Florida Panhandle Billfish Series presented by B&T Marine
Revised 1/10/2025
Participating Tournaments:
Pensacola International Billfish Tournament, Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic, Bay Point Billfish Open.
Entry:
Entry is free for all series participants. Participants will be automatically entered into the series as part of tournament registration for any of the participating tournaments.
Series Format:
Rules for each tournament apply to the tournament being fished that week. Series Points will be awarded and accumulated as follows:
- Participation Points: 1 Point per tournament. (3 additional bonus points if the boat/team enters all 3 tournaments).
- Largest weighed Blue Marlin placement in a tournament (10 points for a first place, 6 points for a second place, 3 points for a third place). *
- Grand Slam Release over the course of a tournament. A Grand Slam consists specifically of at least one blue marlin, one white marlin, and one sailfish. (3 bonus points for each tournament with a release slam). **
- Release one blue marlin in a tournament (2 points). Release two or more blue marlin(s) in a tournament (3 points total). **
- Release one white marlin in a tournament (1 point). Release two or more white marlin(s) in a tournament (2 points total). **
- Release one sailfish in a tournament (1 point). Release two or more sailfish in a tournament (2 points total). **
- Gamefish Placement in tournament categories for Tuna, Wahoo, Dolphin, Swordfish (3 points for first place, 2 points for second, 1 point for third). *
* – The term Placement used above, means a winning entry in the tournament awards (1st, 2nd or 3rd place). Because individual tournament rules prevail for any given tournament, second or third place points may not always be awarded if the tournament does not award those places. For Pensacola (PIBT), the heaviest, tournament legal blue marlin weighed will receive 10 points. No second or third place points will be awarded for PIBT blue marlin.
** – All points awarded for release categories must be video verified by a tournament video judge. Unidentified billfish will be counted in the sailfish tally and will be given 1 point but will not be used to determine Grand Slam Bonus Points.
Prizes:
The Boat/Team with the highest Points Total at the end of the three-tournament series will be crowned champion and awarded the coveted Florida Panhandle Billfish Series perpetual trophy along with cash prizes to be determined. The boat/team name, angler and crew names will be placed on a plaque on the
perpetual trophy which can be displayed for the remainder of the year at the winner’s choice location.
Tie Breaker:
In the event of a points tie between boats at the end of the series, the winner will be determined as follows:
The first tie breaker is the boat with the most participation points. Second tie breaker is the total number of qualifying billfish caught by a boat in the three tournaments (1 point per billfish verified released (Blue Marlin, White Marlin, Sailfish) plus 1 point per pound for Weighed Blue Marlin placing first in a series tournament. The third tie breaker will be the first boat to reach their total series points on time (verified by video judge) or time at the scales for weighed fish.
Point accumulation:
Series points are accumulated by Boat Name. Changing boats during the series is allowed with permission from the Series Committee, as long as the registered boat name in the tournament(s) remains the same. All changes of this nature must be submitted and approved prior to any series’ tournament start.