THE SKA PROFESSIONAL
KINGFISH TOUR 2013

AND THE 2013 YAMAHA PROFESSIONAL KINGFISH TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP!

The 2013 SKA Professional Kingfish Tour will include up to eight days of fishing in any events you choose. Stay at home and fish or travel if you like. We will count your best five-day finishes based on the new point system (see below) based on where you finish in a given event, not on fish weights! On one-day events, it is scored by where you finish in the overall standings. On a two-day event, each day is scored by where you finish each day. In addition, the final event is two days of fishing and will be the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour Championship the week of the National Championship, the fifth and sixth of November. It will automatically be an either or event. Catch one fish on Tuesday and move to Wednesday for the second fish, or scale two fish on Tuesday and you’re done. Or you can catch and scale two fish on Wednesday. This will help with the expense part of fishing the event plus the National Championship on Friday and Saturday. The National Championship will also automatically use the same format for the same reason. (Weather could also dictate policy) By electing to fish the Pro Tour you are automatically qualified to fish the SKA Mercury Tournament Trail’s National Championship held in the same week. All captains and crew members, however, must fish a minimum of three days (single or two day events) to be eligible.

A $20 team registration form must be filled out prior to fishing (excludes Championship). That will register you for SKA Division points so you can still fish a Division, and if you win the Division, earn a free entry and lodging stipend to the Mercury Tournament Trail Championship. (See description under SKA rules.)

SKA Professional Kingfish Tour entry fee will be $2,500 paid at the first tournament you declare or by April 1st, 2013. No extensions!

This is the only entry money you will pay except the entry fees for the events you fish.

To be a captain of a Pro team you must have been an SKA competition member for one of the past two years or have fished the Pro Tour in the past. All crew members must be Competition Members if fishing as a Pro boat and if any person found on the boat is not a member, points will not count.

Payout is based on 100 Open Class teams and 20 Small Boat Class teams.

POINTS

Total points from these events are broken down as follows:

Two-day events team must declare the day and/or days fishing prior to captain's meeting if one or both days will count.

Three-day events such as the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo and the Jacksonville Fishing Rodeo, only day one and day two will count. (Friday and Saturday) Fish must be weighed on the day the fish is caught. If you declare two days, then break down on day one and can't get repaired for day two you will be allowed to undeclare day two.

Either/Or day events such as the Jolly Mon, Fall Brawl & East Coast Got-Em-On, will be scored by the big fish of the event.

The Small Boat teams will have their own PKT class. If you want your points to go in the Open Class, you must declare this before your first event. Your size boat dictates where you will be placed for points.

All Captains of Pro Teams must register for SKA membership for this year's Tour as a Pro Tour Captain. Crew members must register for Competition Membership. At no time can any person be on board a Pro Tour team without being a Competition Member of the SKA.

If there were more or less participants in both the Open Class or Small Boat Class payouts would be adjusted.

The SKA Professional Kingfish Tour Team of the Year will receive the large loving cup trophy for the Captain at the awards ceremony. Team members will all receive smaller cups after the event. All members of the team will go into the record books and get the recognition they deserve.

2013 SKA Pro Tour

Pro Point scale based on finishing position in each declared tournament calculated from largest to smallest fish overall. Points are NOT based on fish weights.
Pro points will only be accumulated once the Pro entry fee has been received by the SKA. No retroactive points will be awarded.
Pro points will be awarded per tournament. Each day of fishing counts. One day event counts as one day. Two day events can count each day.
Pro Championship will count as each day tournament finish. This year the Pro Championship will automatically be an either / or event as will the National Championship. Higher point values will be awarded in this event per the Pro Point Scale. (If a team elects to fish only one day and weighs two fish, your largest fish will determine where it will be placed as the day it is weighed. If your largest fish is caught on day one, then it will count on day one. If you weigh your fish on day two, then your largest fish will count for day two.)
Pro point scale awards higher point values to teams finishing in the top 10% of each category.
Pro teams will be awarded 20 points minimum for each declared tournament or tournament day.
In the event of a tie in the Team of the Year point standings, the team placing the highest in the Pro Championship will move ahead.
Team of the Year points will be based on a team's best 5 finishes of 8 declared days fishing plus their finish at the Pro Championship.
To be considered a team member, each person on the team must fish at least three declared tournament days. If a local is used from outside your local Division or residency and does not fish his or her other two Pro days, points will be eliminated for that event. This enforces the local knowledge issue.
Each tournament director will file a document showing finishing order, according to weight of fish, at the end of each tournament.
The Pro Tour will begin in January in the Key West Harbour / Murray Marine event and end with the Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi on November 4th thru 6th with the awards on the 7th.

JUSTIFICATION OF CHANGE TO THE POINT SYSTEM

The new point system was designed in an attempt to level the playing field between all divisions. The fish weights in the Gulf region are higher than those on the east coast especially north of Florida. Tournament size in the Gulf divisions are much smaller and than those in other areas.

AT A GLANCE:
Extreme Result:

Kajun Sportsman	25 of 26 boats weighed	41.64# average	96%
West Delta	21 of 22 boats weighed	42.84# average	95%
Jolly Mon	86 of 176 boats weighed	20.34# average	49%
Got-em On	73 of 160 boats weighed	21.27# average	46%

Tournament statistics:
2012 had 45 divisional events
22 events had 50 boats or less (11 had less than 30 boats)
16 events had 51-100 boats
3 events had 101-150
4 events had 151-200+

Division 1 averaged 93.6 boats per event
3 averaged 70 boats per event
4 averaged 57.8 boats per event
5 averaged 93.3 (if you exclude Greater Jax 48.5)
6 averaged 28.6
7 averaged 26.6
8 averaged 27.6
9 averaged 125.5
10 averaged 81.8
11 averaged 20.6

Most points will be awarded from either the less than 50 scale or the 51-100 scale. The NEW point system does encourage teams to support the larger tournaments. The larger tournaments are where we need Pro team exposure for the SKA and our SKA and team sponsors. With Pro teams running the most expensive rigs, we should be competing at tournaments with higher payouts.

The largest event in 2012 was Greater Jax at 272 boats. No Pro team finished in the top 10%.
The Jolly Mon event had 176 boats. The highest placing Pro team was 3rd. The next highest Pro team was 12th.
The Got-em On event had 160 boats. The highest placing Pro team was 12th.
The Fishing for Miracles event had 151 boats with the highest placing Pro team in 10th place. These large events pay out more points but it's much harder to earn these higher point values with a much larger field.
Divisions 6, 7, and 11 averaged 25.2 boats per event. Falling under the 0-50 boat category, 20% of the field will be awarded higher point values.
The point system is not designed to penalize teams in the Gulf. It's intended to give all teams in all divisions a chance to excel and win the Team of the Year award.
The point system is designed to reward teams that consistently finish in the top 10% of their tournament category.
The most consistent, highest placing team throughout the season and the Pro Championship should be rewarded with the Team of the Year award.

2013 SKA Pro Point System

FINISH	PRO CHAMP	200+-151 BOATS	150-101 BOATS	100-51 BOATS	50-0 BOATS
1	200	200	190	180	170
2	190	190	180	170	160
3	180	180	170	160	150
4	170	170	160	150	140
5	160	160	150	140	130
6	150	150	140	130	20
7	140	140	130	120	20
8	130	130	120	110	20
9	120	120	110	100	20
10	110	110	100	90	20
11	100	100	90	20	20
12	90	90	80	20	20
13	80	80	70	20	20
14	70	70	60	20	20
15	60	60	50	20	20
16	50	50	20	20	20
17	40	40	20	20	20
18	30	30	20	20	20
19	25	25	20	20	20
20	20	20	20	20	20

Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour Championship Event

These payouts are based on 61 teams.
Plus trophies to the top three boats, Top Lady, Top Junior, and Top Senior.

Open Class
1.	$40,000
2.	$20,000
3.	$13,000
4.	$10,000
5.	$8,000
6.	$6,000
Total	$97,000
Open Class Team of the Year Bonus
1.	$20,000
2.	$10,000
3.	$8,000
4.	$5,000
Total	$43,000

Team of the Year:
Plus trophies to all members of the winning team.
Plus a ring to the captain.
Plus trophies to all places and
Overall Lady, Overall Junior, and Overall Senior.

GRAND TOTAL: $140,000

Note: A very special thank you goes out to Jack Bracewell (Eren's Addiction Too), Bob Wiggins (Rock Doc), and Mark Henderson (Liquid Fire) who gave of their time to analyze the 2012 format we used. The purpose was to continue to level the playing field to make it equal for all teams competing. We knew from the start we needed to change it from points for your fish weighed to where you finished in a tournament, then come up with a formula we could use based on the size of the event. I think they did a superior job! Is this perfect? Nothing is ever perfect, however we don't think we'll have much tweaking to do next year. Join me in congratulating these members who have nothing but your interests and the association's interest at heart!

The name Southern Kingfish Association and its logos are trademarks of the Southern Kingfish Association, LLC.

THE SKA PROFESSIONAL KINGFISH TOUR 2013