1. Tournament Rules 
All participants must be members of a club affiliated to either the IGFA or the GFAPNG and all fishing will be strictly in accordance with the rules laid down by these organisations. 

2. Tournament Waters 
The tournament waters are the Lae Game Fishing Club designated fishing waters, as per the Constitution of the LGFC. A map is included in each team kit.

3. Line Categories 
Line classes and sections will be as follows: 

Ultra Light  Light  Medium Heavy

lkg, 2kg, 3kg, 4kg 6kg, 8kg  10kg, 15kg  24kg, 37kg, 60kg

Junior Anglers may only fish on ultra light, light and medium tackle.

4. Scoring –Weighing
Points scoring will be calculated by dividing the weight of the fish by the line class and then multiplying by the fish factor as indicated:
Billfish   150 
Game Fish  100 
Sharks   50 
To weigh, all marlin must be a minimum of 3 x line class and sailfish must be a minimum of 2 x line class - e.g. A marlin on 24kg line class would need to weigh 72kg to be eligible for weighing points. All other fish must score minimum 50 points.

5. Scoring - Tagging 
The following points will apply for tagging: 

LINE CLASS	MARLIN – BROADBILL	SAILFISH	SHARKS
1kg	3000	2500	350
2kg	2500	2000	300
3kg	2000	1600	250
4kg	1500	1200	200
6kg	1300	1000	175
8kg	1100	800	150
10kg	950	700	125
15kg	800	550	100
24kg	700	400	70
37kg	600	300	50
60kg	500	250	30

No limit to tagging numbers for the above. 
A limit of 5 tags per angler per species for: 
 

Dogtooth Tuna	60 points	Barracuda	30 points
Bluefin Tuna (All)	60 points	Large Scale Tuna	30 points
Cobia	60 points	Tripletail	30 points
Wahoo	60 points	Yellowfin Tuna	25 points
NB Mackerel	50 points	Skipjack Tuna	25 points
Dolphin Fish	50 points	Mackerel Tuna	25 points
Queenfish	40 points	Rainbow Runner	25 points
All Trevally	30 points

Tag points shall be treated as being an entirely separate category to points earned by actually weighing fish and shall only accrue for designated tagging prizes. In addition to normal tagging information, all tag cards presented to the Weighmaster must show the line class and time of capture. 

6. Teams and Rods
Each team shall consist of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 anglers. They shall be limited to a maximum of 2 days fishing which need not be consecutive. All members of a team must fish on the same boat and on the same days. There is no limit to the amount of rods that may be fished, however in the event of multiple hookups, the first rod picked up by each angler will be the only one eligible to score on. 

Local Anglers will be required to fish the first weekend and during the week 23rd – 29th March and reserve the second weekend, 30th and 31st March for the visiting anglers. Any variations to this will be at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. 

7. Radios, Safety Equipment and Reporting
All boats must be able to receive and transmit on 27.95 MHz and/or VHF Channel 83 and must maintain contact with the Tournament control base directly or by relay through another boat at every sked. The first daily radio sked will be at 0630 hours and then every hour, 0730, 0830, etc. (Advise grid location and score i.e. strikes, hookups, landed, tagged.) Boat skippers must sign "on" on departure and "off" on return, both by radio to Lae Base and by hand in the LYC Departure Log. In the departure radio call skippers are required to advise Team name, Angler names and Angler numbers. 
Boats which miss two consecutive radio skeds (directly or by relay) may be liable to disqualification. Where reasonable concern exists for the safety of any vessel a search may be instituted. Variation to communications requirements will be made for boats outside range of 27MHz & VHF (who should communicate via Satphone or HF if available) at the discretion of the committee.

Boats must be equipped with safety equipment as required by the Lae Yacht Club (Schedule attached). 
All billfish hook-ups and landings must be reported immediately to the Tournament Control Base (Lae Base). Details of any team’s first scorable non-billfish captured/tagged fish (important in the event of a countback, see Rule 15), plus those of any meritorious fish landed or tagged, must also be reported at the time of capture. 

8. Times
(1)  Definitions 

Weigh Station	Situated at the Lae Yacht Club marina. A boat has arrived at the Weigh Station when it has passed an imaginary line between Voco Point and the eastern corner of the marina.
Weigh In	On all days except the last day - 1900 hours*. (* - see Cl. 8.(2) Rules)  On the last day (Sunday) - 1800 hours, absolutely no exceptions.
Lines In	Time at which fishing may commence - 0600hrs
Lines Out	1800 hours or at the latest time at which your boat can depart your fishing location and travel at normal speed to reach the Weigh Station by Weigh In.

(2)  Rules 
On their first fishing day, teams may depart from anywhere outside Lae. Team captains are responsible for ensuring that the Tournament Committee is directly advised of their intentions to do so, together with team & angler names,  fishing date and communications arrangements, prior to departing Lae (or other port, as will be the case with visiting boats ‘fishing in’). Boats will otherwise depart Lae Yacht Club. Boats may depart at any time after 0500 hours. 
Fishing times will be from Lines In to Lines Out each day. Boats with eligible fish must arrive at the Weigh Station by Weigh In time. This applies to all boats including those who started from alternate locations. 

Other than on the last day, fish hooked up prior to Lines Out may be played until the fish is either landed or lost, provided the hookup and location were reported to, and acknowledged by, Tournament Control prior to that boat's Lines Out time. The loss or capture of such hookups must be reported immediately to Tournament Control. After that, in these circumstances, Weigh In timing will be extended beyond 1900 hrs to allow safe passage of the boat and anglers. 

9. Weighing
All captures will be weighed on the day of capture by a Lae Game Fishing Club Tournament Weighmaster on arrival of the fish at the Lae Yacht Club Weigh Station. However, fish landed under Rule 8(2) Paragraph 3 will be given dispensation after 2400 hours at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. All fish presented for weighing must be identified by an aluminum or plastic tag marked by indentation and wired to the dorsal or tail fin. The following information is required: 
Angler’s name and number.
Line Class. 
Boat Name. 
In the case of tagged fish, fully completed tag cards must be handed to the Weighmaster (refer to Clause 5.). 
All anglers are required to submit to the Weighmaster, upon request, the lure, leader, double line and rod and reel to verify conformity to IGFA rules. For any fish caught that may be subject to National or World record claims, it is required that the leader/lure, double and at least 50 feet of main line remain intact and be presented with the fish at the time of weighing. The Weighmaster reserves the right to investigate any and all tackle on a boat to see that it conforms to IGFA rules. 
Mutilated fish will be treated in accordance with IGFA rules. 
All fish weighed and presented for weighing become the property of the Lae Game Fishing Club and will be disposed of for charity. 

10. Prohibitions 
(a)  Fishing within 100 meters of any fish trap or commercial or village fishing activity. 
(b)  Passing live bait between boats. 
(c)   Tying or anchoring to a FAD. 
Note: Lae Game Fishing Club recognized FAD's are excluded from Prohibition (a.) above and may be fished as per normal fishing activities.

11. Transfer of Fish/Angler
(a) Transfer of Fish 
Where a breakdown occurs, the fish may be transported to the Weigh Station by another vessel, provided that the angler and tackle used accompany the fish and arrive at the Weigh Station by the specified deadline. Any such alternate transport of anglers and their fish will be at the sole discretion of the skipper of the boat providing the alternate means of transportation. 
(b)  Transfer of Angler 
In the event of an angler having a fish in play and there being dangerous sea conditions, boat engine failure or reasonable consideration for the transfer to another vessel of the angler fighting the fish - providing it is approved by the Tournament Committee and done in accordance with IGFA rules - it will be allowed. Boat points shall be split 50/50 to either vessel. 

12. Protests 
Any protest relative to captures must be submitted in writing to the GFAPNG representative on the Protest Committee by 2000 hours on each day of fishing. If a disputed fish is still in play at Lines Out, then within one hour of weigh in. On the last day, Sunday 31st March, protests must be submitted by 1830 hours. 
The Protest Committee shall consist of the Tournament Director (or his nominee from the Titles Committee), a representative of the IGFA (if none is available then a representative from the Host Club Committee) and a representative of the GFAPNG. 

13. Boat Prizes 
All boats, including those on charter for the Tournament are permitted to win the listed boat prizes. The winning boats will be determined by their best 2 days of fishing recorded for the whole tournament (not necessarily the best 2 days by any one team).

14. Overseas Angler 
Must be a non-resident of PNG whose permanent domicile is in another country (PNG students attending overseas facilities and returning to PNG on holidays do not qualify). 

15. Time Clause 
In the event of a tie for any prize category, and depending on the availability of prizes, the Tournament Committee reserves the right to revert to award the prizes on a count-back basis as follows:
(a)   Billfish Prize Categories 
  First fish landed.
(b)  All other Prize Categories 
  First scorable fish landed/tagged notified under Rule 7.

15. Captures Defeating Lae Game Fishing Club Records 
During the National Titles and in accordance with GFAPNG rules, all registered anglers are deemed to be members of the Lae Game Fishing Club with respect to claims for Lae Game Fishing Club records. (All captures will be checked against current record files and new records will be notified automatically).