DAYTIME SWORDFISH RULES

OAPB DAYTIME SWORDFISH TOURNAMENT RULES

1. 1.   All anglers must be listed on entry form. Please call Charlie Johnson at 954-258-9285 OR Shaughn Miller at 954-540-6740 if any changes need to be made.
   2.    Registration may be paid until the night of the Captain’s Meeting May 21st 2026 from 6pm-9pm. At least one member from each team MUST attend the Captain’s Meeting to observe the rules and any changes or updates.
   3.   Entry Forms:  All entry forms must be completely filled out by all participants.
   4.   Anglers:  Each boat may have as many anglers as they choose. ALL ANGLERS MUST HAVE A VALID FLORIDA FISHING LICENSE AS REQUIRED BY FWC.
   5.   Eligible Species: Swordfish & Dolphin Fish
   6.   Swordfish must measure 47’’ long from lower jaw to fork of tail. Dolphin must be minimum 20’’ from tip of nose to fork of tail. No mutilated fish will count. All boats must adhere to the State of Florida’s recreational bag limits as they pertain to all eligible species. All Teams must have the required HMS Permits in order to be eligible to participate in the tournament. Should a team not have the legal documentation required to catch fish that have been weighed in, they will be disqualified.
   7.  Tackle: All fish must be caught on rod and reel. Wire lines are permitted. Electric reels are permitted. Treble hooks are permitted.
   8.  Hook & Catch: Each boat may fish up to 4 lines. All lines must be connected to a rod in the boat. “Buoy fishing” where lines are not connected to the buoys from the boat is not allowed. In the event your line gets run over by another boat or breaks unintentionally and you go back and retrieve the buoy and a fish is on there it will count however you can not cut your line intentionally for any reason as that fish will be disqualified .
   9.  Tournament Channel: The tournament committee will operate on Channel 80. Channel 72 will be used as an alternate. All discussions among competitors should be conducted on alternate channels.
   10.  Boundaries: There are no limits on the boundaries. Boats may fish as far north or as far south as they wish. Lines out at 4:30pm and must be visible to the scales no later than 6:00pm.  Check-Out: There will be a gentlemen’s lines in @ 7:30 AM from whichever inlet you decide to leave from. This is a local fun and friendly tournament so please be honest and do not start fishing until 7:30 AM! ALL WINNERS WILL BE RECEIVING POLYGRAPH. LINES IN EARLY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION! 
   11.   Check-In: Lines OUT is 4:30pm. All boats with fish to weigh must be visible from the weigh scales no later than 6:30 pm & verbally checked in by displaying their boat # to the tournament committee, regardless of hook-ups. Boats that are not visible from the weigh in scales by 6:30 PM will not be eligible to weigh their fish. In the event you are hooked up before lines out but the fish is landed after lines out you must make every effort to call in your fish to the committee boat and must video/time stamp the entire fight starting before lines out and at 5 minute intervals until the fish is boated . Regardless you must be at the weigh station by 6:30 pm.
   12. Landfall: Following check-out, or once fishing hours have begun, no boats will be permitted to touch land or enter any inlet and return to fishing. Once coming back to land, dock or entering an inlet that boat’s day of tournament fishing will be over. Special consideration will be given for medical conditions and special circumstances that may arise during the day of fishing. The committee must be notified in advance of any situation that may warrant an exception to this rule.
   13.   Weigh-In: There is 1 weigh station located at LHP Marina Fuel Dock in Lighthouse Point. The scale will open at 4:30 PM. All fish must be brought to the weigh station in the boat that they were caught. Eligible fish must be caught during tournament times of tournament day. Transferring of fish to another boat will result in disqualification. Mutilated fish will be disqualified the fish must be in tact from bill to tail. Harpoon and gaff wounds are not considered mutilated. All decisions of the weigh-master are final. The weigh master reserves the right to inspect any fish by any means including but not limited to internal inspection. Cores will not be eligible, fish must have head, body and tail in tact.
   14.   Weather: In the event, that weather conditions arise deemed unsafe for the AVERAGE REGISTERED BOAT, by the tournament officials, the tournament may be called off for that day. Any notice of cancellation , Team Captains will receive a text and phone call making them aware of the cancellation. All Teams should see the rescheduling dates below to confirm that they are available to fish those dates in the event of inclement weather. If Saturday May 23 is weathered out, the tournament will be moved to Sunday May 24. In the event Sunday is canceled as well we will shoot for the following weekend Saturday May 30 and Sunday May 31. If weather causes cancellation again teams will receive a refund minus any fees paid by OAPB for Captains party, trophies, and/or any cost/deposits that were provided for the tournament. It is expressly understood that the permitting of fishing by tournament officials does not ensure the safety of registered anglers or any other occupants of their vessels. Captains, anglers and all other members of registered boats must determine in their own judgment whether to fish under the given conditions based on factors including but not limited to the seaworthiness of their boat and their own seamanship.
   15. Protests: All protests must be made by 7pm of tournament day right after the conclusion of weigh-in along with $500 cash to the tournament officials. Protests should be made based on first-hand eyewitness information. All decisions of the tournament officials regarding protests are final.
   16.   Polygraph: By entering the tournament all captains, anglers, and occupants of their boats voluntarily consent to submit to a polygraph examination as deemed necessary by tournament officials. All decisions of the polygraph examiner will be final. Any captain, angler or occupant of a registered boat who refuses to take a polygraph or provides untruthful answers as determined by the examiner will be disqualified from the tournament without further notice. Such a disqualification will eliminate payment or provision of any prize money, awards and/or refund of entrance fees or calcuttas. Polygraph test will be conducted the day after the tournament.
   17.   Release: By participating in this tournament, all captains, anglers and occupants of their boat hereby consent that tournament officials may use without payment or restriction, any photographs, video or interviews in which he or she may appear for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to resale, advertising, and promotional material.
   18. 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 event.
   19. Prizes: Award winners MUST provide their social security number and will be REQUIRED to fill out a W-9 Form. ALL CASH & PRIZES will be awarded to the person or entity that paid the entry fee from the winning boat UNLESS that said person signs a release designating another individual to receive on their behalf. (15%) of all entry fees and calcuttas will be taken as a donation that will be go to charity events hosted by OAPB. The remainder will be paid out to tournament team participants. “Proceeds” are considered money raised by the tournament through sponsors, donations, raffles and 15% of tournament entries/calcuttas. In the event, that a calcutta is not won with eligible fish, those proceeds will divided equally into the remaining calcuttas. If no calcutta’s are won with eligible fish, the money will roll up to the Main Tournament Category. In the rare event that a qualifying fish is not weighed-in, all remaining proceeds will go to charity.
   20.   In the Event of a Tie: The cash prize will be split down the middle between winners, but any non-cash prizes will go to the first to weigh in (Ex- Trophies, etc.)
   21.   VIDEO: Each fish is required to be captured on a date & time stamped continuous video from the time the leader is touched until the fish is boated, ideally showing the fish being alive in the water, on the hook, with mention of the boat name and angler. If the fish comes up dead, presuming it was alive when hooked, it will be acceptable as long as it was caught within the rules set forth in this tournament. There will be a Lie Detector Test at the tournament committee’s discretion.
   22.   GENERAL ENTRY – $600
       1. 1st Place – $5,000 + Trophy
       2. 2nd Place – $4,000 + Trophy
       3. 3rd Place – $3,000 + Trophy
       4. 4th Place – $2,000 + Trophy
       5. 5th Place – $1,000 + Trophy ◦ Boats/teams are only eligible for one prize in the general entry category.

OPTIONAL/CALCUTTA CATEGORIES

1. 1. Big Fish -WTA – $300
   2. Heaviest 2 Fish Aggregate (2 Fish Must Be Weighed)– WTA – $300
   3. Big Dolphin – WTA – $100 Boats

Teams are eligible for for multiple prizes in the optional/Calcutta categories Prize structure is based on a 30 boat entry (sliding scale) 15% of general entry and 15% of calcuttas will go to OAPB and supporting charities.