Rules

Teams

Teams must have a minimum of 1 person, and have a maximum of 3 persons.
One team member is to be designated the captain (Fishing Chaos app manager), and is responsible for registering their team on the app/web, and using their mobile device to photograph and submit catches in accordance with the tournament rules.
- Full team attendance is strongly encouraged, but at a minimum, one member must be present at the captain’s meeting as well as the award ceremony or the team will be disqualified. Disqualified teams will not be ranked, even if fish are captured; thus cup scores will be calculated based on ranking of qualified teams only.
Each team must have a designated vessel, no two teams are permitted to fish from the same vessel.

Only fly fishing specific rod and reel are permitted. Rods must be one-handed, and reels must be single action. The rod may not be altered after a fish is hooked, and must remain connected to the reel.
Only fly casting will be permitted, and only artificial fly style lures may be used. Flies are not to be scented with natural or artificial scents of any kind.
There are no specific restrictions on tippet strength, but leader and tippet materials must be of a non-metalic material and have a minimum length from fly line to fly of 7 feet.
A rod broken, above the reel seat, during the fight will not disqualify a caught or released fish.
The presence of conventional, spin, or other non-fly fishing rods and reels onboard participating vessels during the duration of the tournament is forbidden.
The presence of live/dead bait or chum onboard participating vessels during the duration of the tournament is forbidden.

A fly style cast must be made with at least 1 full rod length of fly line outside of the tip. Using the rod to “dangle” flies for fish is not permitted.
Chumming, baiting, or teasing fish through the use of live, dead, or artificial baits (other than the fly used for angling) is not permitted.
The tournament strongly recommends that teams observe all recognized courtesies and sporting practices between boats. It is also considered unsportsmanlike to “guard” or “save” spots, or have any other vessels do this on a team’s behalf.
Scouting of fish by means of aircraft or drone is not permitted, thus neither is filming by means of drone during the tournament.

Boats will be allowed to launch from any location, but must fish within the boundaries defined below.
There is no limitation to the number of times a boat may be launched/hauled during the day, but only team members are permitted to board the vessel throughout the tournament duration.
Lines shall not enter the water prior to 0700 on Saturday.
Only captures that occur and are submitted via the Fishing Chaos app between the times of 0700 – 1600 will be eligible. i.e. A fish captured at 0645 and submitted at 0705 is not eligible, nor is a capture that occurred at 1555 and is submitted at 1605.
Any team not checking in at the award ceremony location at the angler check-in station by 1900 will be disqualified; and thus will not be ranked for cup scoring.
Tournament legal fishing waters will be bounded in the east by a line running north-south through the end of the Pensacola Beach Pier; bounded in the west by a line running from Gulfport Harbor in Gulfport, MS and extending through the north east tip of Cat Island, MS; and bounded in the south by the NOAA charted three nautical mile line.

All fish captured must genuinely attempted to be tagged with the provided tagging kit, photographed on a tournament scale via the Fishing Chaos app, and released to be eligible.
- If number of captured fish exceeds the number of tags supplied, the tagging attempt requirement will be lifted only for those fish captured after all tags have been deployed.
- To protect fish that are too small to withstand the tagging process, fish under 10″ in total length are not to be tagged. The tagging attempt requirement will be lifted for these fish.
Each team shall have a system in place that minimizes fish handling, time out of water, and includes assisted revival to ensure maximum opportunity for survival. Guidance and recommendations will be provided at the captain’s meeting.
Photographs must be taken after tagging with the fish on a tournament provided measuring scale. The fish’s mouth should be closed, and physically contacting the nose stop on the scale. Photos should be taken to include the entire body of the fish, and the tag must be visible.
Fishing Chaos submittal must be made as close to capture location and as quickly as possible after release of fish.
Submittals of photographs depicting fish that are clearly deceased, frozen, have lost color, etc. will be rejected, count as a lost tag, and may be grounds for disqualification.

Powered and unpowered vessels are permitted; however, designated team vessel must be rated for the total number of team members at a minimum.
All team members must fish from the same designated vessel, team members need not all be present for the full duration of tournament. However, any members not on board the tournament vessel shall not be fishing elsewhere.
Vessels shall carry all state and USGC required safety items, and be operated by an appropriately licensed individual.
Only team members shall be permitted onboard vessel during fishing hours (0700 – 1600)

Each team will be provided with a tournament measuring scale, all photographs submitted must be completed using the tournament measuring scale.
Photo submittals will be reviewed by the tournament director and points will be awarded based on length. Fish length will be rounded down to the nearest whole inch. i.e. a 18.75” fish will be awarded 18pts and be considered an 18” fish in the length category.
- It should be understood that this means if a 18.25” fish is submitted by Team 1 Prior to an 18.5” fish being submitted by Team 2; Team 1 will be ranked above Team 2. This is to prevent dispute over ability to determine exact fish length via photograph.
In accordance with state regulations, total length shall be measured with the mouth of fish closed and tail pinched then released. Mouth shall be touching vertical stop of board, and tail of fish shall be pinched and released prior to photograph. Any photographs deemed unacceptable will be rejected or reduced by tournament director during review.
The Fishing Chaos app will contain live leaderboards; however, official and final scoring for all categories and the cup will be determined only after check-in at 1900 is complete and all submittals have been reviewed.

All efforts will be made to keep the tournament schedule fixed, but in the event of extreme inclement weather that could be considered dangerous to those participating, Sunday will be used as a backup day. The captain’s meeting will remain on Friday, and if in question, the final decision will be made at that time

The tournament will be conducted by the tournament director.
Disputes or protests shall be submitted to the Tournament Director and shall be resolved through a unanimous decision of all tournament board of directors members.
The tournament committee reserves the right to change, modify, or clarify rules at any time prior to the start of the Captain’s Meeting for each tournament in order to ensure the event is conducted in a fair and sportsmanlike manner.