White Marlin Open

The World's Largest Billfish Tournament

Rules and Regulations

2008 Rules and Regulations

I. General Tournament Rules

1. All-tackle I.G.F.A. rules apply unless otherwise noted.
   1. Federal law mandates that all anglers participating in a tournament which bestows points, prizes, or awards for Atlantic billfish (blue & white marlin, sailfish or spearfish) must deploy only non-offset circle hooks when using natural bait and/or natural/artificial lure combinations. Anglers in these tournaments may use J-hooks only in artificial lures.
2. For the purpose of identification and prize money eligibility during the White Marlin Open, a hatchet marlin/round scale spearfish will be considered a white marlin.
3. Participants are assumed to have all necessary permits required by law. For permit information visit the NMFS or call the HMS Management Division at (727) 824-5399.
4. Boats may leave from Ocean City Inlet in Maryland, Delaware’s Indian River Inlet or Cape May Inlet in New Jersey. No boat may pass the sea buoy of any of the 3 inlets prior to 5:00 a.m. on any fishing day. Any boat leaving early will be disqualified for that fishing day. There is a fishing distance limit of 100 nautical miles from the Ocean City Inlet sea buoy. Boats leaving from Indian River Inlet or Cape May Inlet must fish within the 100 nautical mile limit from the Ocean City Inlet sea buoy.
5. Anglers may choose the fishing days for their boat. Each boat and/or angler is allowed to fish a maximum of 3 days. To report a non-fishing day, a representative from the boat must notify the WMO by calling 410-520-2065 by 8:30 a.m. each day the boat is not fishing. The only exception is: there is no need to call in a non-fishing day on Friday. Those boats not reporting by 8:30 a.m. will be declared “fishing” that day.
6. Fishing hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day. No boat may place lines or teasers in the water prior to 8:30 a.m. All lines and teasers must removed from the water by 3:30 p.m. Any fish hooked prior to 3:30 p.m. may be played until boated or released, but it must be reported to a Committee Boat prior to the 3:30 p.m. deadline and must be made available for weigh-ins by 9:15 p.m. that day (see exception under rule H). All fish boated with the intention of being weighed for prize money must be reported to a Committee Boat with the following information: species and estimated weight. If a Committee Boat can’t be raised then the report must be given to another tournament boat to verify the information.
7. All fish to be eligible for prizes must be weighed in on the official scale at Harbour Island Marina. In the event of a malfunction in the primary weighing system, the Tournament shall switch to a calibrated backup system. All weights registered on either system will be considered official. All fish must be accompanied by a signed catch report and must be made available for weighing between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. on the day the boat left the inlet to go fishing. Any fish not available for weighing by 9:15 p.m. for any reason (such as boat breakdown, etc.) will not be counted (see exception under rule H).
8. Any boat still fighting a blue marlin after the 3:30 p.m. deadline, and reporting that information to a Committee Boat or another registered tournament boat:
   1. will be permitted to fight that fish until boated, released or lost – except that in order to be eligible for prize money, the blue marlin must be made available for weighing no later than 12:15 a.m. on Saturday, August 9th, regardless of which fishing day the hookup occurred.
   2. The boat must report the status of the fight to the Tournament Directors beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the hookup, and at least once every three hours until the fish is lost, released, or weighed. The reporting procedures will be announced at the Captains Meeting on August 3rd.
   3. If that boat has any other fish on board intended for weighing, it must report to a Committee Boat or another registered tournament boat by 3:30 p.m. the following information: the species of boated fish, the exact length and girth, estimated weight, when the fish was boated, the name of the Committee Boat or other registered tournament boat the initial catch report was made to. Only fish that match the reported length and girth will be weighed.
   4. If that boat does not return inside the sea buoy by 5:00 a.m. on the day after the hookup, that boat cannot return outside the sea buoy and fish that day.
9. If no minimum, second or third place fish is weighed, that prize money will be divided equally among all category winners. If a category is not won at all, the prize money will be equally divided among the other winning categories. In the event that a winning white marlin is not caught, the Mate’s and Captain’s prizes will go to the Mate and Captain of the heaviest blue marlin. In the event that neither a white or blue marlin is eligible for prize money, the awards will be distributed to winners in the following order: tuna, wahoo, dolphin and shark.
10. In the event of a tie in the weight of a white marlin, the fish that is not gaffed shall take preference.
11. In the event of a boat disability, contestants may transfer to a second boat and assume the original boat’s number without paying an additional entry fee, except: in the event of a boat disability while fighting a fish, the angler may not switch to another boat nor can anglers from another boat help with either manpower or equipment in any aspect of fighting, boating, or releasing the fish.
12. A fish may be hooked by anyone other than the angler (i.e. Captain, Mate) however the fishing rod must be transferred immediately to the angler after hookup. The angler, from that time on, shall fight the fish alone until boated or released. No help, in either manpower or equipment, can be given by another boat nor can anglers from another boat help in any aspect of fighting, boating or releasing the fish.
13. Once a fish is completely in the boat, an angler may use any means to make his boated fish available for weighing. This includes switching his boated fish to another boat to get it to the scales, being towed by another boat, or trucking the fish to the scale from inside the Ocean City area. The only exception to this rule is that any boat fishing from Indian River Inlet or Cape May Inlet must bring his fish to the scale by boat. In the event of a malfunction in the primary weighing system, the Tournament shall switch to a calibrated backup system. All weights registered on either system will be considered official.
14. Protest – A protest may only be filed by a registered angler or crew member, or by Tournament director. The Tournament must be notified immediately (by calling 410-289-9229) that a protest is being filed. All protests must be put in writing and include the registered angler(s) names(s), a local contact phone number and $100 in cash or check made payable to the White Marlin Open. It must contain a detailed description of the protested matter and include any supporting evidence available. It must be signed by the protesting angler(s) and must be delivered to the Tournament Directors as soon as possible from the time the protested action occurs. If no Tournament official is available at Harbour Island, turn in the written report to the guardhouse at the 14th Street entrance to Harbour Island and call 410-289-9229 to report the written protest has been delivered there. All protests in compliance will be given to the judges. That decision is final. No protest will be accepted after 3:15 a.m. Saturday August 9th.
15. Only 1 day need to be fished by at least 1 boat to make the tournament official and for prizes to be awarded.
16. The White Marlin Open reserves the right to cancel the tournament at any time.
17. The White Marlin Open promotes the conservation of all species of fish and the release of billfish. We will continue to keep high minimum qualifying weights on all tournament species. In order to ensure that the tournament rules are preserved, no participant of the White Marlin open may enter or participate in any other fishing tournament, competition, or Calcutta while fishing the Open. Violations may result in the disqualification from the Open and forfeiture of any prize money and entry fees.
18. In the event that the National Marine Fisheries Service increases the minimum length for landing white and/or blue marlin over and above the current White Marlin Open minimums, then the new NMFS minimum length shall become the new White Marlin Open minimum length.
19. Any last minute changes will be announced at the Captain’s meeting on Sunday, August 3rd at 7:00 p.m.

Prize Money Payout Procedures

1. The prize money will be awarded to the registered angler landing the winning fish unless a different disbursement is requested in writing (on the Prize Money Distribution Form) by the winning angler.
2. No award checks will be presented to any angler unless the Tournament has received their completed and signed Prize Money Distribution Form.
3. All anglers winning $50,000 or more and all anglers winning any amount in Level R may be required, at the discretion of the White Marlin Open, to take and pass, at the determination of the test administrator, a polygraph test prior to the distribution of any awards. The White Marlin Open may, at its discretion, also request that a polygraph test be taken by any other angler or crew member registered to that boat. The time and place for the polygraph testing will be announced at the Captain’s meeting and listed on the Tournament Information Sheet which is distributed with the boat packets. In the event that a test cannot be taken at a scheduled time, tournament officials reserve the right to reschedule the test within 30 days of the date on which the fish was caught. The rescheduled test must be administered by a White Marlin Open approved examiner administered to ASTM standards and will be at the angler’s expense. If an angler wishes to dispute an unfavorable polygraph result, the angler may have a second polygraph conducted with in 10 days by a qualified polygraph examiner at the angler’s expense. This “tiebreaker” polygraph must be administered to ASTM standards.

II. Billfish Points

Non cash prizes will be awarded to the top 10 anglers and top 10 boats for accumulation of billfish points during the tournament.

1. Points will be awarded for catches and releases for billfish as follows:
   1. White Marlin
      Release = 70 points
      Boated = 1 point per pound
      (must meet 65 lb. and 67” minimum)
   2. Blue Marlin
      Release = 175 points
      Boated = 1/3 point per pound
      (must meet 500 lb. and 105” minimum)
   3. Sailfish
      Release = 70 points
      Boated = 2 points per pound
      (must meet 30 lb. and 63” minimum)
   4. Swordfish
      Release = 70 points
      Boated = 1 point per pound
      (must meet 80 lb. and 47” minimum)
   5. Spearfish
      Release = 70 points
      Short Bill, Long Bill and Mediterranean Spearfish are not allowed to be boated. However, for the purpose of identification and prize money eligibility during the White Marlin Open, a hatchet marlin/round scale spearfish will be considered a white marlin, and are allowed to be boated.
2. A billfish will be considered released when the swivel touches the rod tip, when the mate grabs the leader material, or when the leader goes through the rod tip.
3. A Committee Boat must be notified by radio when a billfish is boated or released. Report must include boat #, angler’s name, species, boated or release and the time. If a Committee Boat cannot be reached, the report must be given to another registered tournament boat for verification.
4. In case of a tie (i.e 2 anglers with 2 white marlin released, each have 140 points) the anglers scoring the tying points earliest in the respective 1st, 2nd, or 3rd day of fishing is the winner, regardless of what day in the week the points were scored.
5. Signed catch and release reports must be turned in to the scorer’s table, a designated drop of area or submitted online by 9:15 p.m. that day to be counted. Any catch report received after the 9:15 p.m. deadline will loose ½ of its total value.
6. All general tournament rules apply.

III. Added Entry Levels

Registration for the added entry levels will be held Saturday, August 2nd and Sunday, August 3rd from 12-5 p.m. at Harbour Island Marina. Each boat may be entered into as many skill levels as the anglers feel their capabilities allow.

Each skill level will be independent from the others. Ninety-four percent of the entry fees collected will be awarded as follows:

Levels A, B, C & D:

Level E

Heaviest White Marlin Winner Take All

Level F

Heaviest Blue Marlin Winner Take All

Levels T1 & T2

Level R

Most Release Points by a Boat awarded as follows (no observer required):

Level M

Daily Meat Fish:

In order to enter Level M the boat must be entered in the Non-Billfish Doubler.

Captain

Captain of boat that catches heaviest white marlin – winner take all.

Mate

Mate of boat that catches heaviest white marlin – winner take all.

Non-Billfish Doubler

The tournament will double the listed guaranteed prize money for all non-billfish categories. For example, the angler landing the 1st place Tuna would receive $2000 for the guaranteed prize money plus a $2000 bonus. Each winning fish will count for only one doubling bonus. If an angler lands the 1st and 2nd place Tuna and there is no 3rd place qualifying Tuna, that angler would receive $2000, $1500, and $1000 from the guaranteed prize money plus a $2000 and $1500 bonus. There is no limit to the number of bonus categories an angler may win.

Tuna Bonus

If the boat that catches the 1st place Tuna is entered into the Tuna Bonus category, a $10,000 bonus will be awarded.

In order to enter Level M the boat must be entered in the Non-Billfish Doubler.

Daily Billfish Points

There will be a daily cash award for the most billfish points accumulated by a boat each day. In the event that there is no daily billfish points winner on a given day, that day’s prize money will be divided equally among the other daily winners.

To be eligible for prize money all fish must meet the minimum weights set by the tournament.

A, B, C, D Levels – If no third place qualifying white marlin is caught, that money will be split equally between the first and second place white marlin. If no second place qualifying white marlin is caught, that money will go to the first place white marlin. If no third place qualifying blue marlin is caught, that money will be split equally between the first and second place blue marlin. If no second place qualifying blue marlin is caught, that money will go to the first place blue marlin. If no minimum weight white marlin is caught, that money will go to the blue marlin winners. If no minimum weight blue marlin is caught, that money will go to the white marlin winners. In the event that there is no qualifying white or blue marlin caught the prize money would go to the top three tuna at 50%, 30%, 20%.

E Level – If no minimum weight white marlin is caught, the prize money will go to the heaviest qualifying blue marlin. In the event that a qualifying white or blue marlin is not caught, the prize money will go to the first place qualifying fish in the following order: tuna, wahoo, dolphin, shark.

F Level – If no minimum weight blue marlin is caught, the prize money will go to the heaviest qualifying tuna. In the event that a qualifying tuna is not caught, the prize money will go to the first place qualifying fish in the following order: wahoo, dolphin, shark.

T1 & T2 Levels – If no minimum weight tuna is caught, the prize money will go to the heaviest qualifying fish in the following order: wahoo, dolphin, shark.

M Level – In the event that there is no daily Meat Fish winner on a given day, that day’s prize will be divided equally among the other daily winners for that particular species.

No added entry level fees will be accepted after August 3rd, 2008.