SAFBAF Carp Angling Rules

SAFBAF CARP ANGLING RULES

1 GENERAL

1.1 Only members of a club, affiliated to one of SAFBAF’s member provinces, may participate at club, provincial and national level.

1.2 Participation will only be allowed if all the relevant membership and affiliation fees are paid up to date.

1.3 A team will consist of 3 duos with two anglers in each peg. In this facet the competition is competed by these 3 duos and not by individuals. Two reserves will be allowed per team. Replacements/Substitutions may only occur under the supervision of the officials and will be final. The reserves may only enter the peg with their fishing tackle, but without any bait and/or ground bait.

1.4 For National competitions NO competitors are allowed to fish the particular water in question 15 days preceding the event. Infringement: The anglers caught fishing illegally will not be allowed to take part in that National event.

2 SPECIES & SIZE

2.1 Only carp, including mirror, common, leather, grass carp, will count. The Chinese or silver carp do not count as they are NOT considered sub species of Carpius Carpio.

2.2 To be able to count the fish must weigh in at 1500 grams or more.

3 DRAWING OF LOTS/PEGS

3.1 The drawing of pegs must be carried out at least 60 minutes before the beginning of the competition.

3.2 In all waterways angling position number 1 will always be situated to the left looking at the water, and the marking will run from left to right.

4 PEG LAYOUT

4.1 During competitions, the distance between each peg must be a minimum of 40m and a maximum of 70m. These distances are measured from the outside border of the peg.

4.2 The angling position of each peg must comprise of an 10m square camp, which is to accommodate all the requirements of the angling pair. PLEASE SEE FOLLOWING DRAWING AS IT DEMONSTRATES NEW DIMENSIONS.

A - Access authorised for two competitors, their Team managers (one at a time) and Jury members.
B - Access authorised for Jury members, reserves, stewards, the Team Managers of the Province to which the competitors belong and the press, with the consent of the two competitors.
C- Access authorised for the organisers and the Jury only.
D - Access authorised for the organisers, Jury members, reserves, press and Delegates of all Provinces, but forbidden to the public and to spectators.

4.3 Tents, umbrellas and gazebos must all fall within area “A”. All items erected on the peg must be preferably of a discrete nature such as green, camouflage, khaki etc.

4.4 It is forbidden to illuminate the water using gas lamps or fluorescent lights, and all lighting within the peg should be of a subdued nature. Illumination is allowed inside tents, and frontal headlamps are allowed to help land the fish.

4.5 During the playing of the fish, the angler must remain inside each peg-defined boundaries, namely the 10m wide area; pegs placed at intervals of 20meters, planted firmly into the ground and along the border of the peg will determine the fishing area; furthermore, it is necessary to create a corridor D which will serve as a passageway for organizers, jury members, reserves, journalists and delegates of all participating Provinces. Access to this lane will be forbidden for the public and spectators. Landing fish outside the 10 meter boundaries remain forbidden. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

4.6 Only peg mates may land a fish within their own peg. No other angler, captain or manager may assist. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

4.7 Anglers are not allowed to enter the water to gain casting distance. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

4.8 Inside the peg, the anglers must move discreetly and quietly, and any angling action (casting, retrieving and ground baiting), must be performed inside the peg.

4.9 At the end of the event the peg must be clean, and as you found it.

5 COMPETITION DURATION

5.1 The competition shall run for a minimum angling time of 24 hours at Club, 48 hours at Provincial and 72 hours at National levels respectively.

5.2 This excludes all preparation and peg drawing time, so competitors should be at the venue 30 minutes before the drawing of the pegs.

6 PROCEDURES

6.1 Anglers must wait for the first signal, before accessing their peg.

6.2 A signal will indicate to the anglers they can enter the peg to prepare the swim. Each peg will have 120 minutes to prepare its material.During this preparation time the two anglers may not receive any outside help.

6.3 After this first signal, they may start preparing their equipment, testing tackle and preparing their ground bait. They may also begin feature finding and setting up marker floats.

6.4 A second signal will indicate that this time is now over and the beginning of the actual angling competition begins and anglers may then begin adding ground-feed and start fishing.

6.5 Once this second signal has been given no persons, equipment, or feed items may enter the peg area. At National competitions there will be a window period of two hours halfway through the event for the re-stocking of bait, ground bait as well as any other items deemed necessary and only the team captain is authorized to fulfill this action. The re-stocking time will be determined at the captains meeting.

6.6 Competitors are not allowed to receive any outside help; only the team captain or manager is authorized to access the peg (one at a time) of the competitors of his team and this only to give verbal advice; a team captain/manager is not allowed into the peg of an angler who is not part of his team.

6.7 At night the team captain/manager may only enter the anglers’ peg if he is accompanied by an official or by the team captain of a different team.

6.8 An angler is only allowed to enter the water to perform one of the following; to net a fish or to place or retrieve a carp sack. During either of these actions the angler may not go deeper than knee depth.

6.9 The third signal warns the competitors that only 15 minutes remain until the end of the competition.

6.10 The fourth signal marks the end of the competition.

6.11 Another 15 minutes is allowed to play and net any fish, which was hooked before the 5th signal, which indicates the end of the event. If the landing of the fish takes more than 15 minutes, the fish must be released back into the water and will not count for the competition.

6.12 No items may be brought into the ring by anyone day or night.

6.13 For National events there will be one hour allocated for the providing of food/beverages (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) by any official member of the team. The specific times will be determined at the captains meeting.

6.14 Where an infringement occurs regarding procedures mentioned above, a warning would be issued to the entire team. With a second infringement, disqualification would be applicable.

7 EQUIPMENT

7.1 The length of the rods for club competitions shall not be enforced, but for provincial and national events they must not exceed 4m.

7.2 Only reels equipped with a fixed drag, such as “coffee grinders’ are to be permitted. No center pin type reels such as Nighthawks and Magnums etc. of any description will be allowed, nor will the Penn or Multiplier models be allowed.

7.3 Only knotless landing nets are allowed, but must be of an adequate size as not to cause any unnecessary damage to the fish.

7.4 Only one hook per rod shall be allowed, and the use of a hair rig to mount baits is compulsory. Infringements: Disqualification of the peg.

7.5 Bait on the hook is forbidden. This is very important and officials can reel in your lines at anytime to check this. This is a very serious offence. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

7.6 Only manual ground baiting is allowed which includes : baiting with a catapult with which you use your hands, throwing sticks, baiting spoons, and bait rockets which do not exceed an inside diameter of 50mm and a total outside length of 200mm.

7.7 Other techniques which are allowed include the use of a ground based catapult, propelled by elastic, provided two hands are used; plus the use of all soluble bags, tubes, mesh and string is also allowed.

7.8 At night the use of all ground based catapults, bait rockets, bait spoons and handheld catapults is forbidden. Only Boilie Sticks will be allowed.

7.9 The term night shall be determined at the captains meeting.

7.10 A weight must be used within all angling traces and it must weigh not less than 50g.

7.11 The weight must also be attached in such a way that should the trace break; the fish will be able to pull free of the weight. The mechanics of the rig to ensure this will be the case may be inspected by officials, who can ask you to bring in your lines at any time.

7.12 The use of a “dobber”, “float” or floating device for bite indication is not allowed. However the use of a “policeman” style indicator just beyond the rod tip is still permitted.

7.13 Back-leads are allowed, but at any time officials may check to ensure your lines are running inside the angling area.

7.14 The use of remote controlled boats, echo sounding devices and other remote devices is forbidden.

7.15 The use of electronic bite indicators and visual bite detectors such as night-lights are allowed.

7.16 The limits of the angling area or the location of the ground fed area can be indicated by the use of two marker floats, per peg, attached to separate rods. These rods must be kept separate from the angling rods, clearly marked with a strip of marking tape, written, Marker Float Rod. These marker floats may remain in the water during the event, but must be removed once the event has finished.

7.17 The marker floats may be illuminated.

7.18 While angling, all lines must be cast in using a rod and can only be cast in from the peg area. This applies to both the angling rods and that of the marker and rocket rods.

7.19 No baiting or casting devices using compressed air, gas or electricity may be used.

7.20 No cars shall be allowed to drive around at night except for the cars belonging to the organizers.

7.21 Competitors may keep and assemble as many rods as they wish, but they are allowed to fish only with a maximum of four rods per peg at any one time. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

7.22 Any extra rods must be placed vertically, (unless during a thunderstorm), away from the angling rods stand, preferably close to the shelter. The extra rods used for the marker floats and rockets, may be setup close to the angling rods but they must be clearly marked and in separate stands.

8 BAIT AND GROUND BAIT

8.1 The usage of baits and ground-baits containing animal products whether live or dead, fish roe and products of a metal origin are strictly forbidden. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

8.2 Only the following will be authorized; meals, covering mixes, seeds, boilies and pellets. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

8.3 The term covering mixes refers to the use of all ingredients of a soft nature, which may be used to cover the hair.

8.4 No bait or covering mix may be applied to the hook or around the weight. This also prohibits the use of mealie bom feeders and method feeders of any description. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

8.5 All of the mixes prepared using the above products; they must not exceed the size of a 40mm ball. Whether they are feed loosely or form part of your hook bait.

8.6 The use of Argyle and Bentonite is also forbidden. Argyle and Bentonite are clay additives used by some Match Anglers in Europe.

8.7 No ground feed may be fed outside your pegs 20 meter border lines; though an angler is not limited to the distance they can fish. If you accidentally feed or cast outside the 20 meter area (shown in drawing) the official will bring it to your attention and give you and informal warning. However continuous offences will lead to an official warning.

9 FISH LANDING AND HANDLING

9.1 Any competitor, who, due to evident carelessness, presents maimed or damaged fish for weighing, will be sanctioned. In this case, the fish in question will also not be considered as valid.

9.2 The fish shall be deemed legal even if it has been hooked outside the mouth. However the deliberate foul hooking of fish is strictly forbidden.

9.3 All fish must be placed on a wet unhooking mat.

9.4 Unhooking mats are compulsory for when a fish is unhooked. No fish shall be placed on the ground during the unhooking process.

9.5 The size and quality of the unhooking mat must be sufficient to protect the fish, with a length of 1m or greater and a width of not less than 500 mm. The thickness of the mat should also exceed 1 cm.

9.6 The fish may only be stored in specific carp sacks, with only one fish per sack. NO MORE THAN ONE FISH PER SACK.

9.7 During the competition, the carp sacks must be submerged, along their full length, without any ballast, weights or other objects inside. They must also be placed at knee depth, and not any shallower. Fish placed in a sack in shallow water can die very quickly in some climates.

9.8 It is essential that sacks and mats be wet, and kept wet during the unhooking and retaining of the fish. It might be advisable to have a separate bucket for water handy.

9.9 No other method of retaining a fish is allowed, and competitors must ensure they have a sufficient number of carp sacks. In the case of a lack of sacks please ask the official to weigh some fish to free some sacks up. Should officials be unable to weigh sacked fish, the peg mates can release smaller fish to make a sack available for the recently caught one.

9.10 After the fish has been weighed, either immediately after capture or if it has been retained in a carp sack, the fish should be released carefully and unharmed, allowing a short time for any photo’s to take place, if necessary.
9.11 No fish may remain outside of the water for longer than 5 minutes.

10 WEIGHING OPERATIONS

10.1 All weighing procedures must take place as soon as possible and at least every 3 hours.

10.2 In all weighing operations the scales must be identical, both in regards to the model and brand and with the graduation, with indications at least every 10 grams.

10.3 The indication of the weight must be visible by both the officials, and by the competitors of the peg assigned to them.

10.4 One person shall be responsible for the weighing. Another shall be responsible for registering the weight on the official document.

10.5 The officials will indicate the time and weight of the fish caught, and adds it to the weigh sheet.

10.6 Two sets of scales a weigh sling will be provided for each sector.

10.7 All weigh slings will be dampened before use and the scales will be zeroed using the damp sling before each weighing the fish.

10.8 The weigh slings used must be made from of a soft porous material, which protects the fish.

10.9 Until the weighing team arrives to the angler’s position, the peg members must leave their carp sacks containing the fish, in the water.

10.10 The fish shall be taken to the scale by one or both peg members, placed into the weigh sling which is lying on the unhooking mat. The fish will then be weighed by the officials.

10.11 Once the fish has been weighed the fish must be returned to the water, under the supervision of the officials. They must exercise care when releasing the fish.

10.12 No fish is to be placed back into a carp sack once it has been weighed. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

10.13 One or both peg mates must be present during the weighing process to control and monitor the weights, and then sign off the control form once satisfied. Once the weighing procedure is finished, the control form signed and the fish has been released, no complaint regarding weight will be accepted after this time.

11 WEATHER CONSIDERATIONS

11.1 At National competitions the duration of thunderstorms will not be added to the 72 Hour event. a Siren will sound when a thunderstorm is looming and competitors will be instructed to reel in their lines and place vertical placed rods on the ground until such time as the storm had passed. Another siren will then sound and all fishing activities can resume. During this interruption NO fishing activities may take place and all competitors must seek hiding in their respective shelters. Infringement: Disqualification of the peg.

12 CAPTAINS MEETING

12.1 The aim of this meeting is to give information to the teams. During the meeting, the following operations shall be carried out:
12.1.1 Roll call of teams.

12.1.2 Teams will draw lots in alphabetical order to determine the call-up order of drawing.

12.1.3 Draw to assign pegs for the teams in each sector (A, B & C).
12.2 In the case of the team captain or a member from a province which is absent, the Organizers will carry out the option of drawing the pegs.

12.3 During the competition, the organizers will hold a meeting once a day.

12.4 If there are any urgent problems to discuss and solve, an extraordinary meeting may be summoned by the organizers.

12.5 The attendance of the team captains is obligatory. If a team captain cannot attend the meeting, for valid reasons, a representative may substitute him, after having informed the organizers.

12.6 It is compulsory for a delegation of Officials to attend the Team Captains meetings as well.

12.7 A jury will be selected and will consist of the following people: The representative of SAFBAF (chair person), the head official, a representative of the organizers, four team captains (will be drawn at this meeting).

13 PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

13.1 The sanctions are as follows:

13.1.1 Warnings: All infringements of rules 4.8, 6.1 to 6.13, 7.2, 7.3, 7.6 to 7.20, 7.22, 8.5, 8.6, 9.1 to 9.11 warrant a first warning applicable to the entire team. an Official will in the case of an infringement hand the angler/peg a written warning which should be signed by them as acknowledgement of receipt. The sector official must then inform the head official of the offence in which case the team captain will be informed. If any angler of this team commit the same offence again that particular peg will be disqualified after the same procedure have been followed as explained above.

13.1.2 Disqualification for infringements has been noted throughout the document and do not need any further clarification.

13.1.3 If a team is disqualified, a number of points equal to the number of the participating nations plus an additional 1 will be assigned to it. If a peg is disqualified, the following pegs in the order of finishing will still remain in that position. I.e. if the disqualified peg finished 8th, then those anglers who finished 9th will still remain in 9th position.

13.1.4 If a team receives a warning, this will noted in its file and remain archived for 3 years. In the case of a new infringement during this 3 year period, this will be considered as a relapse and the Jury will make its decision, taking this relapse and the list of sanctions into consideration.

13.1.5 If a peg receives a warning, this remains noted in its file for an unlimited period of time. In case of a new infringement, this will be considered as a relapse and the Jury will makes its decision taking into account this new infringement and the list of sanctions into account.

13.2 The members of the Executive Committee of SAFBAF may have access to the venue and make notes of any infringements of the rules.

14 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES

14.1 Any complaints must be submitted in writing to the jury. a Deposit of R200 must accompany every written complaint submitted and if the complaint is not upheld the deposit will be deposited into the account of SAFBAF.

14.2 The decision of the jury is final.

15 APPEAL PROCEDURE

15.1 In the event that the team captain wants to lodge an appeal against a warning or disqualification, it must be submitted to the jury in writing and within one hour of the sanction.

The decision of the jury will be final. In the case of a disqualification being upheld the peg involved will now be instructed to pack up and vacate their peg.

16 CLASSIFICATIONS

16.1 TEAM CLASSIFICATION

SECTORS:

Classification on weight only in each sector. The peg with the biggest bag weight is allocated 1 point, the peg with the second biggest bag weight is allocated 2 points etc.

In the case of a tied weight in a sector, the pegs in question will each receive a point equaling the average position they should have held i.e. two pegs would have received a 4th and 5th placing, now receive 4.5 points each (4 + 5 = 9 divided by 2 = 4.5). The next team in line will thus receive 6 points.

The pegs that do not catch anything will receive a number of points equal to the average non-attributed places in their sector (i.e. 8 pegs participating of which 3 blank. The available non-attributed points are therefore 6, 7, and 8. Each of these 3 pegs will now receive the average of the above equaling 7 points each (6 + 7 + 8 = 21 divided by 3 = 7).

TEAMS

The points obtained by a peg in each sector per team will now be added together and the team (3 pegs) with the lowest points will be classified as first etc.

In the event of two teams being tied on points, the team with the heaviest bag over the 3 sectors will be allocated the higher position. If a tie still exists the team with the highest individual peg weight will be allocated the higher position.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION OF PEGS

Pegs classified first in a sector will take the first 3 places in the general classification, pegs classified second will take the following 3 places and so on.

The 3 pegs classified 1st in a sector will be placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in accordance with their bag weights and so on.

If a tie exists on weight, priority will be given to the peg with the heaviest single fish weighed. If a tie still exists the highest average weight per peg will be considered.