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Saltwater Showdown

Saturday, June 14th

6:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Register for the

2025 STBA Saltwater Showdown

Fishing Tournament

Tournament Rules

Questions? Contact Paco Vielma @ 956-491-7919

Event Schedule:
  • Captain's Meeting / Social @ Louie's Back Yard on Friday from 7 pm to 9 pm. Free food for particpants, and a cash/host bar. Calcutta drawings will be done at 8 pm with an explanation of rules right after. Fireworks at 9:15 pm.
  • Boat check-in and shotgun start in front of Louie's on Saturday morning. Check-in will be from 6 am to 6:30 am. After you check in, your team will wait on your boat in the water in front of Louie's and take off right at 6:30 am at the sound of the horn.
  • Weigh-in will be at the Louie's dock between 12 pm and 2 pm. You must arrive by boat, and all team members must be present.
  • The Awards Dinner will be at Louie's Back Yard, 2nd level restaurant area / locals bar, and starts at 5 pm. All participants will be treated to the famous Louie's Seafood Buffet 🤤 along with a cash/host bar.
Weigh-in rules:
  • Weigh-in will be at Louie's Back Yard from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 14th. If you are not feet on the dock by the sound of the 2PM horn, you have missed the weigh-in.
  • You must weigh in by boat and all team members must be present.
  • Yes, you may enter the same fish into more than 1 category (e.g. same red for calcutta and stringer)
  • All decisions by weigh-master will be FINAL. The weigh-master reserves the right to cut open and inspect any fish that he thinks has been altered.
  • Any team deemed by the weigh-master to be altering, mutilating, or stuffing fish for excess weight or size differences will be disqualified from the tournament and reported to Texas Parks and Wildlife Officials. And probably put on Instagram.
  • You must weigh-in all of your fish at once and may not return with additional/different fish.
  • Fish will be ranked by weight, with the heaviest fish winning. In case of a tie in weight, the length of the fish will serve as the tie-breaker. Should the fish be the same length as well, the winner of the tie will be decided by the weigh-in time - the first fish weighed in will win.
  • If you have a fish that you think is on the money for the maximum length in a category, and it comes in over on the weigh-masters Check-it Stik, you are disqualified from that one category only. You may not go get another fish to replace the one that was over.
General Tournament rules:
  • All boats must check in at Louie’s Back Yard between 6 am and 6:30 am. Shotgun start at 6:30 am in front of Louie's - at the sound of the horn, you hammer down and go.
  • Anyone who does not check in Saturday morning will be disqualified from the tournament.
  • Only registered team members may be on the boat. You may have up to 5 team members.
  • Only one Pro Angler per boat. Pro Angler defined: Any current or previously licensed fishing guide, any commercial fisherman, or any individual sponsored by or considered “Pro-Staff” for a boating or fishing company.
  • Any changes in fishing team members must be submitted to the STBA Fishing Committee at the Captain’s meeting.
Fishing tournament categories
  • All fishing teams will participate in the Grand Champion competition (Heaviest Stringer with 1 Red, 1 Trout, 1 Flounder) AND the +/- 1” redfish / trout category.
  • What’s the +/- 1” category? Something new, and awesome. When the calcutta sizes are drawn, you can enter fish that are +/- 1” in size and you’ll receive one raffle ticket for each fish entered. Each member of your team can enter fish into this category - this is an individual competition, with individual prizes. Maximum # of fish you can enter is based on your daily bag limit. At the awards ceremony, we’ll be raffling off some SWEET prizes to those with tickets.
  • Additional calcuttas will be available for redfish and trout, with sizes to be drawn at the Captain’s meeting. $100 each to join, and you must pay in cash at the Captain’s meeting.

2025 Saltwater Showdown

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Team Registration

Notice of Agreement

By signing below, you are verifying that you have read the rules above, understand them, and agree that your team will abide by all rules or be disqualified. After submitting the entry form, your team fee of $125 per angler will need to be paid to the STBA prior to your acceptance into the tournament. A member of the STBA will contact you to arrange payment by check or credit card. All checks should be made payable to the South Texas Builders Alliance. Rules are subject to change - all final rules will be discussed at the Captain's meeting on Friday, June 28th.