The Dare County Boat Builders Foundation welcomes you to our 21st Annual Billfish Release Tournament. This is our primary fund-raising event for scholarships benefitting families who live and work locally and are tied to the marine trades of fishing or boatbuilding. A Captain's Meeting will be held at 7 PM at the Tournament Pavilion on Registration Night to go over the rules in detail.
1. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Registration Day: Wednesday, July 24th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
Fishing Days: Thursday - Saturday, July 25th – 27th, count any two (Team's Choice)
Awards Banquet: Saturday Night, July 27th, 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
2. USE OF SONAR:
As more and more boats invest and use Sonar technology, it is time to allow the use of Sonar's in this tournament. Obviously, the Sonar can be an advantage in certain conditions, so in order to level the playing field, there will be a points handicap for all Sonar equipped boats in the Tournament.
For 2024, our Billfish Points will be scored as follows:
White Marlin, Sailfish, Spearfish Release
100 pts non-sonar | 75 pts sonar equipped
Blue Marlin (with video verification)
300 pts non-sonar | 225 pts sonar equipped
Boats with a sonar installed will automatically be in the sonar category. There will NOT be separate Sonar/Non-Sonar categories for Billfish Points in Daily's or Overall Points, and all teams will be scored based on the points schedule listed above. In other words, there will not be two "1st Places" for Sonar/Non Sonar Teams; the Points allocations allow for leveling the field.
3. AWARDS/CATEGORIES: $8,500 Total
Level 1—Mandatory Scholarship Base Level Entry: $2,500
Trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, Overall Billfish Points,
Trophies for Top Angler overall, Top Junior Angler
Gamefish included ONLY if in Level 2 or 3
Level 2—Billfish Points Overall: $2,500
Cash Awards for Top Overall, Billfish Points, 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Split 50/30/20
Level 3—Billfish Daily: $2,500
Cash Award for Top Billfish Points per day
Level 4—Billfish Points: Winner Take All: $1,000
Winner Take All Top Overall Billfish Points
4. MULLIGAN DAY:
There will be three eligible fishing days; count any two, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 25, 26 and 27. Teams can now elect to score any two days at their discretion. Teams will have until 7:00 pm on Thursday and Friday, and 6:00 pm on Saturday to turn in their team's score for the TWO days they wish to count as their Tournament days. All teams will receive two scorecards at Registration, and it is at the Team's discretion as to which days they declare as scoring tournament days; a valid scorecard MUST be turned in before the deadline on the DAY to be counted.
For example: Boat "X" fishes day 1 and has a great day, and they decide to turn in their scorecard as a tournament day. Day 2, they have some bad luck and do not catch many, so they elect NOT to turn in their 2nd scorecard for that day. Day 3, they do well again, and turn in their 2nd scorecard for their 2nd Tournament Day. There are no Lay Day Forms needed for this Tournament, simply turn in your scorecards by the deadline on the days you wish to score.
5. BILLFISH TOURNAMENT:
BASIC RULES:
The Carolina Boatbuilder's Tournament is a Billfish Release Tournament.
Tournament Boundaries - Tournament is 75 nautical miles from Oregon Inlet Sea Buoy
Non-offset circle hooks on all dead baits. J-Hooks or artificial lures only.
Trolling Only - no live baiting or "tinker-dumping"
30' leaders. Release is executed once leader knot passes through the rod tip or mate touches the leader.
Tournament Clock: Time starts on the first day of the Tournament and runs continuously. All ties will be decided by time of catch/release, based on the continuous GPS clock.
Reporting your catch:
All Billfish Releases must be reported on the VHF Radio at time of release. Channel will be designated at 7:00 pm Capt.'s Meeting on Registration Night. No hook-ups need be reported until final minutes of each
Tournament Day.
6. ANGLERS: Anyone can be registered as an Angler in the Carolina Boat Builder's Tournament. Anyone on the boat may hook a fish and pass the rod to an angler ONCE. After that, the angler must fight and release the fish unassisted.
7. POINT SYSTEM:
White Marlin, Sailfish, Spearfish Release
100 pts non-sonar | 75 pts sonar equipped
Blue Marlin (with video verification)
300 pts non-sonar | 225 pts sonar equipped
Grand Slam Points
300 points additional for release of 1 Blue marlin, 1 Sailfish, 1 White marlin OR Spearfish. One Grand Slam Extra Points will be awarded per boat per day.
Video Verification:
Blue Marlin releases and Grand Slam species must all be video verified. Video should be continuous and include the angler, fish, ribbon-of-the-day, and leader going through rod tip or mate controlling the leader. Ribbon color for each day will be announced before lines in.
8. GAMEFISH:
Dolphin, Tuna (Big Eye, Yellowfin, Blackfin) and Wahoo. There will be a Trophy and cash prize of $5000 (based on 30 boat entries) awarded to the heaviest fish of each category.
IMPORTANT: If your Team is registered in the Level 1 Mandatory Scholarship Level Base Entry, AND either the additional Billfish Points Overall OR Billfish Daily category, you are eligible for Gamefish Prizes. You may weigh in a Game Fish to be scored ANY of the three days you may fish, whether declared as a Billfish Tournament Day or not. Fish must have been caught during regular tournament hours and weighed before close of scoring each day.
9. PROTESTS: Any protests must be submitted in writing to scoring desk on the day of dispute. Any dispute will be decided upon by the Tournament Committee, and their decision will be final.