St. Pete Open Spearfishing Tournament 2024

World Largest SpearFishing Tournament

Attention all spearfishing enthusiasts! The highly anticipated St. Pete Open Spearfishing Tournament is back for 2024, and it’s set to be bigger and better than ever. Join us for an unforgettable weekend of thrilling underwater action, camaraderie, and competition. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a passionate newcomer, this event is your chance to showcase your skills and connect with fellow spearfishing aficionados.

Taking pride in our culture

The SPUC, as it is known, was founded in 1952 by an avid group of divers who shared a great enthusiasm for the sport of spearfishing. The St Pete Underwater Club is one of the oldest and best-known dive clubs in the United States. For over fifty years, club members have competed in and won National events, promoted and organized tournaments, and actively campaigned for fair legislation for divers and fishermen alike. We strive to educate the public, teaching that spearfishing is one of the most environmentally sound fishing methods.

We continue to work with fisheries managers, lending our first-hand knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico and its denizens.

Our proudest endeavor is the St Pete Open, which is hosted and run by our all-volunteer membership. The St Pete Open is the world’s largest spearfishing tournament. Many of the largest fish ever entered in a spearfishing event have been brought in to the St. Pete Open. At a typical SPO, we enjoy the company of roughly 300+ participants, with spectators numbering in the thousands.

SPO 2024 Tournament Rules & Regulations

Registration Cost and Dates:

Early registration ends: 7/01/2024 ($125) General registration ends: 7/31/2024 ($145) Late registration ends: 8/15/2024 ($160)
Last minute registration: 8/16/2024 ($175) JUNIOR SHOOTERS (Aged 17 OR UNDER); ($75) Tournament Cap:

The St. Pete Open will accept 300 public (Non-St. Pete Underwater Club Members) registrations. It is highly recommended that each shooter registers as early as possible to ensure entry. Registration will close once 300 public entries have been received. Only those who have completed the on-line registration via Fishing Chaos are considered registered and may participate. If you do not Register by the Kickoff party, there is no guarantee that you will receive the requested size shooter shirt and/or shooter bucket.

NOTE: The tournament shooter limit may be reached prior to the captains meeting. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE CAPTAIN’S MEETING TO REGISTER.

Captains Meeting:

One tournament participant from each boat/crew/team must be present at the Captain’s Meeting Friday night. An attending tournament participant may pick up a max of 5 shooter bags for others shooting on the same boat only. No boats are permitted to leave port prior to Captain’s Meeting. Failure to check in and claim shooter bags will result in disqualification. There will be no reimbursements for the tournament fees once paid by the participant. No exceptions.

NOTE: Last Minute Rule Changes may be instituted at the Captain’s Meeting.

Tournament Harvest Times:

This tournament is a one-day tournament. Harvest may begin on Saturday at 12:00 A.M. Harvested fish must be in the weigh-in line on Saturday by 8:00 PM. (20hrs.) No eligible species may be harvested prior to Saturday 12:00 A.M. (the day of the tournament) and may not be in the possession of the participant (on the boat, cooler or any other location where the participant is or has been before the tournament or can access the day of the

tournament). Fish must be presented in a manner that is consistent with a fish harvested on the same day of the tournament. Fish must be gutted, well iced, free of debris, dirt and any other substances and should be suitable for human consumption. Non-compliance with the above may result in disqualification. There are no boundaries for this tournament.

Methods of Harvest:

This is strictly a spearfishing tournament. Both tank and freediving are permissible. To be eligible, fish must have been caught by the participant using a spear loaded or propelled by his/her own muscle power. Lobster may be grabbed, snared, or netted per Florida Law Enforcement and Federal regulations. “Powerheads” are not allowed to harvest any eligible species; if suspected, the fish shall be inspected by the weigh crew, and at least one current SPUC Officer. The shooter shall be disqualified if it is determined the fish was taken with a power head. NO EXCEPTIONS! Hook and Line caught fish may NOT be entered.

Categories:

There are 8 categories for this tournament. Each registered shooter may enter only ONE fish in each category. Fish MUST be sorted & separated for each competitor prior to presenting fish to the weigh-in crew. Eligible fish sizes are based on Gulf of Mexico Federal Rules, all lengths are minimum required. Fish below the eligible length limit will not be weighed. Shooters submitting short fish at the weigh in line may be disqualified. FWC will be present at weigh-In as they have been in the past. Short fish may be subject to prosecution by FWC. So do not bring any undersized fish to the weigh-In line!

1. Black Grouper – (24” minimum overall)
2. Grouper – Yellowfin, and Yellowmouth (20″ minimum) Scamp (16″ minimum Gulf,

   20″ minimum Atlantic), (No Goliath, Warsaw, Yellow edge, Coney’s or Hinds).

3. Snapper – Gray (Mangrove), Cubera, Dog, Schoolmaster, Yellowtail (12″ minimum)

   Mutton (18″ minimum)” (No lanes, Beeliners, Mahogany, Queen.)

4. Pelagic – Kingfish – (24″ minimum). African Pompano – 24″. Dolphin (Mahi) – (20”

   Atlantic, No size limit in Gulf of Mexico). Permit – (11″ minimum). Wahoo – (No size limit). Blackfin Tuna – (No size limit). Almaco Jack – (15″ minimum to fork). Jack Crevelle – (12″ minimum to fork). Yellow Jack – (No size limit). Rainbow Runner – (No size limit). (No Bonito, Spanish Macs)

5. Hogfish – (14″ minimum to fork).
6. Cobia and Barracuda – Cobia (36″ min to fork), Barracuda – (28″ minimum overall).
7. Spiny/Shovel Lobster – 3″ minimum on carapace for spiny. No weighing of broken off

   parts, no holes in any part of lobster. (No Spanish lobster)

8. Sheepshead(12″minimumoverall)

All Fish listed above may be eligible, if in season at time of tournament. Any fish not listed is not eligible for this tournament.

All local, Florida & Federal rules, size limits, license requirements, and bag limits apply. There are no boundaries.

Category Prizes: The shooter will automatically be entered for a category prize for each category the shooter submits fish. The shooter’s place will be determined by the weight of the fish submitted (heaviest to lightest) in that specific category. For example, if 120 fish are submitted in the grouper category, each shooter will be ranked from 1-120. A number will be electronically drawn within that range, and the shooter who placed in that position will win the prize.

Grand Prize: Every shooter who turns in a fish in any category will be electronically entered for the Grand Prize. The number will be drawn electronically.

Note: Each Category and Grand Prize is valued at a high dollar amount.

Mystery Prize Pick: Every registered shooter will be entered to win a mystery prize pick. The overall rankings will determine the shooters mystery prize pick number. Shooters who do not enter a fish in any category will be randomly entered into the database and assigned a number. Prize pick numbers will be electronically drawn within that range, and Mystery Prize Picks will be assigned.

Prize selection: All registered shooters will compete against each other for a position on the prize board. Order of prize pick is governed by the WEIGHT of fish entered. Each shooter will place on the Prize board ONE TIME.

Places will be determined in the order or categories listed above. First pick will be heaviest Black Grouper, second pick will be heaviest grouper, third pick will be heaviest snapper, etc., ninth pick will be second heaviest Black Grouper, tenth pick will be the second heaviest grouper, eleventh pick will be the second heaviest snapper, and so on. Once a shooter is placed on the prize board, his subsequent entries will be disregarded.

Mystery Prize Picks will be at random intervals during the process of prize selection. Trophies; will be awarded for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in all eight (8) categories.

Divisions: In addition to the prize board, there will be trophies awarded for three Divisions. Women’s Division, Juniors Division (for those shooters 17 and under ON THE DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT) & Free Dive Division.

The aggregate score for all divisions is 1 point per pound, with a maximum of 20 points for any single fish.

In order to qualify for the Free Diver Division, all shooter’s fish MUST be harvested while free diving.

Lionfish: to educate our community about the value of harvesting lionfish, and to promote the work of REEF Monitoring LLC, the St. Pete Open will award prizes for the harvest of lionfish.

A trophy will be awarded to the person with the largest lionfish as determined by REEF Monitoring. Any registered shooter may enter One lionfish. Fish entered for the largest lionfish trophy may be either retained by the shooter or donated to REEF Monitoring. There will also be a lionfish raffle. For each lionfish DONATED to REEF Monitoring, a shooter will receive one raffle ticket. Donate 5 lionfish, get 5 lionfish raffle tickets. Donation of lionfish is MANDATORY in order to receive raffle tickets. There will be a maximum of 20 raffle tickets per shooter. At the end of the awards ceremony, these tickets will be drawn to determine the winner of the Lionfish raffle prize(s). Reef Monitoring will process lionfish prior to the category weigh stations. Lionfish do not have to be gutted. Reef Monitoring will be the official recorders and have the final report as to the winning size and will distribute raffle tickets. All lionfish must be presented to Reef Monitoring officials on ice and in a “fresh caught” condition

General Rules: Each participant is responsible for their own safety; at a minimum, it is requested that participants wear all safety equipment that is standard for the sport and local conditions.

No boat may approach under power, without permission, within 150 feet of an anchored boat flying a diver’s down or Alpha flag.

No participant may receive assistance with any fish until he/she has one hand on the boat. Participants may help each other net lobster.

This Tournament is based on Honor, Respect, Camaraderie, and for Fun! If you must cheat to win, you are cheating yourself of your own Honor and Respect.

In the event a boat becomes disabled, all participants catch may be brought into the weigh- in area by at least one of the participants from the same boat/crew/team. This person is responsible for weight verification & Category Ticket pickup.

Weighing of Fish: Weigh Scales will be open for weighing fish at 6:00 PM. Participants must have their fish in the weigh-in line by 8:00 PM or they will be disqualified, No Exceptions. Fish must be brought to the Pre-check table on ice and in a proper container for inspection.

ALL FISH MUST BE PROPERLY GUTTED, CLEAN OF DIRT AND DEBRIS AND PROPERLY ICED DOWN.

If any fish does not look fresh and/or the catch looks like it was taken with an explosive device, that catch, and the participant may be disqualified. Fish must be weighed by at least one participant from the same boat/crew/team.

All fish and lobster weighed by any one participant must be weighed at the same time. No two fish of the same species will be weighed to determine which is heavier. Only one fish per category, per participant can be weighed in. Tournament record fish must be re- weighed and verified before it can become a tournament record.

Fishing Chaos Software; All fish entries will be recorded into the Fishing Chaos software system. Once the shooters fish are weighed, the weights will be electronically recorded. The shooter will immediately receive a record of their submission via email and updated in that shooter’s Fishing Chaos account. It is the participant’s responsibility to VERIFY his/her catches and weights are correct before leaving the stage area.

Any protests MUST be made prior to the shooter leaving the stage area AND be directed to the Weigh Master, or in his absence, to a SPUC officer present at the stage. If neither the Weigh Master nor and SPUC officer are present at the stage, the shooter must notify a member of the weigh in crew so the Weigh Master can be notified. Once the shooter leaves the stage area, no protest will be honored.

Consent; Each participant entering this tournament has given implied and expressed consent for the St. Petersburg Underwater Club to use his/her name and/or likeness to promote the efforts of the St. Petersburg Underwater Club, the St. Pete Open and/or spearfishing.

Disqualification: A tournament participant can be disqualified from all aspects of this tournament and from any future St. Pete Open Tournaments for any of the following:

1) Infraction of tournament rules.
2) Rough play, unsafe or careless behavior.
3) Unsportsmanlike conduct during any of the tournament activities. 4) Failure to comply with any protest investigation

5) Failure to abide by the final decision of the Tournament Rules Committee. Immediate disqualification will be in effect if any participant is uncooperative with an investigation of potential rules violations. This may include but not limited to, at request of the tournament

rules committee, submitting to a polygraph test, the presentation of dive computer data and/or GPS route information from the tournament day and prior days.

6) The St. Pete Underwater Club reserves the right to exclude any individual from any aspect of the St. Pete Open and/or reject the registration from any individual whom the SPUC or tournament committee considers a liability, safety hazard or distraction.

Decisions and interpretations of all these rules by the Tournament Rules Committee shall be final. All rules violations and protests will be decided by a majority rule of the Tournament Rules Committee. This committee shall consist of the current SPUC President, the current SPUC Vice-President; the current SPUC Secretary. If any member of this Tournament Rules Committee is involved in the dispute, then that member will be replaced by the current SPUC Treasurer or Last Year’s SPUC President or other SPUC past presidents.

All Rules are subject to change during the Captains Meeting, which is why all shooters should attend.