Updated 10th August 2017
BARRA Tour 2017 Rules
Entry Fees
$250 (GST included) per team per event
Entry Process
• Anglers should use the entry form found on the www.abt.org.au website.
• Entries to the BARRA events will be led in order of receipt of correctly completed entry forms and payment with the exception of the defending BARRA Tour Team of the Year who will start first at each event.
• All BARRA rule enquiries can be directed to ABT on (07) 3387 0888 during business hours.
Pre Entry Requirements
• All anglers participating in the 2017 Zerek BARRA Tour events must be current financial members of ABT.
Event Briefings
• See the Zerek Barra Tour dates for brieng times and locations.
• All competitors are required to pre-register at the briefing location (with SIP if required) BEFORE the stated Briefing time.
• Failure to do so will result in a starting position penalty regardless of reason for absence.
Cash and Prizes
In the four qualifying events of the 2017 Zerek BARRA Tour, all cash and product prizes will be awarded to teams. The best 5 fish captured each session will contribute to each team score. If teams with the same length teams of barra for a tournament, the count back will go to the team with the longest barra, if this is the same it will go to the team who caught the longest barra.
Big Barra Prize
In each event there will be a prize awarded to the team that captures the longest barra of the tournament. If there is a tie in length, the count back will go to the first team to catch the longest barra.
Boating Requirements
• Boats must be 3.7m in length or greater. Horsepower and beam must be suficient to plane the craft with two anglers, 20hp is the minimum accepted.
• Boats must be carrying all safety gear in compliance with QLD boating regulations.
• All outboards must not exceed the maximum horsepower rating stipulated on the boat’s compliance plate.
• Boat drivers must wear their engine’s safety lanyard strap that connects to the kill switch at all times while the engine is running. Additionally, all competitors are required to wear a PFD Type 1 while the boat is planning. All jackets worn must comply with required standards as outlined by the relevant waterway authority.
• In sessions that start before sunrise or finish after sunset, navigation lights and anchor lights are to be functioning correctly. Boats will not be allowed to start the session with faulty navigation lights.
• ABT must sight current boat insurance policies from all boaters competing in ABT sanctioned events. This must be faxed to ABT on (07)3387 0889 with entry form.
Practice Fishing
There will be no practice fishing on the day of the event. Practice fishing is allowed until 12 midnight the evening before the event, unless otherwise stated.
Boat Checkout
Prior to each session, competitors must go to the pre-arranged location to have their boats checked by an ABT official. The official will check safety gear/lanyard, lifejackets, and lights (if required) all meet the tournament safety requirements. Once the boat is approved, the team is given their key-tag with their start position number. ABT reserves the right to disallow unsafe boats (for either anglers or fish) to compete.
Session 1
The first session will start with boat one approaching the start area, where it will be held until the designated start time. When released, boat two can approach the start area, be identified and released, and so on until all competitors are released.
Session 2
• The second session will be run as a chase start. That is, the team placed in first position after Session 1 will be released first, then the second placed boat and so on until all boats are released.
• Once released to fish, anglers may proceed to their chosen fishing spots with due care and attention to the safety of themselves, their co-anglers, other competing boats and the general public.
• Any speed restrictions, non-boating or non-fishing areas must be adhered to; failure to do this will result in either disqualification from the session, and or the tournament and a maximum penalty of 100cm may be applied.
• Anglers finish a session by placing the key tag on the appropriate tag board peg before the session finishes. Anglers placing their key tag on the peg after the finish time will incur penalties. Each team will be penalised 10cm per minute, until 15 minutes after the allocated finish time. At that point, the teams’ catches will be disqualified for that session.
• Anglers also return their catch sheets and digital camera media card to the weigh-tent where ABT staff will collate catch sheet data and post results. Camera media cards can be collected from ABT officials prior to checkout for the next session.
BARRA Fishing Rules
• Anglers must fish within the current QLD Freshwater Fisheries guidelines and must be in possession of Stocked Impoundment Permit (SIPS) if required.
• Anglers may fish any line class.
• Lure and fly casting only is permitted.
• Trolling is not permitted. Trolling is using the momentum of the boat to give the lure action. Casting along a stretch of bank under electric power is fine, as is using your electric motor to keep position; don’t, however, leave your lines in the water when changing positions. ABT Staff reserve the right to disqualify anglers deemed to be purposely trolling in defiance of the spirit of BARRA events.
• Only one rod per angler is allowed to be used at any one time. This includes instances where one rod is snagged and the angler picks up another rod to fish with. The angler is considered to be using two rods and will be disqualified for that session.
• Fishing is NOT permitted within any defined non-boating or non-fishing areas.
• All pairs of anglers are to stay with each other at all times. Additionally, anglers are not permitted to fish from outside their fishing vessels at any time during sessions, including fighting and landing fish.
• It is mandatory that anglers use mesh nets with no knots when landing their fish, as these have been scientifically proven to have minimal impact on released barramundi.
• ABT reserves the right to place camerapersons or observers on boats.
• In the case of physical or medical emergencies, ABT officials will judge the acceptability of catches.
• Any complaints regarding a breech of the rules must be addressed to the on-site Tournament Director, within 30 minutes of the end of the session, in which the incident occurred. There is no point making a complaint after the presentation.
Penalties for rule and conduct violations may include the following:
i. Disqualication of fish from your limit, starting at the largest.
ii. Disqualication of entire catch for the day
iii. Disqualication from the tournament
iv. Disqualication from future ABT events
• Any concerns regarding clarication of rules can be discussed with ABT officials BEFORE the start of the tournament.
BARRA Points Scoring
• Teams are to take two photographs of the landed barra – one with the angler and the fish (that may be used by ABT as promotional purposes) and another of the barramundi on the measuring device (for catch verification), showing the entire fish, event identification icon, and measurement. Barra are to be measured with their bottom jaw resting against the upright end of the measuring device. Measurements are rounded up to the nearest centimetre. Details to be recorded in folders provided.
• Each team’s best five barra per session count towards the point score – one point per centimetre.
BARRA Anglers Code of Conduct
• During fishing sessions, no mobile phones or radios should be used, except in the case of emergency or to communicate with ABT staff.
• ABT sportsmanship would dictate that care of fellow competitors is of utmost importance. If any team or boat is in distress it is expected that other competitors will assist. Remember that safety is more important than your day’s catch.
• ABT will encourage Fisheries and Boating Officers to attend all ABT tournaments to police safety regulations, registration, relevant boating legislation as well as alcohol and drug laws.
• Anglers are not to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs during tournament briefings and competition hours. ABT reserves the right to request a breath alcohol test prior to the start, or at the completion of a fishing session.
• It is expected that teams shall, at all times, conduct themselves in a manner becoming a professional sportsperson. Behaviour that will reflect unfavourably on ABT, its members, representatives and sponsors will subject the angler’s catch to penalty or disqualification.
BARRA Team of the Year Title
The Overall BARRA Team of the Year (TOY) is the most prestigious award a BARRA team can achieve. It rewards the team who are the most consistent throughout the qualifying rounds, with points per round allocated according to placing. The first placed team in each event receives 100 points, and each place below that receives one less point eg.
• Teams do not need to catch a fish to receive TOY points, however, they do need to fish both days in an event to score. This rewards teams who have made the effort to attend and fish events to the best of their ability.
• Teams catching no fish for a tournament will receive 10 TOY points less than the last placed fish catching team.
• Ties will be settled by countback. The team with the largest and subsequent largest bag will gain the higher place, otherwise the first team to reach their score gains the higher place.
• At the end of the Rounds, TOY points are tallied and the BARRA Team of the Year is determined. A team best three events will count towards their Overall TOY Calculations.
National BARRA Rankings
ABT has reached a stage where we have derived a need to compile a “National Rankings” list for ABT BARRA Tournament anglers. The following is a way we have devised to rank anglers against each other from different states and different events.
In future years, the rankings will also include the ‘strength’ of the fields – ie, how well ranked the anglers are that they are competing against and also size of fields. This is our starting point, though, and will be updated after each event.
BARRA Rankings Formula
• The Rankings will measure data from Qualifying Events.
• The Rankings will use tournament results from 2006 onwards. Moving forward, it will include the latest two years’ worth of data.
• The BARRA Rankings chart will use an team’s best 3 events per year over a two year period (6 events in total).