JJSPORTFISH OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT RULES 2025
1.Registration: Entry registration for the tournaments should be completed on CatchStat, the official registration partner of Jimmy Johnson’s Championship Fishing Week. Forms and fees should be paid online on CatchStat, but can also be emailed to info@jjfishweek.com or mailed to Fish Hard Events at 7150 sw 139TH St, Miami, Fl 33158 via a paper entry form provided by tournament officials. Checks are to be made payable to Fish Hard Events. Registrations paid at Tuesday, March 7th Registration and Packet Pick Up Kick Off must be paid by cash, Mastercard, Visa or American Express. Checks will not be accepted on March 7th. Entry fees are not refundable for any reason. For questions regarding registration, call (305) 255-3500.
2.Entry Forms/Online Registration/Eligibility: Entry forms or online registration are to be completed by a representative with appropriate fees and registration information to compete in the tournaments. The entry form can be completed with the assistance of a member of the tournament officials committee or online via CatchStat on behalf of the team. Officials in the Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Championship Fishing Week (JJFISHWEEK) reserve the right to refuse application or entry into the tournaments at their discretion with or without cause. Registration for the tournaments can take place via CatchStat online, through a tournament official who completed the CatchStat registration on behalf of the team, via a paper entry form sent in by email or mail, via a sponsor paying on behalf of a team, or any other form which allows for a team to verbally, digitally, or manually enter to participate into JJFISHWEEK. By registering for the JJFISHWEEK tournament via one of the above ways or through any sponsor of the tournament, the captain, owner, anglers, observers, minors, videographers, photographers, and occupants (“Participants”) of a registered boat are explicitly stating that they have reviewed and consent to the terms below as a condition of participation in the tournaments and all occupants of their team’s boat and any observers, photographers, and spectators will abide by all tournament rules. For 2025, there will be two tournaments coinciding during the JJFISHWEEK event week, JJBillfish Catch & Release and JJSportfish Weighted Tournaments. Teams participating in the JJBillfish Tournament are eligible in 2025 to participate in the JJSportfish Tournament and vice versa. IGFA Rules will apply to both tournaments with the following exceptions listed below.
3.Date & Location: Tournament competition will be held on Thursday, March 6 & Friday, March 7. Tournament kick off, to include registration and boat packet pick up as well as the official captain’s meeting, will be held Tuesday, March 7th at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, Fl. A representative from your team MUST be present at the Captain’s meeting and attendance will be recorded. Wednesday, March 5th will be a pre-fish day . Saturday, March 8th will be the official all day gifting suite experience and overall tournament closing awards bash in the evening.
JJSPORTFISH COMPETITION RULES
39.Eligible Species: Dolphin, Tuna (Blackfin and YellowFin), Wahoo, Kingfish, and Cobia.
40.Maximum Anglers: All anglers must be listed on CatchStat or a list must provided to tournament officials committee prior to the start of tournament competition on Thursday, March 6th to be entered into CatchStat. There is no limit on anglers. Additional crewmembers or mates may accompany the team if desired. Any teams with angler changes or substitutions must notify a member of the tournament officials committee prior to the start of fishing on each competition day in order for the angler to be eligible to participate and for their releases to be counted.
41.Maximum Lines: All boats are permitted to fish up to seven lines in the water in the tournament.
42.Tackle: All fish must be caught on rod and reel. Max test line is 20lbs so teams can participate in both tournaments. The use of wire line is not permitted. No electric reels (except kites, dredges, or downriggers). All teams must follow state, federal, and IGFA rules in regards to hooks. As stated by Federal Law, an HMS permitted vessel must use a non-offset circle hook in the tournament when using natural bait, live bait or dead bait. When using lures, J Hooks are allowed. Gang Hooks and Treble Hooks are not allowed. Double line and leader length must conform to IGFA Rules, depending on the line test you are using. Up to two dredges are permitted in the tournament. No live bait teasers or dredges are permitted.
43.Bait & Bait Fishing: Fishing with live bait is permitted in the tournament; however, live chumming is not permitted. No dead baits (whole or chunk) may be used for chumming. No chumming in any form is allowed. Bait fishing is permitted during the day however, teams cannot be sail fishing at the same time they are bait fishing. The intent of this rule is to prohibit throwing anything in the water to attract fish, whether it is natural or synthetic. The use of glitter in any form is prohibited.
44. Hook & Hand: Hook and Hand is permitted this year with the following stipulations: Once a fish is hooked, it must be immediately handed off to the angler. The angler must then fight the fish to completion until it is properly released, boated, or lost. The hand off can only occur once and happen at the beginning of the fight. A fish is considered to be hooked once a strike occurs and the drag is engaged or the bail is closed. The use of a rod holder to hook a fish is allowable, but not when fighting a fish. The angler who removes the rod from the rod holder must fight the fish to completion.
45. Tournament Channel: JJSportfish teams do not need to call boated fish into the tournament committee throughout the day.
46.Boundaries: ALL Participating boats entered into the JJBILLFISH tournament are limited to the waters off the coast of Florida no more than 35 miles offshore. North Boundary is 26°56.553N, 79°59.622W and the South/West Boundary is 25°00.000N, 80°22.000W. A boat may not exit the boundaries when fighting a fish. Turn on GPS Tracking on your GPS. This may be used to verify the boat stayed inside the boundaries, in the event of a protest. If your tracking is not on or available, you may be disqualified for any day there is no tracking.
47. Prize Structure: The tournament prize structure for the JJSPORTFISH tournament is based on entry in the tournament. General Entry will be paid out by your top 3 fish combined total weight and will be paid for the Top 3 boats. Should any of the top places not be paid out in the general entry, the money will be evenly reallocated to the places that are being paid out. The Optional Entry categories will be paid out 100% of what is entered into those categories and each species optional will be paid out to 2 places. If a species does not have a second place winner, the money will be distributed all to the 1st place of that species. If a species is not caught, the money will be reallocated back to the general entry of the tournament.
48.Check-Out: JJFISHWEEK will not have a land based check-out location. All JJSportfish teams must be within the boundaries at the start of the fishing day. Video is not required. Boats may not deploy any lines in the water until they are within the stated boundaries.
49.Lines-In: 8:00 am on both Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7. No boats may be trailered to or from their fishing locations during the tournament hours.
50.Lines-Out: 4:00pm on both Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7.
51.Check-In/Weigh Station Check Ins and Times: Boats with fish to be weighed must do so by 6:00pm on Thursday and 6:00pm on Friday. There will be 4 official check-in locations open from 4:00PM-6:00PM that will have weigh scales to weigh fish: Ocean Reef Marina Fuel Dock (ORC Weigh Station is for members only. The Bucked Up Energy Boat will be positioned at the point to collect media cards and fish to be weighed), Miami Beach Marina Fuel Dock, Bahia Mar Marina Captain’s Lounge, and Sailfish Marina floating dock. Any changes to the Check-in locations will be announced at the captain’s meeting as well as Dropbox shared details. Check-in locations will be based on the location of where most boats are docked for the tournament. You must have a team representative at the weigh in and check in with the Catch Stat representative by 6:00PM in order for your fish to count. In the event of a line, a waiting list will be started and your fish will be weighed in in the order of arrival. As long as you are checked in by 6:00PM, your fish may be weighed in after 6:00PM. Boats weighing in at the Marina Fuel Docks should drop off their fish with a team member and proceed to their slip. If you are not staying at one of the marinas, please move to a safe area to wait until your fish is weighed. Do not block the fuel dock area. If you drop off at the Bucked Up Energy Boat outside of Ocean Reef before 6:00PM, you will be considered checked in and on time.
52.Weather: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
53.Competition Day: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
54. Flying Devices: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
55. Chumming: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
56.Protests: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
57.Polygraph: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
58.Tournament Discretion: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
59.Release: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
60.Hold Harmless: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
61. Agreement: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
62.Winnings: Same rules apply as the JJBILLFISH Tournament
63. Overall Rules: All weighted fish will follow IGFA Rules unless otherwise stated in these rules. All local, state, and federal laws apply. Video is not required in the JJSPORTFISH tournament. Video can aide the tournament officials committee in the event of a protest, but is not required or requested.
64. Mutilated Fish: Any fish, determined by the tournament committee officials to be mutilated, will be disqualified.
65. Weigh In: All eligible fish must weigh minimum of 10 lbs to count in tournament. Two fish per species may be weighed in each day. Each eligible fish will be award one point per pound.
66. Weigh Station Officials: All decisions of the tournament officials, to include the CatchStat representative and subsequent weigh station management team members at the weigh stations, are final.
67. Prize: A boat may win more than one prize in any category.
68. Overall General Entry –Big Fish Bonanza: The overall general entry is the Big Fish Bonanza which will be determined by the total weight of up to three heaviest fish on any boat and paid out to three places. Less than three fish can win this category. Only two fish per species per day can be weighed. Only two fish of any species can be included in the overall three fish aggregate. General Entry will be paid out by your top 3 fish combined total weight and will be paid for the Top 3 boats. Should any of the top places not be paid out in the general entry, the money will be evenly reallocated to the places that are being paid out.
69. Optional Categories – Heaviest of each Species: Each of the optional categories will be paid out 100% of what is entered into the category. Each team can only weigh in two fish per species each day. Each team must decide which of their fish to weigh in. A fish may count towards the optional categories and the general entry. Should there not be a winner in one of the places in an optional category, the money will be dispersed in that category evenly. Should there not be a winner at all in one of the optional entry categories, the money will be reallocated to the General Entry and dispersed at the tournament committee’s discretion. In the event of a tie, the prize winnings will be evenly reallocated between each team.
70. Prize Winnings: Prize winnings will be paid out as stated under the Prize Structure of the JJSPORTFISH tournament. Should there not be a winner in one of the places in an optional categories, the money will be dispersed in that category evenly. Should there not be a winner at all in one of the optional entry categories, the money will be reallocated to the General Entry and dispersed at the tournament committee’s discretion. In the event of a tie, the prize winnings will be evenly reallocated between each team. Should any of the top places not be paid out in the general entry, the money will be evenly reallocated to the places that are being paid out. The tournament committee has final rights to reallocate the guaranteed purse dollars as they see fit. Payout may be subject to modifications up until the conclusion of the tournament and will be announced before or at the Closing Awards.
Should there be any questions, please contact:
Fishing Tournament Director: Bric Peeples , 305 – 282 – 1006, supersti@aol.com
Event Producer: Fish Hard Events, 305-255-3500, info@jjfishweek.com
