CCA_Cal STAR Tournament Set For May 24 Return

The following is courtesy of the Coastal Conservation Association of California:

CCA CAL’s STAR Tournament is Back for 2025 with Great Prizes, More Eligible Species, Expanded Waters and More

CCA California is set to launch the season-long 2025 STAR Tournament for a chance to win a new Parker 18SE center-console fishing boat with a Yamaha 150 outboard and trailer.

The CCA California STAR tournament is back for 2025 with more eligible species, expanded waters, and a chance to win a new Parker 18SE center-console fishing with Yamaha 150 outboard and a trailer, thanks to West Coast Marine in Costa Mesa, as well as 9 other grand prizes, 14 great weekly prizes, and $15,000 in scholarships up for grabs in the STAR youth division. 

For 2025, the STAR Tournament has expanded the eligible ocean waters to include the Pacific side of Baja California down to Cabo San Lucas, as well as all of California’s state and US Pacific waters. This year’s tournament also includes an expanded number of eligible species. Lingcod, striped bass and king salmon have been added, in addition to saltwater bass (kelp, barred sand bass and spotted bay bass), California halibut, California yellowtail, tuna (Thunnus genus), and white seabass.

This year the STAR Tournament will kick off on May 24, 2025 (the start of Memorial Day Weekend), and run through Labor Day, September 1, 2025. Anglers will use the free Fishing Chaos app to easily register a catch and facilitate live releases, if they choose. 

“I am proud to announce that STAR is back for 2025 with more opportunities to catch and register eligible fish,” says Dave Brown, chair of the CCA CAL STAR Tournament Committee. “Not only have we added three new species, we have nearly doubled the eligible Pacific waters in which you can catch an eligible fish. 

“STAR is open to party boats, private boats, kayaks, shore anglers and, new for 2025, spearfishermen,” Brown adds. “CCA CAL’s goal is for this to become the biggest saltwater fishing event in the state of California. And that’s important, because angler participation in STAR supports CCA CAL’s advocacy work in conserving our marine resources and your access to them, including your right to fish.”

Registration is just $40 for current CCA CAL members. Non-members can participate by joining CCA CAL for $40, and then registering. All entries include a durable rollup vinyl measuring tape, as entry will be based on length, not weight, to expedite live releases, if desired. 

Minimum sizes for the 2025 eligible fish are: 18 inches for saltwater bass; 28 inches for California halibut; 36 inches for California yellowtail, white seabass, and tuna; 26 inches for king salmon; and 22 inches for lingcod and striped bass. Using the Fishing Chaos app, anglers can submit up two entries per category per day, and each registered catch earns a chance to win prizes in the weekly drawings, as well as one of the ten grand prizes at the conclusion of the 14-week tournament. 

A new twist on the youth division will be the opportunity to win scholarships for those between the ages of 13 and 17 years of age at the start of the tournament. CCA CAL, with the help from generous sponsors such as Mudhole Tackle and others, is offering three (3) $5,000 scholarships for the youth division. Similar to how the grand prizes work, youth anglers will have the ability to submit entries to be eligible to win one of those scholarships. “It only takes one entry for a chance to win.” Brown points out. 

To learn more, read the official STAR Tournament rules or to register, visit CCACalifornia.org/STAR