2014 Adreno BIG 5 Online Spearfishing Competition - Rules Updates

The 2013 competition has now ended and it was SO close in many areas! Keep an eye out for official announcements on winners.

In the meantime, the 2014 competition has kicked off and in the first week we've already had multiple entries! It's great to see. Three years ago, when we started this online spearfishing competition, the aim was to create a fun competition with the goal of encouraging spearos to be selective and target specific high-quality species. It also gives the opportunity to win some awesome prizes!

If you're not familiar with the Big 5 rules, check out the full 2014 list of rules here. It pays to brush up on the rules anyway. But in this blog we will quickly address some of the changes to the 2014 Big 5 competition.

International Category Changes

Last year, we had 11 categories including multiple foreign categories such as the Florida 5, California 5, Mediterranean 5, South African 5 and Pacific 5. As we only had a few international competitors weigh in, we have decided to remove these categories for now. If we start to have more interest from particular countries, then we can look at adding these categories again. International competitors CAN still enter the competition though. Any fish that has an international equivalent can be weighed in. For example, where we have Mulloway an international competitor could weigh in a White Sea Bass, and where we have Mangrove Jack an international competitor might weigh in a Cubera Snapper. This applies also to States - for example, a similar reef species from down south could be weighed into the Reef 5 - such as a harlequin fish instead of a coral trout. Or for WA, a Dhu fish may be weighed in instead of a Jewfish.

Weighing your fish - scales

Fish may not be weighed on spring scales in 2014. We recommend Adreno 40kg Digital Fish Scalesfor the Big 5 competition as they are clear to read and avoid questions about weight accuracy.

NEW species category

We have decided to add an 'Emperor 5' category. This category will consist of: - Red Emperor - Spangled Emperor - Red Throat Emperor - Longnose Emperor - Wildcard Emperor - for example Maori Sea Perch, Buffalo Emperor, Grassy Emperor and others at Adreno's discretion

Southern 5 species review

Southern species: - Snapper - Boarfish - Leatherjacket - Whiting - min 300g - Morwong (including banded, red, queen snapper, blue morwong, and others at Adreno's discretion - not including larger species such as blubber lip, giant, and mother-in-law)

Maximum size limit on Flathead

As requested, we have removed the maximum size limit from Flathead for the Estuary and Junior 5 categories. This will now be regulated as per State legislation - so if you get a Flathead in QLD, it must be 75cm. However, NSW won't have this 75cm restriction.

Weight change for Dolphin Fish

To encourage more competitors to weigh in Dolphin Fish, the new minimum weight limit for them is 3kg.

Estuary 5 points changes

Given the large size of many Estuary 5 species, we have changed the scoring to 100 points per species and 15 points per kilo

Any additional rule changes will be finalised by January 31. We welcome recommendations from our competitors so please write on our Facebook wall to request any improvements to the competition before January 25.