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Can anyone who has fished the BBSC tournament clue me into how the tournament format works, I am a little confused from reading the rules online. I would fish the recreational class which has a registration fee of $65, then there are jackpot fees of $30 per fish. But what does the Jackpot go to and what does the regular recreational fee go to. I know there are about 10 or so fish you can catch. I assume the jackpot goes to the biggest fish for each jackpot fish you enter, but what do you get if you just paid $65 entrance fee, what is that format? I am not sure my post makes much sense just please explain how the tournament works if you have fished it before, thanks.

You pay the regular entry fee which is $65. If you want to enter in the jackpot, it is species specific i.e. trout,flounder,sheepshead,etc.. If you catch the biggest fish and you entered the jackpot for that species you win the pot. Each category has its own jackpot. If you dont enter the jackpot and you still catch the big fish you still win first place, but the jackpot goes to the person that paid the jackpot with the biggest fish. I've seen second place winners make more than first place, due to entering the jackpot. You can pay the jackpot for as many species as you want. Hope this helps clarify.

If you paid the regular entry fee and catch the biggest fish for a particular species, you win a cash prize (I believe the rules may actually advise, a prize equivalent to a certain amount for 1st - 5th). The jackpot is in essence a side bet. If you buy into the jackpot for a particular species and you catch the biggest species for the jackpot you entered, you win a portion of all of the money collected for that species' jackpot. The amount you win will depend on how many people enter the jackpot for that species (the more people that buy into that jackpot, the more payout). As Dale mentioned above, it's not uncommon for a fisherman to win more money via the jackpot than the first or second place winner in the "regular" category, since not everyone enters the jackpot (i.e. just paid the regular entry fee and didn't enter a jackpot).

If you like to catch a particular species, pay the regular entry fee and get into the jackpot for the species you generally target. All of the money goes to a good cause anyway and you have a chance to take home some cash as well. So it's a win-win situation. I hope this helped clear it up for you.

Scoop Sea has it right. When I served on the BBSC Board, 70% of the jackpot for each species went to the angler who entered the jackpot for that species and weighed the largest fish of that species. Technically, a jackpot winning fish doesn't even have to place 1-5 to win. The other 30% goes back to BBSC which then donates all proceeds to OAR. And yes, for many species, the jackpot prize is more than the 1st place prize.

Thanks guys that explains what I wanted to know.

On a side note for this one, do you have to weigh each day or can you weigh in both days fish on the second day of the tournament? I have thought about fishing this but having to drive from econfina/finholloway whch is where I would put in both days would take away quite a bit of time. It says you can put in to keaton but the nearest weigh in is panacea.

You can weigh in on both days or just the second day. It used to be that the "heaviest fish" for each species got a prize for the first day's weigh in. I haven't read the rules for this year and I havent weighed a fish in on the first day in years, so I am not sure if this is still in play or not.

kirt123 wrote:On a side note for this one, do you have to weigh each day or can you weigh in both days fish on the second day of the tournament? I have thought about fishing this but having to drive from econfina/finholloway whch is where I would put in both days would take away quite a bit of time. It says you can put in to keaton but the nearest weigh in is panacea.

The problem with doing this is with a fish like a redfish is if you are driving around with 2 redfish in your possession, technically you are breaking the law. It may not ever be a problem but don't be the guy who brings a cooler full of redfish to the weigh-in and wants to measure and weigh all 8 of them to see which one is the biggest. This happened last year.

As of last I heard, we are changing the weigh station from Panacea to Shields Marina for this year. Don't quote me on that since I missed last months board meeting.

/\ That would be great. Shields is a better venue with a bit more room. Granted, Panacea DOES have Hookwrecks... er, Posey's; I think Shields would be a bit more accessible.

Either or works for me

At least the people at Shields know how to measure a fish and read a scale correctly.

Jumptrout51 wrote:At least the people at Shields know how to measure a fish and read a scale correctly.

Pfffffffffttttttttt