tied for
Scaled Fish Points
In the case of a tie in total points, and there is one or more fish that qualified at the scales, the decision will go to the team whose catch tallies the greatest cumulative length, in inches. Only “short measurements” will be taken.
Tag Points Only
In the case of a tie for total points and there are no fished scaled, the tie will be split among those in the tie position with 60% going to the first team to the tie position and 40% going to the team who arrived at the tie position second. In case of a tie with tag points only, there will be only two places paid, as described herein, regardless of the number of teams tied.
Photos
All marlin tagged and released must be photographed in order to qualify AND the photo must be taken with the camera supplied by tournament control ONLY. No photo – no money.
Double headers must be reported to radio control immediately upon hookup as you will be required to take specific photos in a series.
Intent of This Rule
As with the I.G.F.A. rules, tournament rules are written with specific “intent” paramount. Participants should be aware that dealing with wild animals is not like dealing with a golf course, where it is plainly obvious whether a golf ball went in the hole or not.
As example, I.G.F.A. rules state the intention that the angler shall strike and hook the fish with the rod in hand. We all know that this is not practical with 130 lb. bent butt tackle. However, I.G.F.A. recognizes this is a consideration with heavy tackle, and their stated intention becomes that the angler move the rod from the holder to the fighting position as quickly as possible.
This tournament requires that photos be taken of marlin released with the intent to verify (1) species of the marlin and (2) that the tagging procedure was fully performed, and, (3) that double headers were actually being fought when so reported.
A golf ball in a hole is a golf ball in a hole, and there are no two ways about it. A photo proving that the tag and release procedure was fully performed may take many forms, and it is the responsibility of the judge(s) only, to ascertain if the photos provided fulfill the intent of this rule. By participating in this tournament, the teams accept this, and are responsible for providing the best possible photos to the judges.
It is not the intent of this rule that teams are required to get a close up of a tag streamer in a marlin. “Man handling” fish after tagging contributes to undue mortality. This is counter productive to the intent of tag and release. The recommended procedure for teams to get the photos required by the judge(s) is outlined below. The decision to either follow or not follow the recommended photo procedure is the choice of the teams, and the results of the photos are their responsibility – regardless of procedure employed.
The judge(s) shall be the only person(s) to interpret the photos for the purpose of rulings. A team may ask to see the photos taken from their boat only. Should the judge(s) have a problem with any particular photo and/or disallow a tag and release on the grounds of insufficient photographic proof of (1) species and/or (2) that the tag and release procedure was fully performed, and/or (3) that there was indeed a double header - it is the responsibility of the judge(s) to show the photos to the team whose catch is being disallowed, only.
Best Approach to Producing Photos Required by Judge(s)
The best approach to getting the photos required is to take at least one photo from the bridge with a wide view of the fish on the leader being tagged. If feasible, go down the ladder and take at least one photo close up.
It is recommended that you take a couple of shots from
each approach, with wide being the priority.
It is understood that due to the nature of dealing with wild animals, and the inefficiencies of sport fishing tackle, no procedure is fool proof, and there is always a chance that, regardless of procedure taken, the team may not capture the photo image needed by the judge(s) and may be denied points based upon the lack of photographic quality and/or detail.
Radio Control and Photos
Tournament control radio will give special instructions for pictures that you must take at the time that you call in your tag and release (after your release). Failure to take security photos assigned by tournament control will result in disqualification.
Total prize money from the “base entry fee” is paid out at a rate of 90% of the $2,000.00 jackpot portion of a team’s entry fee. The $700.00 portion of the entry fee allows up to four anglers and two crew to enjoy the food, drink and entertainment for 3 nights.
(Based on 30 teams)
$2,000.00 X 90% = $ 1,800.00
$1,800.00 X 30 teams = $54,000.00
Total Cash Prize Money $54,000.00
The total purse from the base entry fee shall be awarded to the top three largest individual marlin weighed during the three days of the tournament. Should there be less than three marlin weighed, then the purse distribution shall be adjusted as outlined below.
Only in the event that no marlin are weighed through the course of all three days of fishing, shall any of the purse be awarded to total points, including tag points.
First Place Biggest Marlin 50% = $27,000.00
Second Place Biggest Marlin 30% = $16,200.00
Third Place Biggest Marlin 20% = $10,800.00
First Place Biggest Marlin 60% = $32,400.00
Second Place Biggest Marlin 40% = $21,600.00
Winner Take All = $54,000.00
First Place Most Points = $27,000.00
Second Place Most Points = $16,200.00
Third Place Most Points = $10,800.00
First Place Most Points 60% = $32,400.00
Second Place Most Points 40% = $21,600.00
Winner Take All = $54,000.00
OPTIONAL DAILIES
All optional entry levels shall return 90% of the total entry fees collected as prize money.
Optional dailies shall be paid to the teams entered in each entry level who amass the most total points in two categories; (1) each day of the tournament and (2) for the tournament at the end of all fishing.
Daily totals are combined and added for a total value for Most Points of the Tournament.
Daily totals do not roll over to the next day in the Optional Daily category. Each day begins anew UNLESS there were no points scored on the prior day(s).
There shall be a variety of dollar value entry levels from which a team may choose to enter. Teams compete only against the other teams entered in the specific entry level as themselves. Example: Teams entered in the $100 daily compete only against other teams in the $100 daily. Teams entered in the $100 daily but not the $300 daily can not win the $300 daily – no matter what they catch!
There shall be only one place paid per category, unless there is a tie. Tie breakers are explained in these rules on page 4.
In the event that any prize money is not awarded due to a lack of qualifying fish(es), entrants shall have the option of receiving a refund in the amount of the jackpot portion of the specific entry fee, or optional entry fee, that was not claimed by a qualifying fish – OR – applying said jackpot portion toward an entry fee or optional entry fee in a future Tropidilla tournament.