•Payments
Ø Credit card/PayPal payments will only be accepted during online registration via www.sharkathon.com. Online registration will begin August 5th 2009, the cut off for online registration will be September 15, 2009 11:59 pm or when 500 participants (350 spots are reserved for shark, 150 spots are reserved for redfish, trout and tarpon) have signed up. Women’s and kids entries will be accepted until the September 15, 2009 11:59 pm. Participants must print out a receipt of payment, email receipts and registration forms to present at check in.
Ø Sharkathon 2009 dates are set for September 25-27th 2009, in the event of the park being closed due to inclement weather an alternate date has been set for October 23rd - 25th 2009. All entries and monies paid to Sharkathon are non-refundable. Sharkathon can not be held liable for the weather nor the status of the park and therefore all entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferable from year to year. In the event of a storm closure at the park an entry may be sold only if Sharkathon staff is contacted at info2009@sharkathon.com and informed of all parties involved. There will not be rollovers to the next year’s event. It is the sole responsibility of the entrant to sell their spot and collect the agreed upon amount between the two parties. In the dire event that neither date is possible for the tournament to be held it will be rescheduled at a date to then be determined after collaboration with park staff at the earliest possible date that could be scheduled.
•On-Site Registration & Awards Ceremony
Ø Tournament Check-In will be held at the four-wheel drive sign (approx 4 miles down the beach) on Padre Island National Seashore from 9:00am on Friday, September 25th through 9:00am on Saturday, September 26th.
Ø At 6:00AM Friday September 25th at the Sharkathon beach base camp (four-wheel drive sign) a first come first serve numbering system will be deployed in which contestants can reserve their spot in line for the 9:00 AM Friday September 25th start of check in. Each contestant in line will be required to obtain their own number. Each number is only good for one contestant and will not hold a place in line for anyone other than the contestant holding said number. At the time of obtaining the number we will be pre-screening participants for all licenses needed to be compliant with TPWD to help speed up the processing of each participant during the normally crowded starting time. Contestants must have a valid fishing license, a digital camera, and, if applicable, driver’s license to either obtain a number or check-in after the prescreened number of participants has been processed.
Ø Prior to 8:50 AM contestants will be arranged in numerical order for processing. At 9:00AM Friday Sept. 25th, the numbering system will be discontinued and contestants who did not receive a number must get in line behind the numbered contestants.
Ø All contestants must sign and return a liability release prior to participating in the event. Each release must include name, phone, address, and email (if applicable). Each child must have an adult sign a release allowing them to participate in the event.
Ø Catch-Entry deadline is at 1:00pm on Sunday, September 27th at the Briscoe Pavilion located in Padre Balli Park center beach parking area. LATE ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Sharkathon organizers will accept catch logs before 1:00PM on Sunday, September 27th but not before 11:00AM on Sunday, September 27th.
•Polygraph rules and information
Ø First place shark division winner will be administered a polygraph exam and other winners may be subject to polygraph at the discretion of tournament directors. Polygraph exams will only be administered on site at the awards ceremony. Failure to take the exam will result in disqualification. It is the responsibility of any potential winner to remain at the awards ceremony until the polygraph exam can be given. The estimated time to administer the exam is 1-2 hours.
•Tournament rules
1) Sharkathon is an individual event. Use of non-participants to any advantage or help with bait deployment from a person not registered in the same division will result in disqualification (Excluding Women’s and Kid’s divisions). All winners are subject to a polygraph exam and it is the responsibility of the registered angler to read and understand these rules.
2) Participants and fishermen must abide by State of Texas Rules and Regulations, if driving have a current Drivers License, and have a current TPWD fishing license with all applicable saltwater stamps. Participants agree to be bound by the terms of the Sharkathon Tournament rules and accept disqualification by violating any of said rules.
3) Any contestant cited by park officials or other law enforcement personnel for breaking the law during the tournament will be disqualified from the event and deemed ineligible for awards to include raffle, door prizes and division prizes. Park officials will be in touch with the Sharkathon staff to inform of any and all infractions occurring during the weekend.
4) All tournament fish must be caught by rod and reel. No gigging, spearing, cast nets, gill nets, or gaffs may be used to capture fish or to aid in landing fish during this tournament.
5) Tournament boundaries are from the entrance of Padre Island National Seashore to the beach just north of the Port Mansfield Jetties. All fish must be hooked, fought and landed from the surf defined as beach facing the Gulf of Mexico. Wade fishing is allowed on beach front areas. No fish caught or hooked from the jetties will be allowed for entry. No fish caught or hooked while in a kayak or floating device will be accepted as a valid entry.
6) All baits must be deployed by a participant in Sharkathon (excluding women’s and kids division). All baits must be deployed by “human power”. All baits must be deployed by casting, swimming, kayak, hammer throw or surf board. No motorboats, jet skis, PWC, kite surfing or remote control devices will be allowed.
7) The participating angler, without assistance must perform the act of catching all fish. This includes the entire fighting process, from hook set to the final feet of the battle. Contestants may have help landing, tagging, photographing, measuring and releasing all eligible species from non-participants.
8) To increase the chances for survival of all fish, the use of circle hooks is recommended. All TP&W regulations apply, including size and length limitations. Game fish may not be used for bait.
9) This tournament is a Catch-Photo-Release tournament. Any angler caught wasting game will be disqualified from the event. Any fish caught and not successfully released will NOT count for entry into this tournament. Fish that are harvested will NOT be counted for entry.
10) All photos must be taken at a 90-degree angle from the fish and the angler with the Sharkathon 2009 ruler stretched parallel to the fish to show scale. Any photo that does not meet the requirements will be disqualified and removed from consideration for prizes. Please refer to the detailed Photo Rules & Requirements within your tournament packet for detailed information and example diagrams.
11) Each contestant will be given a data sheet to log his or her catches. This log will be returned to tournament officials prior to the awards ceremony. Incomplete or inaccurate logs will result in disqualification of the contestant. To be eligible, all data must be completed. All catches must be entered on the log and in the event of a tie only catches on the log will be used to determine most caught & released for the tie-breaker. In addition this log is required to be turned in to obtain door prize tickets for the door prize drawings. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOG ALL ELIGIBLE CATCHES.
12) Tie Breaking rules: Shark/Redfish/Trout/Tarpon (In the event of a tie in shark, redfish, trout, or tarpon the 2nd longest caught, logged, photographed & released catch of divisional species will determine winner, if tied again it will continue down the catch list until a winner can be determined. In the event of an absolute tie, the combined places will split cash prizes equally and merchandise will be split with a coin toss. Most inches will be determined by the angler that caught, photographed & released the longest shark from their total. In the case of an absolute tie a coin toss will determine winner.) Women’s/Kids (In the event of a tie in women’s or kids division the 2nd longest caught, logged, photographed & released of any species will determine winner, if tied again it will continue down the catch list until a winner can be determined. In the event of an absolute tie the combined places will split cash prizes equally and merchandise will be split with a coin toss.)
13) Any protests must be submitted to tournament officials in writing within 20 minutes after announcement of winners.
14) All photos submitted become property of Sharkathon, and may be used in future promotional material.
15) Participant Eligibility: The only persons who are not eligible to participate in Sharkathon are active board members. Volunteers helping throughout the year with sponsors and logistics remain eligible. Sponsors and anyone associated with them are also eligible as participants as long as they do not have access to the production of Sharkathon rulers prior to the event.
16) In the event that no eligible fish are caught for a particular division, the tournament pot for that particular division will roll over to the following year.
•Tournament Divisions
1. Shark Division Entry Fee: $75 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest sharks caught and released. Only the longest shark caught, logged, photographed, & released from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest sharks. A participant may only win one prize per division.
Ø There is an additional award for the most inches of shark caught during the event. “Most inches of shark” is defined as the aggregate total of all sharks caught by a contestant. Aggregate total is defined as total inches of sharks caught, logged, photographed and released as per tournament rules. A participant in the shark division may only win one of the top three places, or most inches, not both. If a contestant has placed in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, they are automatically withdrawn from the most inches category. The contestant may not choose which prize they want.
Ø All sharks, regardless of species or size count within this division.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø Any participant entered into the Shark division must deploy their own bait or have their bait deployed by another person entered in the Shark division. No outside help by a non-shark division participant is allowed except in the aid of baiting, landing, photographing and releasing a shark. Any participant using outside help from non-shark participants to their advantage will be disqualified. It is understood that a person standing on the beach tending a rod while a participant is deploying bait is exempt from this rule, but said person cannot set the hook on a fish or touch the rod if a fish is on the line.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
2. “Running of the Bulls” Redfish Division: $40 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest redfish (longest redfish as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail) caught and released. Only the longest redfish successfully caught, logged, photographed, & released from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest redfish. A participant may only win one prize per division.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø Participants in the Redfish division can only be helped in the deployment of bait by another tournament participant.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
3. Speckled Trout Division: $40 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest trout (longest trout as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail). Only the longest trout successfully caught, logged, photographed, & released from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest trout. A participant may only win one prize per division.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø Participants in the Trout division can only be helped in the deployment of bait by another tournament participant.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
4. Tarpon Pot: $25 per person
Ø An award will be given for the longest tarpon (longest tarpon as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail) caught and released. One winner takes all.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø In the event that a tarpon is not caught by any participants in the tarpon division the pot will roll over to the next year.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
5. Kids Division: $25 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest fish (longest catch of any species as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail with one exception, rays will be measured from wingtip to wingtip). Only the longest fish caught, logged, photographed, & released from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest catches. If entered in the kid’s division, said contestant may not be entered in any other division.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø The age limit for this division is 15. Kids of all ages may enter the adult divisions, but may not enter both adult and kid’s divisions. Each child must have an adult sign a release allowing them to participate in the event.
Ø Participants in the Kids division may be helped in the deployment of bait by non-participants. The kid participant must catch their own fish. See tournament rule # 7 for clarification.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
6. Women’s Division: $25 per person
Ø Awards will be given for the top three longest fish (longest catch of any species as measured from the point of nose to tip of tail with one exception, rays will be measured from wingtip to wingtip) caught and released. Only the longest fish caught, logged, photographed, & released from each participant within this division will be eligible for top three longest catches. If entered in the women’s division, said contestant may not be entered in any other division. Women may enter shark/redfish/trout/tarpon divisions but cannot also enter women’s division.
Ø Tie Breaking rules: See above in tournament rule #12
Ø Participants in the Women’s division may be helped in the deployment of bait by non-participants. The woman participant must catch their own fish. See tournament rule # 7 for clarification.
Ø See Polygraph rules and information above.
•Door Prizes & Survey Drawing
Ø Each person who turns in a catch log will receive one ticket per divisional entry for door prizes. Participants must be present to win door prizes.
Ø Each person who fills out and returns a 2009 Sharkathon Survey will be eligible for a Grand Slam entry drawing into the following year’s tournament. Participants must be present to win this prize.
•Raffle Ticket Rules $5 each
Ø Raffle tickets will be available for sale for $5 each, with no limit on the number of tickets purchased.
Ø The drawing will be held during the check-in of the tournament, after the door prize drawing & prior to the awards ceremony at approximately 2:00 - 3:00pm. You DO NOT have to be present to win.
Ø Winners who are not present will be notified by phone and/or e-mail within 7 days of tournament end, and will be required to schedule pickup or shipment of prize. Winners will be required to cover all shipping costs.
Ø Proceeds from raffle tickets are used for donations for multiple causes. A list of any and all potential donations will be listed on the website.