Event Rules
CABO TAG ‘EM TOURNAMENT RULES
As of October 27, 2024
Team Entry Fee is $20,000 USD per team, all monetary amounts mentioned are in US Dollars. There is a strict limit of 30 teams. The general entry will be paid out after 15% to WON and 15% to Mexico Taxes. The remaining amount will be split as such: 1st 60% - 2nd 30% - 3rd – 10%
There will be additional option pools for Day 1 and Day 2 as follows. 85% of base entry and options are paid out after tournament admin fee of 15%. Additional Mexico Taxes will be retained and paid by the tournament directly, the percentage is currently 15% but percentage is subject to change.
Day 1 Daily Options: $5000 - $10,000 - $20,000
Day 2 Daily Options: $5000 - $10,000 - $20,000
General Entry Payout (Two Day Combined Point Total)
• 1st Place Grand Prize: 60% of general entry prize pool
First highest points of Thursday + Friday combined
• 2nd Place Catch, Tag and Release: 30% of general entry prize pool
Second highest points of Thursday + Friday combined
• 3rd Place Catch, Tag and Release: 10% of general entry prize pool
Third highest points of Thursday + Friday combined
TOURNAMENT JACKPOTS:
CATCH, TAG, AND RELEASE | DAY 1 (Most Points)
• $5,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
• $10,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
• $20,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
CATCH, TAG, AND RELEASE | DAY 2 (Most Points)
• $5,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
• $10,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
• $20,000 Daily Jackpot, 85% payout, Winner Takes All / Day
• All winnings to be paid out by wire transfer within 4 weeks of the close of the event.
• All Jackpot entries including team name will be posted on CatchStat.com.
• Jackpots MUST BE purchased prior to or by the end of REGISTRATION DAY for both fishing days.
• All jackpots are non-refundable and cannot be changed.
• If a Jackpot Category is not fulfilled on Thursday, the Jackpot money will be rolled over into the Friday Jackpot.
• If a Jackpot Category is not fulfilled on Friday, the Jackpot money will be rolled into Thursdays jackpots.
• Valid ID, wiring instructions, and necessary tax forms are required to collect earnings.
Entry and Payment Deadlines
• Last Day to Enter: Registration Day until 4pm (If not SOLD OUT - Only participants waiting in line by 4pm may register after 4pm)
• Last Day to withdraw and receive full refund: 2 weeks prior to event start date, and ONLY if a replacement team is found. If payment was done by credit card tournament administration will deduct credit card fee from refund.
Entry Procedure:
• Teams may register and enter the tournament on-line at www.Catchstat.com Teams may also register by email or phone. For details visit www.tagemcabo.com
• To be entered, the Base Entry Fee amount must be paid.
Methods of Payment:
• We strongly advise you pay entry fees before you arrive to the tournament. Fees may be paid in US Dollars by credit card or wire transfers. Or wire transfers (Exchange rate will be calculated at the time of payment).
• Email michelle@wonews.com for wire transfer details.
WITHDRAWAL FROM THE TOURNAMENT - All withdrawals must be submitted in writing 2 weeks prior to Registration Day.
TEAM CONTACT - The Team Contact is the designated team leader; there can be only one Team Contact per team. The Team Contact must know how to reach each member of the team, and the contact information for the Team Contact must be complete and include a cell phone number and email address. Instructions and confirmations are sent to this person. In addition, Team Contact is the person to whom any refunds are made payable.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
REGISTRATION DAY - Wednesday October 30th, 2024
• 12:00pm-6:00pm | Tournament Registration at Tesoro Resort in hallway behind the front desk
• 6:00pm-7:00pm | Captain’s Meeting at Tesoro Resort in meeting room behind front desk
DAY ONE - Thursday October 31st, 2024
• 5:30am VHF 28 Announcements
• 7:00am Horn Blast Start
• 7:00am-4:00pm Tournament Fishing (Lines out at 4:00pm)
• 5:00pm-7:00pm Tournament Catch/Tag/Release documents and video filed, staff will be at the Pisces office balcony if submitting video via memory stick or in-person.
DAY TWO - Friday November 1st, 2024
• 5:30am VHF 28 Announcements
• 7:00am Horn Blast Start
• 7:00am-4:00pm Tournament Fishing (Lines out at 4:00pm)
• 5:00pm-7:00pm Tournament Catch/Tag/Release documents and video filed, staff will be at the Pisces office balcony if submitting video via memory stick or in-person.
AWARDS BANQUET - Saturday November 2nd, 2024
• 4:00PM Awards – Location: Solomon's Landing
General Rules
• Each team can have a maximum of six (6) anglers and minimum of (2).
• Each team can have as many as 3 crew members and 1 captain.
• Each team can have a maximum of two (2) observers, but they may not assist in fishing or spotting in any way.
• All participants must wear a CTI wrist band (included in registration) while participating in the tournament.
• Fishing Licenses are required and can be purchased online or on site at the Tesoro during registration.
• The official start of each day is a “Shotgun Start”.
• Teams may attempt to catch or purchase bait until 15 minutes before the shotgun start.
• All fish must be caught/tagged/released on a hook and line in a conventional sporting manner.
• Fish may be caught by trolling, casting artificial lures and live baiting.
• Passing the rod among up to six anglers on the team is allowed.
• All fish MUST be fought at the STERN of the boat (as seen in the graphic below, behind the red line) and tagged in a professional manner. Video documentation MUST be provided for each Catch/Tag/Release by 7:00pm that evening to CTI staff. WON has the right to disqualify any tagged fish opportunity, IF the video does not show proof of “Good” tag placement and a healthy release.
• No mutilated or dead fish may be tagged at any time. Any mutilated or dead fish may be processed at the crew’s discretion.
• Prize and Jackpot winners will be disqualified if they are not at the shotgun start each of the fishing days. Teams must check in with tournament staff if they are late to start, but must be inspected before departing the Cabo San Lucas marina.
• Lines out at or before 4:00:00 PM. CTT Report Cards, Fish Logs and Video footage MUST be turned in by 7:00 PM at a to-be-determined location each day of the event.
• Should any fishing days be canceled, the other fishing day that is fished per the original schedule will constitute a tournament. No additional fishing days will be added to the tournament due to the cancelation of any fishing day.
• If for any reasons beyond the control of the tournament organizers, the tournament has to be canceled the portion of entry fees and optional jackpot monies that were allocated for cash awards will be refunded to the team minus the 15% admin fee. Teams may choose to roll their refund amount to the next year’s tournament.
Catch-Tag-Release Report Card and Bitácora
• All Catch/Tag/Releases must be recorded on the official Catch-Tag-Release Report tag card after their catches have been called in.
• The Official Time, Species, number of catches, tag and releases must be written on the Catch-Report Affidavit and catch tag report card.
• Team contact /Team Leader as well as the captain must sign the Catch Report Card.
Tackle Rules:
• Rod Quantity Allowed: Unlimited in use or numbers.
• Rod Type Allowed: All traditional types of rods and reels are permitted except for electric reels.
• Teasers: Unlimited in use or numbers.
• Hooks: All tournament participants must use non-offset circle hooks for all species whenever live or dead natural bait is used.
• Baits: Live bait, dead bait, lures, and any combination thereof are permitted in this tournament. Live bait cannot be purchased or received from another boat during tournament fishing hours.
• Bow Casting is permitted, but once a fish is hooked during a bow cast, the fight MUST be moved to the Stern of the boat to an angler. No further bow casting is permitted until the original cast upon fish has been tagged and released or lost.
• Line Weight: 60-pound line maximum.
• All teams MUST use AFTCO 6’ provided tagging sticks and CTI tags provided to qualify. Modifications to the official tournament provided tagging stick are not allowed, with the exception of a rubber band used to hold tag to the tip.
Note: The tournament committee holds the right to examine any tackle, hooks, line and/or leaders at any time during the event. Refusal to allow the committee to examine any tackle, hooks, line and/or leaders will result in immediate disqualification from the event WITHOUT a refund of any jackpot or registration fees.
Crew Rules
• Teams may have as many as three (3) Crew Members not including the captain.
• Crew members are permitted to assist in the hookup but may not fight the fish.
• Crew members may only assist when they can touch the 30’ max length leader.
• Crew members are permitted to assist in the tagging and release of fish.
• Once a fish strikes the lure and is hooked, the crew member must transfer the reel to one of the team members to be fought at the stern of the boat.
Catch, Tag and Release Rules
• Qualifying Catch, Tag and Release fish species are all Billfish (Black/Blue/Striped/Sail).
• Points: – Black and Blue Marlin 5 points
– Striped Marlin and Sailfish 1 point
• All teams must provide their own video camera(s) to verify releases. All video recording equipment must be set to the correct date and time and must be as close to the official tournament time as possible. Teams may only submit one video per catch (There may be more than one release per video only if there are multiple hookups at the same time.)
• Teams MUST call in each catch to tournament control VIA SAT Phone or radio.
• To score an Official Catch, Tag and Release, the one video clip must include sufficient footage to:
(1) Clearly identify the species.
(2) Show a Team Member or Crew member successfully tagging the fish while the fish is still hooked in a proper manner and location on the body of the fish.
(3) Identify the time and date of the tagged release (can be shown with the devices time stamp) and complete logbook entry.
(4) Show the full tag and release of the fish (Cut the leader, take out the hook or break the leader)
(5) Once the video is started it cannot be stopped until all the elements above have been shown in the video. (Each tagged release must be shown in one consecutive video without any cuts).
The video must identify all the elements listed above.
• Teams must turn in their catch, tag and release cards and video footage by 7:00 pm that day at the designated CTI tournament control desk.
The judges will write the team’s name, time, and number of releases on a tournament control board. At the end of the day's fishing, the camera, camera memory cards, must be brought to the designated tournament control desk for verification of Official Release Results. Catch-Tag-Report Affidavit MUST be signed by judges and Team Leader.
• Judges may disqualify any fish if they determine the video does not comply with the rules as specified above.
• The judges will review all Catch, Tag and Release Videos and post the results on Catch Stat. Videos will be reviewed in a closed room and the judge’s decision is final and cannot be challenged.
• Ties will be broken by the team with the earliest video time-stamped/recorded time of the last successful tag of each day for daily optionals, and day 2 for the ties taking place in the general entry pool. This will have to be shown with the time stamp on the video of the last release that team made.
• For the grand prize if there is a tie on the number of fish tagged and released between two or more teams for both days, the winner will be determined by the team that first catches and releases the last fish on Sunday. This will have to be shown with the time stamp on the video of the last release they made on Sunday.
• There is no limit to the number of fish caught, tagged and released.
• If any team for any reason has exhausted all the provided tags, then that team/teams MUST go through the same process but use the back end of the provided tag pole to touch the remaining fish in a proper manner and location on video. Video proof of all exhausted tags being used properly MUST be provided to support this possible situation.
Tournament Boundary Limit/No Fish Zones
• The tournament boundary is 60 nautical miles from the Arch.
PRIZE DISBURSEMENT
Before winnings are paid, each team receiving an award must complete a Prize Disbursement Order specifying how the funds are to be distributed. This form must be signed by each of the team’s registered anglers as recorded on the Entry Form. Decisions pertaining to the distribution of a team’s total purse are the sole responsibility of the team members, regardless of whether an award is published as an individual or team award.
TOURNAMENT PRIZES
(Prizes are presented on Saturday): General entry pot will be paid out to Top 3 overall points leaders after 2 days. Winners are decided based on combined results from both days. The tournament prize payout is 85% of all entries, additionally, Mexican taxes will be withheld from winnings (currently 15%). Options are paid out for each day.
PAYMENT OF AWARDS
All cash awards are paid in US Dollars by either a check or a wire transfer to the team’s designated recipient. Award payments may be distributed in several accounts or checks up to a maximum of 6 total checks or wire transfers.
• If any PRIZE Category is not fulfilled by anyone during both fishing days, the prize money will be rolled over to the following year's tournament.
Mexican Taxes
We are required by Mexican law to withhold state and federal taxes from tournament winnings. The amount can change from year to year but is currently 15%.
PERMITS & LICENSES
It is the responsibility of registered boat captains and anglers to comply with all Mexican Federal and State laws regarding fishing licenses, size limits, bag limits and any other regulations that may apply. This is a requirement of Mexico and is not a tournament rule—permit and licensing infractions have no bearing on tournament results or awards. A representative from the Mexico Department of Fisheries is normally on-site during Registration at all events to sell Licenses and Permits, but this is not guaranteed. Consult the FONMAR website for more information (www.sportfishingbcs.gob.mx).
In consideration for being accepted by the CTI Tournament Organizers for participation in the Tournament the Participants hereby release, forever discharge, and agree to hold harmless the Tournaments., and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, volunteers, partners, members, and/or attorneys (collectively the “Releasees”) for any and all losses, claims, or demands of any kind whatsoever arising from the negligence of the Releasees or from any other cause connected with, or occurring during the Tournament. The Participants expressly acknowledge that he/she has received, reviewed, and agrees to abide by the Tournament Rules and this Release. Furthermore, the Participants expressly acknowledge that activities relating to deep sea fishing are extremely dangerous and involve the risk of serious injury or death. Having so acknowledged, the Participants hereby assume full responsibility for the risk of bodily injury or death due to the negligence or gross negligence of the Releasees or any other cause connected with or occurring during the Tournament.
Rules for the Cabo Tag ‘Em Invitational (abbr. CTI), including published rules in print or on the Tournaments website (www.tagemcabo.com), are subject to change without notice. Additional instructions are given at the Captains’/ Anglers’ Meeting for the event, where attendance by at least one team member is mandatory. It is the sole responsibility of the participating anglers, captains, crews and guests (“Participants”) to know and abide by the Tournament Rules. By entering the CTI and paying the entry fee, Participants agree to abide by the Tournament Rules and accept the decisions made by the Tournament Organizers as final.
All disputes, protests, claims, differences, or controversies relating to any aspect of the Tournament, including, without limitation, Tournament Rules, must be submitted in writing to the Tournament Organizers no later than three (3) hours following the official closing of the Tournament on the day the supposed infraction occurred. All such disputes shall be ruled on by the CTI Tournament Organizers and shall be final and binding upon all parties.
The Participants specifically agree that any photograph, motion picture, or audio recording in which they appear or are heard in, may be used by CTI organization for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, resale, advertising, and promotional material without compensation or restriction of any kind.