Summer Slam 2025 Rules
1.) Registration: This is a 1 day boat entry fishing tournament for Barracuda, Amberjack, Cobia and King . Only one entrant per boat is permitted. There is no number limit on boat team size. Entrants must register for the tournament and pay the non-refundable entry fee of $300, no later than 8pm Thursday August 9th, 2025. Early bird registration by July, 31st 2025 will receive a $50 discount off the tournament entry fee. Members of the Halifax Sport Fishing Club entry have an entry fee of $225. A copy of the tournament rules will be given to each entrant and reviewed during the Captain’s Meeting Aug 7th, 2025 @ 6:00pm @ Halifax Sport Fishing Club. A minimum of one representative from each boat MUST attend the captain’s meeting. Failure to comply will result in a disqualification from the tournament. All anglers (or boats if chartered) must be properly licensed.
2.) Tackle & Equipment: Electric reels are not allowed. All tournament fish must be caught on rod and reel. The use of cast net or sabiki’s is allowed before 6:00 am.
3.) Fish Species & Requirements to be weighed in: Eligible fish - Barracuda, Amberjack, Cobia and King. King Mackerel and Barracuda must weigh at least 10 pounds; Amberjack has a minimum weight of 15lbs. Each boat can weigh 1 fish of each species. All catches must be legal per current state and federal rules.
4.) The winners will be determined by the boat team with the highest total weight which caught all four species. If teams do not catch 4 species, then combined weight of three and then two species determine the winners. In the case of a tie, the first boat to be checked in by Committee Boat in is the winner. Trophy & Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st thru 3rd place boats in total weight. Trophy & Cash for largest fish of each species. A Mystery Weight prize will be awarded to any eligible species weighing closest to the Mystery Weight, not going over that weight. Mystery weight will be drawn at Awards Ceremony.
5.) Tournament Rules: The weighmaster reserves the right to hold and examine internally and externally any fish weighed in as a tournament catch to determine if the fish is eligible for an award. All fish must be fresh and kept in consumable condition. Any fish that has unnatural material in or on it will be disqualified. No mutilated/half eaten fish will be allowed for weigh-in. The tournament committee will determine if a fish is mutilated. **PLEASE REMOVE ALL HOOKS, LURES AND LINES BEFORE TAKING YOUR FISH OFF THE BOAT!
6.) All boats must leave and return via Ponce Inlet. The tournament will be on Saturday August 9th, 2025. There will be no check out time prior to the start of fishing. Boats may leave Ponce Inlet at 12:01am on Saturday, August 9th. No fishing lines in the water before 6:00 a.m. Eligible fish must be caught during tournament hours on a vessel that leaves and returns via Ponce Inlet. A photo of your fish with your boat number must be taken offshore and submitted to 386-868-8759. If the NOAA Weather Service issues a Small Craft Advisory at/or after the 5:00 p.m. forecast on August 9th, the Tournament will be postponed to an alternate date TBA.
7.) Weigh-In: The Weigh-In location will be held at Down The Hatch restaurant. The Weigh Station will be open from 4:00-6:30pm on Saturday, August 9th, 2025. All Boats must check in with the Tournament Committee boat no later than 6:00pm. All fish must come by boat to weigh-in location. Each boat must show their Tournament number to the committee boat and be verbally confirmed by the committee boat on channel #72. The Tournament committee boat will be anchored on the west side of the channel, ~100 yard past no wake sign, across from Down the Hatch. Once a boat has been confirmed and checked in, the captain will turn to VHF channel #69 to contact the Dockmaster. Boats will use the outside leg of the floating dock in front of Down The Hatch. If we have not heard from you and are unable to reach you by 8:30 pm, the US Coast Guard will be notified of a potential missing vessel. Any boat that does not check in will be disqualified. If you don’t have fish to weigh, please check in anyway. It is important for the tournament to know that each boat is back to port with all participants present and accounted for. Send us a text to 386-868-8759 with boat name, number and let us know you made it in safely or we will call your emergency contact and/or the Coast Guard if not heard from!
8.) All fish considered for awards must be weighed in at the official weigh-in station at Down The Hatch Restaurant 4894 Front Street, Ponce Inlet, FL no later than 6:30 pm. All fish must be caught during tournament hours.
9.) Disqualification: If any boats come together or anything is passed between boats, or dock or stops at a dock for any reason after the official start of the tournament and before each boat reaches the weigh dock, you will be disqualified. If any boat is ticketed by an enforcing authority during tournament hours you will be disqualified. However, as safety is of prime importance to the operation of the tournament, exceptions may be granted by tournament management for Emergencies. All boats must remain under their own power and fuel supply for the entire fishing day. A special exception could be granted to a tournament boat lending aid to a distressed boat.
10.) Protest: All protest must be presented in writing to the tournament director at the weigh-in station on the day of the alleged infraction, prior to the closing of the weigh-in station on the day it occurs. A $100.00 cash deposit, refundable if the protest is upheld, must accompany the protest. Tournament management will make all decisions, and their decision is final. If the protest is not upheld, then such deposit will be forfeited to the tournament. Polygraph: Participants in the tournament are subject to a polygraph at the request of Tournament Management. Failure to take or successfully pass such an examination may result in testing the Boat Captain; a second failure results in automatic disqualification of the team. This is at the sole discretion of tournament management. A copy of tournament rules and your boat number must be on-board with you at all times.
Awards Ceremony will be Tuesday, August 12th , 2025 (6:00PM) at Down The Hatch Restaurant 4894 Front Street, Ponce Inlet, FL.
If you have any questions, contact Jim Cecelic at 757-748-2101, or tournaments@hsfc.com. Check for updates on Facebook.
