Tournament Dates and Location – May 2nd & 3rd, Deal Island Harbor

● Entry Fee – $125 a boat. 5 people maximum per boat. Comes with a tee-shirt(sponsor names will be on the back of the shirt). There will also be shirts for sale.

● Eligible Fish Species- Red Drum, Black Drum, Blue Catfish, Speckled Trout, and Snake Head. No limit on how many you can catch. It is catch and release for Red Drum unless legal size to keep is caught

● Weigh In Location – Deal Island Harbor – Ralph Abbott Rd, Deal Island, MD

● Captain’s Meeting- will be Friday May 1st 2026 at the Deal Island – Chance Volunteer Fire Company. We will have a cocktail hour and a door prize.

●Door Prizes will be available all weekend and winners of prizes will be announced Sunday at the award ceremony

● Awards Ceremony- May 3rd 2026, 7:00pm, Deal Island Harbor Grounds.

● Fishing Hours – Lines in at 6:00am Saturday and Sunday. May 2nd all anglers must be inside the harbor with fish by 7:30pm. May 3rd all anglers must be inside the harbor with fish by 5:30pm. No Exceptions.

● Boundaries will be the Tangier Sound and all its tributaries down to the Virginia line. No more than 5 miles west of Ewell, South Marsh, or Bloodsworth Island up to Hoopers Island. Including the Honga River, Fishing Bay, Nanticoke River up to the Vienna Bridge, Ellis Bay, Wicomico River, Monie Bay, Manokin River, Big Annemessex River. The Pocomoke Sound and River are off limits.

● Points System for Red Drum – 1 point per inch. One inch equals 1 point. For example a fish that is 40.5 inches will officially measure 40 inches for a total of 40 points, if a fish is over 40.5 inches it will officially measure 41 inches for a total of 41 points. All points will be added up per boat to see who has the most points.

● Official Scales – Fish can not be checked in no earlier than 10am. You can check in any amount of fish but your five largest will be eligible. Red drum will be by length and all other fish will be by weight.

● Winners – There will be 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, for each category.

● Black Drum and all other species except for Red Drum must be brought into the scales.

● Weather – all anglers enter the tournament at their own risk and discretion, accepting full responsibility for their boat, crew, and anglers. Captains and crew will decide on their own if they will participate each day of the tournament.

● Calcutta – $50 entry for biggest Red Drum by length, most Red Drum, largest Black Drum by weight. Must be signed up by the end of Captain’s Meeting Friday night.

● Protest – any protest must submit a written report to the tournament committee. The report must be submitted before the end of the tournament on Sunday and it can be a hand written report or done on the tournament website. In the event of a protest, the report will be given to the judges for review and their decision will be final.

● Tournament Channel: VHF Channel 6 for tournament updates or to report an issue.

● Emergencies: In case of emergency breakdown of a participant’s boat, with the approval of tournament judges the participants may board another vessel in order to weigh-in fish.

● All Anglers will follow Maryland regulations for given species.

● All fish must be measured with the official Deal Island – Chance Volunteer Fire Company measuring tape which will be provided at the Captain’s meeting. If you’re using a measuring device other than a Deal Island official measuring tape your submissions will be disqualified.

● All fish must be caught in designated areas by rod and reel (see map).

● All participants must adhere to all state, local, and federal law.

● In the event of a tie in overall points, the tie breaker will come down to the largest fish caught between the two teams.

● No transferring of any fish to any other boat will be permitted and will result in disqualification.

● All participants that enter the tournament agree that all final decisions by the judges are final.

● The Deal Island – Chance Volunteer Fire Company and its Sponsors are not liable for any personal injury, property loss, or damage, and or any accidents that occur before, during, or after the tournament.

● From everyone at Deal Island – Chance Volunteer Fire Company we hope you stay safe, good luck and we thank you for your support.