Fun Outdoor Activities in South Florida

Official Rules

Entry Fees and Payments
An Entry Fee of $125 per person with a minimum of two anglers per team is required to fish the Tournament. All entry fees are NONTRANSFERABLE and NON-REFUNDABLE, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Registration and Captains Meeting
Registration will be open until 5:00 p.m. local time the day before the event followed by the Captains meeting/reception at 6:00 p.m. All teams are expected to attend the Captains Meeting and sign in at the designated time and location. If a team is unable to attend a Captains Meeting due to valid emergency reasons, they may designate an alternate to draw their number and attend in their place. In addition, they must contact the Weigh Master. A designated alternate may not represent more than 2 teams at a Captains Meeting. Teams agree that it is their own responsibility to find out what was discussed at the Captains Meeting. No team may fish or have anyone fish or scout for them after 7:00 p.m. the day of the Captains Meeting.

Federal, State, and Local Laws
All competitors are expected to obey all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and laws. Violation of such rules may result in your disqualification from the tournament. Repeated or flagrant violations will result in said competitors being banned from future participation in Plantation on Crystal River tournaments.

Sportsmanship
Competitors in the Plantation on Crystal River tournament are expected to follow high standards of sportsmanship, courtesy, safety, and conservation. Any infraction of these fundamental sporting principles may be deemed cause for disqualification. Maximum courtesy must be practiced at all times, especially with regard to boating and angling in the vicinity of non-competitors who may be on tournament waters. Evidence of chemical or substance addiction or abuse, conviction of a felony or other crimes involving moral turpitude, or other conduct reflecting unfavorably upon the POCR's efforts to promote safety, sportsmanship, and compliance with tournament rules shall be grounds for rejecting any application for participation and for disqualification. Any act deemed by the Tournament Director that gives a team or angler an unfair advantage not specifically covered under this set of rules shall be grounds for disqualification. Any violation by an angler deemed intentional or preconceived by the Tournament Director to gain an unfair advantage would be grounds for permanent disqualification.

Participation and Eligibility
Any person under the age of 18 must have written consent from a parent or legal guardian. The Plantation on Crystal River reserves the right to refuse participation in the event to any individual or team at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

Safety
Safe boating will be observed at all times. The Tournament may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe weather or water conditions. The decision to shorten or to cancel will be left totally to the discretion of the Weigh Master. A 4-hour period shall constitute a day of fishing.

Permitted Fishing Methods
All fish must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner. Only one fishing rod may be used at a time per angler. A cast must be fully retrieved before an angler may pick up another rod. Foul hooked fish shall not be weighed during competition. A foul hooked fish is defined as a fish that does not have at least one hook in its mouth, and it must be released. Competitors may not catch fish or weigh in fish that have been caged or confined in an area prior to the tournament.

Permitted Fishing Locations
Competitors may fish anywhere on tournament waters accessible to the public by boat, except in areas designated as “off-limits” or “no fishing” by private ownership or local, state, and federal officials. Competitors may not fish within 50 yards of a competitor’s boat that was in a location first and anchored. (An anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight, push pole, Power Pole, etc., with the trolling motor in the up position). If the boat does not have a trolling motor the definition of anchored still applies.

Information
Tournament competitors may share information with each other up to and after competition hours. However, no communication between teams whatsoever is allowed via cell phone, VHF radio, pager, or any electronic device during competition, except for a medical emergency.

Teams
Teams are prohibited from discussing any fishing-related information with anyone via electronic means during the tournament hours. Use of social media, websites, or other electronic devices to obtain and use information as a means to catch fish is prohibited.

Competitors must remain in the boat
All angling must be conducted from the boat. At no time may a contestant leave the boat to land a fish or to make the boat more accessible to fishing water. Contestants must leave and return to the official checkpoint by boat. No tournament boat may be loaded on the trailer before the weigh-in except with the permission of the Weigh Master. In the event of equipment failure, anglers must call a designated number to report their need for assistance while calling for towing assistance. There will be only 2 permitted methods of returning to the official check-in: (1) by both partners remaining in their boat and being towed by water (a commercial licensed tow company may be utilized, or another team may tow a fellow competitor); (2) by one or both competitors entering the boat of another tournament contestant (fishing by all competitors involved in the rescue must cease at this time). Competitors are responsible for colored tie wrap or suitable material for marking and distinguishing their catch. Under these 2 conditions, the contestants catch may be counted without a penalty (except for late penalties, dead fish penalties, or other penalties pertaining to other tournament rules). Competitors who elect to return to the official check-in by any other means than cited above will forfeit their days catch to that point in time of the tournament day. Any competitor returning to the check-in point will be eligible to restart and resume competition only under the supervision of the Weigh Master or his designated tournament official. It is the sole responsibility of contestants to locate the Weigh Master or official to request a restart. Failure to render assistance when requested in an emergency is cause for immediate disqualification. Teams rendering assistance must communicate to the tournament official the boat number of the assisting boat and the assisted boat at the time commencing aid.

Official Checkpoints
No official morning checkpoint, boats can start fishing at safe light. There will be only one official checkpoint for boat checks in the afternoon. All fishing must cease upon check-in. Teams that experience equipment failures may have them repaired and check out late for an event. However, it is the team’s responsibility to find and notify the Weigh Master or tournament official in order to check out. All running lights must be in place and working at the time of launch.

Late Penalty
Any late teams will be automatically disqualified.

Scoring
Tournament standings, auxiliary awards, and final winners shall be determined by the total weight measured in pounds and 100th of a pound of each team catch during the tournament.
Redfish/Red Drum will be weighed and the limit shall be 2 fish per team.
Grouper will be based on the largest single fish of red, black, or gag grouper species.
Trout will be based on the total length of a 5-fish aggregate using the iAngler app. Tournament Code will be available at the captains meeting and in the captain’s packet handed out Friday night.
The prevailing rules as set forth by Plantation on Crystal River along with federal, state, and local statutes and regulations bind all competitors. Competitors will at no time have in their possession in the live well more than the tournament limit of fish. Tournament official length for all fish will be according to the state laws in the state in which that event is being held. All fish will be measured with a pinched tail with mouth closed. Any fish that appears to have been penned, mangled, mashed, mauled, or otherwise altered will not be weighed at the discretion of the Weigh Master.

Live Fish
Every effort must be made to keep redfish and trout alive. When transporting fish to weigh-in angler must ensure one fish per bag. An 8-ounce penalty will be deducted from the weight per dead fish presented for weigh-in. Dead fish possessed by a team of tournament anglers may not be discarded. No mutilated or iced fish shall be accepted. Any alteration of length or weight of fish is prohibited, and team will be banished from any future tournaments. All fish that are presented to the Plantation for measuring become the property of the Plantation.

Boat & Team Identification
Prior to tournament start, a number will be given to each boat. This number must remain with the boat during tournament competition, and be turned in before weigh-in.

Tackle & Equipment
Only one casting, spin casting, spinning rod, and reel or fly rod (10-foot maximum length from butt of the handle to rod tip) may be used at any one time per angler. Be prepared to show your current fishing license, at registration, from the state in which the tournament is being held.

Communications
A VHF radio is recommended for all tournament vessels. The VHF may be mounted or portable. The use of mobile communication devices such as cellular telephones, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CBs, pagers, or any electronic device to obtain and use fishing information from anyone during tournament hours is strictly prohibited. Communication among anglers is allowed on the water only by non-electronic methods. Medical emergency calls may be made and then a tournament official should be contacted.

Ties
Ties shall be broken by the largest fish for the event for the redfish and trout. For grouper, a tie will be broken on length. In the event there is still a tie, the prize money will then be split. The team with the heaviest single fish shall receive precedence.

Polygraph
Each competitor who fishes the POCR Tournament agrees to submit to a polygraph examination at a time and location as determined by the Tournament Director following the end of the competition in each tournament and abide by its conclusion. Failure to pass the polygraph will result in disqualification.

Protest & Reporting Procedure
All protests must be submitted in writing along with a $200 cash deposit within 15 minutes of the last check-in to the Weigh Master or designated tournament official. The protester also agrees that if there is a question of verifying the charge of a protest that he or she also may be subject to take a polygraph and agree to testify in a court of law if necessary. If the Tournament Director or polygraph upholds the protest, the cash deposit shall be returned to the contestant submitting the protest. Each competitor agrees to report any rule violation to the Weigh Master immediately upon discovery of the violation.