Championship Rules

1.  Winners shall be determined by the highest two fish, combined aggregate weight.  *A team does not have to weigh two fish to be eligible for prizes.
2. The first eligible fish day will be Friday, November 14th, but due to weather consideration, the actual fish day can extend all the way until the Sunday of the following week.  The fish day will be determined by the director based on best judgement for teams to fish in the best fishing conditions.  A minimum of 36 hours notice of the fish day will be given to each championship team.
3. Boat inspections will take place from 5:30am to 6:30am at the OIFC docks.  No participant may refuse or impede a boat inspection or they will be disqualified. Boat inspections and check-out from OIFC docks.  Once checked-out, teams should proceed through Shallotte Inlet and wait outside the inlet within 500 yards of the last markery buoy.  There will be a shotgun start at roughly 7:00am.  Teams should also monitor VHF 72 for the “GO” signal.
4. Boats will be checked-in at  the base of the Ocean Isle Beach bridge by 4pm.  Any boat arriving prior to 4pm may go straight to the weigh dock.  The check-in boat will be located at the base of the Ocean Isle Beach bridge.  Your number must be displayed and be readable by the 4pm cutoff. ***  NEW FORMAT FOR WEIGH-IN ***  When you come to the OIFC dock on each day of weigh-in, you will have the single fish you plan to weigh in your fish bag, iced well.  A tournament official will have a security tie that will be wrapped to each zipper on your fish bag to keep the bag from being tamped with, and the tag will have a unique ID number.  Your bag will be placed in a secure location with the other team's fish bags.  All locked and all uniquely identified with the locking tag ID number.  At 7pm, all teams will gather at the OIFC for an Oyster Roast and other light eats, where each team will one-by-one, unlock their bag, and present their fish to be weighed.  ** NOTE ON FISH BAGS- Every team must present their fish in a fish bag that has a working zipper so that it may be sealed and secured prior to weigh-in.
5. A mandatory polygraph will be administered to Kingfish Cup Championship winners.  The test MUST be taken within one hour of the last fish being weighed.  It is mandatory that EITHER the Captain or Co-Captain NOT CONSUME ALCOHOL within four hours prior to this testing.   The tournament may choose to polygraph more than one member from a team.  Any refusal to take the polygraph by a team member or if any team member fails the polygraph it is grounds for disqualification as decided in final by the Kingfish Cup Rules Committee. 
6. The Kingfish Cup registered Captain OR Co-Captain MUST be on the boat to fish the Championship.
7. A "hand-signal" photograph must be sent to Kingfish Cup headquarters by text message by no later than 1 hour after the close of weighin.  The picture must:  1)  Have the Capt. or Co-Capt. in the picture, 2) Show a fresh, just out-of-the-water fish, 3) At least on person in the picture must display the unique hand-signal for that day's fishing.
8. Boundaries:  Swansboro to Georgetown.  You must be WEST of GPS line 76 55 00 and EAST of GPS line 79 10 00
9. No mutilated fish will be weighed. A mutilated fish is one in which the injury impacts the fish’s ability to fight. Hook and gaff punctures are acceptable.
10. Official tournament time is determined by GPS time.
11. A replacement boat will not be authorized after tournament fishing hours have begun each day.
12. All fish must be weighed in from the boat in which they were caught. No overland transport of fish to weigh station will be allowed.
13. A boat may not make landfall during tournament competition hours.  A crew member may exit the boat during competition hours so long as landfall is not made.  No person and no thing may be added to the boat during competition hours.
14. Tournament will monitor VHF Channel 72. During weigh-in, all boats should monitor tournament channel to receive instructions
15. Any fish weighed-in found to contain lead or any other foreign matter, including ice, will be subject to disqualification as decided by the tournament committee.
16. All protests made to the tournament committee shall be accompanied by $250 cash. All protests shall be made no later than one hour after the last fish has been weighed on each weigh-in day. The $250 cash deposit will be returned if the protest is upheld by the tournament committee The $250 cash deposit will become property of the Kingfish Cup, if the protest is not upheld. All decisions of the protest committee shall be final.
17. Prizes are awarded solely on the basis of fish weight. In the event of identical aggregate ties, the winner wil be determined by the team with the largest fish.  For big-fish ties, the fish with the earliest weigh-time shall be declared the winner.  (ID tags are numbered in order and thus lower tag numbers indicate and earlier fish drop off)
18. Two (2) or more boats congregating during fishing hours may be disqualified.  Safety consideration is the only reason this rule can be overridden:  The boat recieving assistance will be disqualified and the boat giving assistance will be allowed to continue.
19. If a boat has to be towed or recieves assistance for any reason, it will be disqualified from competition for the day.
    
20. All fish must be caught on rod & reel. The maximum number of lines out at any one time is seven(7).
21. Violation of any of the tournament rules shall constitute grounds for automatic disqualification from the tournament. The Tournament Committee shall be the sole judge of any violations of the rules and their decision shall be final.