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Available fishing days and hours (EDT):
June 10, 2013 9:00 am-3:00 pm
June 11, 2013 9:00 am-3:00 pm
June 12, 2013 9:00 am-3:00 pm
June 13, 2013 9:00 am-3:00 pm
June 14, 2013 9:00 am-3:00 pm
June 15, 2013 8:00 am-2:00 pm
Scales close at 7:00 p.m. daily for Gamefish, 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Boats may fish four out of the six available fishing days.
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- Tournament Headquarters
(opens 6:00 am on fishing days)
- Anchorage Marina, Atlantic Beach
- Sea Water Marina, Atlantic Beach
- Town Creek Marina, Beaufort
- Olde Towne Yacht Club, Beaufort
- Boat House, Beaufort
- Morehead City Yacht Basin
- O'Neal's Dockside, Ocracoke
- Bridge Tender Marina, Wrightsville Beach
- Hatteras Harbor Marina, Hatteras
- Teach's Lair, Hatteras
- Hatteras Landing, Hatteras
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2013 TOURNAMENT RULES
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. No entries or upgrades will be accepted after 9:00 am, Monday morning.
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 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 12/16/08
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). Permits will be valid from the date of issuance through December 31, 2013. Permits must be on board the vessel when engaged in fishing. The Big Rock Tournament is a registered recreational HMS tournament. For more information - hmspermits.noaa.gov/initialapp.asp or (888)-872-8862.
North Carolina Recreational Fishing License: As of 01/01/2009
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. Level V.I - “Winner take all - dolphin” prize money will rollover to the next year’s tournament if no qualifying fish is weighed.
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, 6:00 p.m. Saturday. 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. All checks will be distributed 10 days after the tournament.
15. PROTEST - Any protest by any participant against the catch of another 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/or angler) and others as deemed necessary by tournament officials. Participants must make themselves available for polygraph testing in Carteret County within 24 hours following notice from Tournament Officials. Individuals that are required to take the polygraph test must not consume alcohol or any controlled substance within eight hours prior to the test. A participant’s refusal to take a polygraph test or failure to answer test questions in a manner satisfactory to Tournament Officials, in their sole discretion, may result in disqualification. By entering the tournament, participants consent to the admissibility of polygraph results in any dispute or proceeding arising out of the tournament.
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.
21. DISPUTE RESOLUTION – A protest by one participant against the catch of another must be submitted in accordance with Rule 15. All other disputes, controversies, or claims of any kind arising out of or relating to the tournament (hereinafter, “disputes”), including, but not limited to, all disputes concerning decisions by Tournament Officials, Boards, or Committees, must be submitted in writing to the Rules Committee no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 5th day following the last fishing day of the tournament. Failure to submit any such disputes in writing by that date and time shall constitute a waiver and release of any and all such disputes. Without waiving any other provisions in these rules concerning the absolute discretion and finality of decisions made by the Rules Committee or Board of Directors, all participants in the tournament agree that any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to any dispute shall be brought exclusively in the Superior Court of Carteret County, North Carolina. All persons participating in the tournament irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the Superior Court of Carteret County, North Carolina, and waive any objections to personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, forum, or venue in such Court. legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to any dispute shall be brought exclusively in the Superior Court of Carteret County, North Carolina. All persons participating in the tournament irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the Superior Court of Carteret County, North Carolina, and waive any objections to personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, forum, or venue in such Court.
The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall be construed, interpreted, and enforced under the laws and judicial decisions of the State of North Carolina, notwithstanding any principle of conflicts of law. In the event any part of this Agreement shall be declared illegal, invalid, or void, such declaration shall not affect the validity of any of the other terms or provisions of this document.
15% OF FEES RETAINED BY TOURNAMENT EXCEPT FOR LEVEL I. (SEE PRIZE SCHEDULE FOR LEVEL I)
For clarification or any questions, contact:
Crystal Hesmer, Tournament Director
PO Box 1673, Morehead City, NC 28557
Phone 252-247-3575, Fax 252-247-2392
director@thebigrock.com
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