Sebastian Lionfish Fest

Fishing Tourney

Join us for our second annual Sebastian Lionfish Fest fishing tournament! Teams of 1-4 Anglers may register for $125 and compete to harvest the most fish, smallest fish, and largest fish. $3200+ in Cash prizes will be awarded!

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Love to dive but don’t have a boat?

Communication threads have been started on Spearboard.com and Scubaboard.com for those trying to find a boat for the event.

Tourney Schedule

May 18^th
6pm late registration @ Hiram’s
May 18^th
7pm Captains meeting @ Hiram’s
May 19^th
Fishing all day – good luck! Keep fish on ice.
May 20^th
Fishing in morning and weigh-in is from 11am – 1pm at Hiram’s dock

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Discount Tickets!

Teams participating in the Tourney will receive a 25% discount code for cook-off tickets after registering online.

Tourney Forms

Each team member must sign the below forms:

Tourney Rules

The Sebastian Lionfish Fest tournament is scheduled for May 20th, 2017. Please carefully review the tournament rules before registering your team.

Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) eligible for entry, may only be taken during the derby. No previously caught or frozen lionfish will be allowed, however, please keep all lionfish on ice. The Derby allows teams to keep all lionfish presented at scoring station, but encourages teams to donate samples or whole fish for research or market development if an official request is made.
Derby teams must physically check in at either Late Registration (6:00pm) or Captain’s Meeting (7:00pm) on May 18, 2017, to participate in the Derby. The Captain’s meeting will be held at Captain Hiram’s. One team member MUST be present for informational meeting starting at 7:00PM. We highly encourage all team members to attend this meeting to learn more about the event details and up-to-date information on lionfish in Florida. All teams will receive ONE pair of protective gloves and ONE raffle ticket for the Captain’s Raffle.
Team members not attending meeting must sign the Legal Waiver Form and Understanding of Risk Form prior to meeting and have it turned in by team member. If forms are not received from ALL team members prior to tourney those teams members will NOT be considered enteredin the tourney, regardless of whether or not registration fees were paid. Fees are considered a donation to Coastal Connections, Inc. No refunds will be available.
Only legal means of capture in areas allowing use of those gear types will be allowed. This is a lionfish ONLY event.All existing federal, state, and local laws must be followed. State and Federal laws will be strictly enforced. This means capture is allowed near Lagoon bridges as long as fishing off bridge is not allowed. No capture allowed inside boating channels.
Lionfish may be taken by spear, hand net, slurp gun or hook and line. No chemicals, traps or other collecting mechanisms are allowed.
Teams will be limited to a 4 person max, 2 person min. Multiple teams are allowed per boat. To qualify for prizes, participants must be registered and show proper identification.
Protective gloves should be worn when handling lionfish. Participants are encouraged to carry a thermos bottle on the boat containing hot, but not scalding, water for first aid purposes.
Derby hours: All day on MAY 19 and half day on May 20, 2018. All fish must be present at scoring station (CAPTIAIN HIRAM’S DOCK) on MAY 20 between 11:00am and 1:00pm to qualify for prizes.
Prizes will be awarded during the festival portion of the event after 1:00pm for first and second places in categories of most lionfish, largest lionfish, and smallest lionfish. There will also be a first place prize for first-time lionfish hunters, if any new hunters DO NOT make it on the leader board, and any other additional categories as decided by Derby Officials.
Only one winning entry per team will be allowed in each category (no sweeping of a category).
In the event of a tie, the winning team will be determined by the earliest check in of its lionfish at the scoring station.
In the event of a tie and the winning team, as chosen from rules above, has also won two other categories, the winner of the tie will be the team with the second earliest check in time (no sweeping of all categories).
If fewer than 3 entries are received in any category, the remaining awards will be left as unclaimed.
All lionfish must be in whole condition (no missing heads or tails). Largest and smallest fish will be determined by total length of the fish, in millimeters, measuring from tip of snout to tip of tail.
All entrants agree to allow Derby officials and the SEBASTIAN LIONFISH FEST to take and use photos for media and promotional purposes.
The Derby takes place regardless of weather conditions. Captains make their own decision about whether to venture out. The event’s Rain check weekend will be May 26-27, 2018. Derby officials will announce if dates are changed due to weather or visibility.
All cash prizes will be awarded to Team Captain by bank check from Coastal Connections, Inc.
The Lionfish Derby is an honor system tournament with the captain being responsible for team compliance with the Rules.
Anyone found violating Derby Rules by the Derby Officials will be disqualified from receiving any Derby prizes and prohibited from entry in any future derbies.
Decisions of the derby officials are final.

~ PRESENTED BY ~

All proceeds from this event will go towards Coastal Connections, Inc. and their mission to protect coastal habitats through education and connecting people with the environment.

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