2010 SHARKATHON RULES
•Payments
Ø Credit card/PayPal payments will only be accepted during online registration via www.sharkathon.com. Online registration will begin in late August, and end September 15, 2010 11:59 pm or when 750 participants (400 shark, 200 redfish, trout and tarpon, and 150 women’s and children’s entries) have signed up. Participants are advised to print out a receipt of payment, email receipts and registration forms to present at check in.
Ø Sharkathon 2010 dates are set for October 1st – 3rd 2010, in the event park closure, an alternate date has been set for October 22nd - 24th 2010.
All entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferable from year to year. An entry may be sold only if Sharkathon staff is contacted at info2010@sharkathon.com and informed of all parties involved. It is the sole responsibility of the entrant to sell their spot and collect the agreed upon amount between the two parties.
•On-Site Registration & Awards Ceremony
Ø Tournament Check-In will be held at the four-wheel drive sign (approx 4 miles down the beach) on Padre Island National Seashore from 7:00am on Friday, October 1st through noon on Saturday, October 2nd.
Ø At 10:00PM Thursday September 30th at the Sharkathon beach base camp (four-wheel drive sign) a first come first serve numbering system will be deployed in which contestants can reserve their spot in line for the 7:00 AM Friday October 1st start of check in. Each contestant in line will be required to obtain their own number. Each number is only good for one contestant and will not hold a place in line for anyone other than the contestant holding said number. At the time of obtaining the number each participant will be prescreened for all licenses needed to be compliant with TPWD regulations. Contestants must have a valid fishing license, a digital camera, and, if applicable, driver’s license to obtain a number and check-in.
Ø Prior to 6:50 AM contestants will be arranged in numerical order for processing. At 7:00AM Friday Oct. 1st, the numbering system will be discontinued and contestants who did not receive a number must get in line behind the numbered contestants.
Ø All contestants must sign and return a liability release prior to participating in the event. Each release must include name, phone, address, and email (if applicable). Each child must have an adult sign a release allowing them to participate in the event. Each vehicle will be required to fill out a camping permit as per park rules. The permits will be available at Sharkathon base camp.
Ø Catch-Entry deadline is at 2:00pm on Sunday, October 3rd at the Briscoe Pavilion located in Padre Balli Park. LATE ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Sharkathon organizers will begin accepting catch logs at 11:00AM on Sunday, October 3rd . Each participant must submit his or her own catch log to be considered.
•Polygraph rules and information
Ø First place shark division winner will be administered a polygraph exam and other winners may be subject to polygraph at the discretion of tournament directors. Polygraph exams will be administered on site at the awards ceremony. Failure to take the exam will result in disqualification. It is the responsibility of any potential winner to remain at the awards ceremony until the polygraph exam can be given. The estimated time to administer the exam is 1-2 hours.
•Tournament rules
1) You must read and understand the rules of this event.
2) Sharkathon is an individual event. Use of non-participants to any advantage or help with bait deployment from a person not registered in the event will result in disqualification.
3) Participants must abide by State of Texas Rules and Regulations, if driving have a current Drivers License, and have a current TPWD fishing license with all applicable saltwater stamps. Participants agree to be bound by the terms of the Sharkathon Tournament rules and accept disqualification by violating any of said rules.
4) Any contestant cited by park officials or other law enforcement personnel for breaking the law or park rules during the tournament will be disqualified from the event and deemed ineligible for awards to include raffle, door prizes and division prizes.
5) All tournament fish must be caught by rod and reel. No gigging, seine nets, spearing, cast nets, gill nets, or gaffs may be used to capture fish or to aid in landing fish during this tournament.
6) Tournament boundaries are South of latitude 27° 24.940'N and north of latitude 26° 33.913'N. From the South sticks to the beach just north of the Port Mansfield Jetties. All fish must be hooked, fought and landed from the surf defined as beach facing the Gulf of Mexico. Wade fishing is allowed on beach front areas. No fish caught or hooked from the jetties or while in a kayak or floating device will be accepted as a valid entry.
7) All baits must be deployed by a participant in Sharkathon. All baits must be deployed by “human power”. All baits must be deployed by casting, swimming, kayak, hammer throw or surf board. No motorboats, jet skis, PWC, kite boarding or remote control devices will be allowed.
8) The participating angler, without assistance must perform the act of catching all fish. This includes the entire fighting process, from hook set until the process of landing the fish begins. Contestants may have help landing, tagging, photographing, measuring and releasing all eligible species from essentially anyone.
9) To increase the chances for survival of all fish, the use of circle hooks is recommended. All TP&W regulations apply, including size and length limitations. Game fish may not be used for bait.
10) This tournament is a Catch-Photo-Release tournament. Any angler caught wasting game will be disqualified from the event. Any fish that is caught and harvested or that subsequently dies will NOT count for entry into this tournament.
11) Anglers are required to dispose of left over bait fish by one of two approved methods. The angler may take the bait fish past the first sand bar and dispose of them in the water, or bury them at the base of the dunes. If burying is the chosen option, the fish must be covered completely by sand.
12) All photos must be taken at a 90-degree angle from the fish and the angler with the current Sharkathon ruler stretched parallel to the fish to show scale. Any photo that does not meet the requirements will be disqualified and removed from consideration for prizes. Please refer to the detailed Photo Rules & Requirements within your tournament packet for detailed information and example diagrams.
13) All photos must be taken by a digital camera with at least 5 megapixels of resolution. Photos taken with digital video cameras, cell phones (including Iphones, Droids and similar devices no matter what the resolution), Polaroid camera and other non-digital devices will NOT be accepted and catches will be automatically disqualified.
14) Each contestant will be given a data sheet to log catches. This log must be returned to tournament officials prior to the awards ceremony. Incomplete or inaccurate logs will result in disqualification of the contestant. To be eligible, all data must be completed. All catches must be entered on the log and in the event of a tie only catches on the log will be used to determine most caught & released for the tie-breaker. In addition, this log is required to be turned in to obtain door prize tickets for the door prize drawings. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOG ALL ELIGIBLE CATCHES.
15) Tie Breaking rules: Shark/Redfish/Trout/Tarpon (In the event of a tie in shark, redfish, trout, or tarpon the 2nd longest caught, logged, photographed & released catch of divisional species will determine winner, if tied again it will continue down the catch list until a winner can be determined. In the event of an absolute tie, the combined places will split cash prizes equally and merchandise will be split with a coin toss. Most inches will be determined by the angler that caught, photographed & released the longest shark from their total. In the case of an absolute tie a coin toss will determine winner. Women’s/Kids (In the event of a tie in women’s or kids division the 2nd longest caught, logged, photographed & released of any species will determine winner, if tied again it will continue down the catch list until a winner can be determined. In the event of an absolute tie the combined places will split cash prizes equally and merchandise will be split with a coin toss.)
16) Any protests must be submitted to tournament officials in writing within 20 minutes after announcement of winners.
17) All photos submitted become property of Sharkathon, and may be used in future promotional material.
18) Participant Eligibility: The only persons who are not eligible to participate in Sharkathon are active board members. Volunteers helping throughout the year with sponsors and logistics remain eligible. Sponsors and anyone associated with them are also eligible as participants as long as they do not have access to the production of Sharkathon rulers prior to the event.
19) In the event that no eligible fish are caught for a particular division, the tournament pot for that particular division will roll over to the following year. In the event that a division that has 1st - 3rd prizes only has one fish caught all prize money will go to winner. If only 1st and 2nd place are caught then the 3rd place money will be divided equally amongst 1st and 2nd place.
•Tournament Divisions
Ø A participant may only win one prize per division.
Ø Anglers must be entered in a division to win that division.
Ø Only successfully caught, logged, photographed and released fish will count in each category.
Ø Participants in the Shark Division may only be assisted with bait deployment by other participants entered in the shark division.
Ø Participants in Kid’s and Women’s divisions may receive help with bait deployment from other Sharkathon participants, but cannot receive help with bait deployment from non-participants, Sharkathon staff, or Sharkathon volunteers. Participants in the Kid's and Women's division must fight the fish unassisted as per rule #8 of tournament rules.
Shark Division Entry Fee: $100 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest sharks caught and released. Only the longest shark from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest sharks.
Ø A prize will be awarded for the most inches of shark caught during the event. “Most inches of shark” is defined as the aggregate total inches of all shark species caught and successfully released by a contestant. A participant in the shark division may only win one of the top three places, or most inches, not both. If a contestant has placed in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, they are automatically withdrawn from the most inches category.
Ø No outside help by a non-shark division participant is allowed except in the aid of rigging a bait, landing, photographing and releasing a shark. It is understood that a person standing on the beach tending a rod while a participant is deploying bait is exempt from this rule, but said person cannot set the hook on a fish or touch the rod if a fish is on the line.
Redfish Division: $75 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest redfish (longest redfish as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail) caught and released.
Speckled Trout Division: $75 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest trout (as measured from the point of the closed mouth to tip of tail).
Tarpon Pot: $50 per person
Ø An award will be given for the longest tarpon (as measured from the point of the closed mouth to tip of tail). One winner takes all.
Ø If no tarpon are entered in the tarpon division, the pot will roll over to the next year.
Kids Division: $25 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest fish (longest catch of any species as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail with one exception, rays will be measured from wingtip to wingtip).
Ø The maximum age for participation in this division is 15. Kids of all ages may enter the adult divisions, but may not enter both adult and kid’s divisions. Each child must have an adult sign a release allowing them to participate in the event.
Ø The kid's participant must catch their own fish.
Women’s Division: $50 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest fish (longest catch of any species as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail with the exception of rays – they will be measured from wingtip to wingtip) caught and released. Participants entered in the women’s division, may not be entered in any other division. The women's participant must fight the fish as per tournament rule #8
•Door Prizes & Survey Drawing
Ø Each person who submits a catch log will receive one ticket per divisional entry for door prizes. Participants must be present to win door prizes.
Ø Each person who fills out and returns a current Sharkathon Survey will be eligible for a Grand Slam entry drawing into the following year’s tournament. Participants must be present to win this prize.
•Raffle Ticket Rules $5 each
Ø Raffle tickets will be available for sale for $5 each, with no limit on the number of tickets purchased.
Ø The drawing will be held during the awards ceremony. You DO NOT need to be present to win raffle prizes. Raffle ticket numbers are created electronically and each ticket will have a name associated with it. There will be a copy of the list of number assignments available for browsing at check-in and the awards ceremony.
Ø Winners who are not present will be notified by phone and/or e-mail within 7 days of tournament end, and will be required to schedule pickup or shipment of prize. Winners will be responsible for all shipping costs.
Ø Proceeds from raffle tickets are used for donations for multiple causes.
•Finality of decisions
Ø The Tournament Committee will resolve all disputes and their decision is final. Tournament committee or its organizers cannot be held liable for decisions made during judging. This includes but is not limited to prizes, prize money and entry fees.