1. All fish must be weighed at an official weigh station by an official weigh master. Weighed catch entries are also accepted when using a hand scale verified and approved by the KWFT. All entries must be on official entry blanks, postmarked or received at KWFT tournament office, PO Box 2154, Key West, FL 33045 no later than 30 days after the catch. Fraudulent use of an entry form by any person will result in disqualification of that person from any further participation in the KWFT.
  2. All fish weighing up to 20 lbs. may be entered by actual weight in  pounds and ounces.  All fish weighing over 20 lbs. must be entered in actual pounds and the lowest of 4, 8, or 12
  3. The Executive Committee, whose decision shall be final, must approve all entries.
  4. Fish must be entered in the line class in which it was caught (Unlimited, 50 lb., 30 lb., 20 , 12 lb., 8 lb., Spin, Fly, and Plug.)
  5. In situations where a tie occurs in any division, the  earliest time entry for a hookup of the last fish recorded by the committee boat shall be declared the winner.
  6. All catches must comply with state and federal regulations or be disqualified. Dual licensed boats must stay within Recreational Bag limits, follow both State and Federal regulations for Charter/For-Hire Vessels and be on a designated recreational fishing trip.
  7. Any participant who willfully or knowingly breaks the tournament rules will be banned from the tournament. Any person or persons who may have been banned from any fishing tournament, professionally or when competing for cash prizes or trophies, is ineligible to participate in the KWFT.
  8. When competing for cash prizes, any protest against an entry or entries must be submitted in writing by 5:00 P.M. on the day of the reported occurrence to the Executive Committee. The decision of the committee shall be final.
  9. All entries qualifying for KWFT records must be verified in writing by the weigh master in charge or a tournament committee member. All entry forms must have signature lines filled in.
  10. All fish entered in the tournament must be caught in the Florida Keys, west of the west end of the seven mile bridge and be caught in waters accessible to the general public.
  11. Only fish caught in accordance with generally accepted principles of good sportsmanship and within the intent of KWFT rules will be accepted as entries. The KWFT reserves the right to reject any entry.
  12. In keeping with the spirit of the KWFT, the purpose is to promote sport fishing and to encourage participation of out of county anglers. For this reason, entries by commercial fishing captains or their crewmembers, weigh masters, charter captains or their crew/mates will only be eligible for angling and/or sportsmanship citations.  They may also qualify for KWFT records but are ineligible for trophies and/or awards. This also applies for KWFT board of director’s members except when competing in the Kick-Off Tournament.
  13. The KWFT strongly encourages the release of all game fish. We, therefore, will not recognize any killed Sailfish, Marlin, Spearfish, Tarpon, Redfish, Warsaw Grouper or Sharks.

Revised: 12/1/2020