MAFIA MADNESS RULES
December 8th – November 30th, 2024-2025
Categories:
Barracuda, Cobia, Greater Amberjack, Jack, Lionfish, Red Snapper, Mangrove, Snapper, Scamp Grouper, Grouper, Sheepshead, Stingray/Shark (Heavy Hitters), Triggerfish, Powerhead, & Other.
Snapper is Any species of snapper, besides Mangrove & Red Snapper, legal for harvest and within Open state and or federal recreational season.
Greater Amberjack is Greater Amberjack ONLY (Almaco, Crevalle, etc. will be in the Jack category) legal for harvest and within Open state and or federal recreational season.
Grouper is Any species of grouper (other than Scamp) legal for harvest and within Open state and or federal recreational season.
Other includes Any fish legal for harvest and not included in the above categories (Tuna,
Wahoo, Tarpon, etc.)
Lionfish will be the Biggest, Smallest (by length), & total count of lionfish harvested over the duration of the tournament.
King SpearFisherman Award – Points will be added up for all main board categories, State Records, Shoot Outs, & Rodeos to determine winner.
Queen SpearFisherwoman Award – Points will be added up for Queen categories to determine winner.
Novice Award - Points will be added up for all Novice categories to determine winner. You must
have 4 years or less from Open Water Certification. (Categories: Barracuda, Cobia, Jack, Lionfish, Red Snapper, Snapper, Scamp Grouper, Grouper, Sheepshead, & Other.) Once a contestant wins novice, they are no longer a novice, and not eligible for award. Novice can compete on the main board.
Youth Award - consist of any Deep Water Mafia Club Member that is 18 and under. Youth entering tournament is free and must have a Parent/Guardian signature on the wavier. Once a contestant wins youth, they are no longer a youth, and not eligible for award. They will then move to novice until the age of 18. Categories are same as Novice.
Best Boat Award – Points will be added up for all main board categories, taking out New Members Novice & Youth, Shoot Outs, Rodeos, & State Records to determine winner.
All Awards above will be based on participants shooting 50% of the board or more
Rules
1. Weighmasters/ tournament officials have final say. In the event the officials disagree on
an issue, club president will make the deciding vote. Officials for 2025 tournament are
Jeremy Eubanks & Josh Taylor.
2. Boundaries are open to all waters and competition begins
December 8th, 2024 at 12:01 am and ends on November 30th, 2025 12:01 am.
3. All legal fish are open for harvest within Open State, Federal, & International Recreational season.
4. All contestants must be a Deepwater Mafia member in good standing for duration of the
tournament.
5. All contestants must be certified in their area (Scuba / Freediver) and conduct themselves properly.
6. Category winners are determined by the biggest fish (by weight). (Lionfish by Length)
7. All fish must be taken by speargun or poles pear with or without float lines and while submerged in water. (No shooting from boat!)
8. Power Heads are acceptable in the Powerhead Category Only! It will be up to the Captain of the Boat if he or she allows power heads.
9. No ties will be considered. The first entry logged is the winner if two fish have the exact
weight.
10. Participant can only win in one slot in each category. (one placing fish per category)
11. We will be utilizing the app Fishing Chaos to submit fish. You have 7 days from the day of harvesting to turn in your entry. You must upload a picture with a digital scale on the app.
12. There will be a dedicated Marco Polo chat for video shots of the catch. Please post your catch on that chat.
13. You must have a current Mafia Member present when weighing fish, or you can Marco Polo the Weighmasters of a continuous video with the scale zeroed out and then the fish added to the digital scale.
14. No fish may be entered without a signed registration and waiver on file. (You can’t get a
big fish, then decide to sign up for tournament.)
15. For Best Boat points, the captain of boat must submit name of new member, novice, or youth that was on his boat and date that the trip took place to weighmaster. It must be emailed to: MafiaMadness@DeepWaterMafia.net within those 7 days. Boat captain must also submit a report of all fish that placed within 1st through 5th of any category, Rodeos members shot on boat, and any State Records on boat by November 27th. We do not want individual fish that place on the board emailed each week because the board is fluid and likely to change before tournament conclusion. Therefore, we ask that a single list be emailed by November 27th.
16. Boat Points - Fish shot by anyone while on boat that places in top 5 of any category on the main board (novice, youth and queen points don’t count for boat points).
1st-5 points, 2nd-4 points, 3rd-3 points, 4th-2 points, 5th-1point on Mafia Madness Tournament, main board only.
When shooter on boat place on ANY Rodeo board (1st – 5 points, 2nd – 3, 3rd – 1) ECO & St Pete Rodeo points will be 1st-5 points, 2nd-4 points, 3rd-3 points, 4th-2 points, 5th-1point (Excluding Novice)
5 Points for State Records (Excluding Youth)
5 Points for a Shooter on boat winning Shoot Out.
1 extra point will go toward boat owners for every new club member or novice that they take out diving. 1 point only. New club members are any person that has joined the club within 2 years or less. A copy of new club members will be sent out first of the year.
1 extra point will go toward boat owners for every youth that they take out diving. Captains can take that youth out for a total of 5 times for 5 points for duration of tournament. Youth cannot be related to the captain.
5 points will be given to boat owners for every new club member, youth, or novice they take out during rodeos for the yearlong Best Boat. 5 points max per person, per rodeo. Novice points pertain to our yearlong club tournament only. Club members that qualify to shoot as a novice in a rodeo can shoot that rodeo as a novice, but those point will not apply toward boat points unless they place on the main board within that tournament.
Boat points will be split if 2 boats shoot on the same team for any rodeo. The team can agree to let 1 boat have all the points for that rodeo. Weighmaster must be notified if one team is getting all the points.
17. Tournament points are based on top 5 fish in each categories. (1st- 5 points, 2nd – 4, 3rd – 3, 4th – 2, 5th – 1)
18. Lionfish will only get awards for 1st place in Most, Biggest, & Smallest. Points will be 1st-5 points, 2nd-4 points, 3rd-3 points, 4th-2 points, 5th-1point on each lionfish category.
19. King Spearfisherman points are based off the following:
1st-5 points, 2nd-4 points, 3rd-3 points, 4th-2 points, 5th-1point on Mafia Madness Tournament, main board only.
When shooter in tournament place on ANY Rodeo boards, they will get extra points toward King Spearfisherman. (1st – 5 points, 2nd – 3, 3rd – 1) ECO & St Pete Rodeo points will be 1st-5 points, 2nd-4 points, 3rd-3 points, 4th-2 points, 5th-1point. No points will be added for LCUCD Yearlong tournament. Points will be added for the LCUDC Rodeo.
5 Points for State Records
5 Points for winning Shoot Outs
If shooter is in another club and points for that rodeo go toward that club, then points for that rodeo for shooter will not be allowed for King.
20. Mafia Madness Shootouts can occur when there are 12 or more members going out. Points for shootout will be up to Weigh Masters discretion. Shootouts are initiated by Weighmasters and must be requested two days in advance. Shoot out points will be given to 1st place only. 5 points is the maximum given for 1 shootout. Shootouts can be 1 to 3 days. Weighmaster will announce the shootout on Marco Polo (Dive Trip Only Channel). Points will not be awarded to secret shootouts.
21. It is encouraged for every shooter to be at Christmas party. If shooter cannot make the party, their name will be saved for last, after everyone that attended party has chosen off the prize table. Then the weigh master will pick for the shooters not present off of prize table. Extenuating circumstances will be decided by the president of DWM. This will include medical, family emergency, work related issues.
22. After you submit your fish, give the weighmaster 48hrs before asking about fish approval.
This is a friendly club tournament. Any attempts to cheat, defraud, or otherwise unlawfully bend the rules set forth will result in disqualification and will result in probationary status with review in front of the board.
You MUST be signed up with Fishing Chaos BEFORE you go shoot a fish.
There is a $100.00 registration fee. This will help with prizes and trophies given at the DWM Christmas Party. Payment is through the Fishing Chaos app.