Team Harvey, Proud to Work on the Back of a Boat sticker

The Back of the Boat Challenge

Shotgun a beer. Rig a ballyhoo. Fastest time wins.

Record it anywhere. Any dock, any cockpit, any tournament.

Starting July 4th

To enter, DM your run to @sportfish_hub on Instagram.

One submission counts. Honest mistake? Message me and we’ll let you resubmit.

These rules aren’t final yet. Read them through, and if you spot anything, let me know. You’ll catch it faster than I will.

When it runs

Starts July 4th

Entries close July 18 at 11:59 PM ET. Runs two weeks. Wherever you are in the world, that close time is Eastern, so you know the exact cutoff.

STARTS JULY 4CLOSES JULY 18 · 11:59 PM ET

The prizes

~$3,000 in sponsor gear

It’s good gear, not cash. Sponsor stuff you’d actually run on the boat or wear on the dock. The fastest time wins it, and if enough comes in, I’ll take care of second and third too, not just the winner.

Exact prizes and the sponsors behind them drop here soon.

One thing for the guys overseas. If you win, the shipping and any tariffs, taxes, or customs to get the gear into your country are on you. I’ll send it out, but what it costs to land where you are is your end.

How you enter

Record it
One uncut take with the running clock in the shot the whole way.
One submission
You get one submission. If you make an honest mistake, message me and we'll let you resubmit.
DM it to @sportfish_hub
Send your run as an Instagram direct message to @sportfish_hub. That is your entry.

To enter, DM your run to @sportfish_hub on Instagram.

Follow @sportfish_hub on Instagram

One submission counts. Honest mistake? Message me and we’ll let you resubmit.

The two rounds

How it runs

ROUND 1 · THE FIRST TWO WEEKS

Shotgun and rig

You shotgun the beer and rig a prepped ballyhoo against the clock, one uncut take. The contest runs two weeks, so you've got time to practice and send your best run. The fastest time is what moves you on.

THE FINAL · TOP 5

The five fastest

When the two weeks are up, the five fastest move on to the final. You get 72 hours to put up your final run. The final's a different challenge, probably a shot and a different bait, and I'm still working out exactly what it is. I'll lay it out for the five who make it. Same deal either way, one take, clock in the shot, fastest time wins.

The full rig

The rules

Tap a row to drop it down. The first one’s open so you can see how they work.

The kit

Swivel rig, naked hoo, your pick.

SWIVEL RIGNAKED HOO

It's a swivel ballyhoo rig. You start with a prepped ballyhoo, the swivel already attached to a piece of copper rigging wire, and an egg sinker for the chin weight.
Run whatever swivel you want, ringer swivel, EZ bait swivel, or a plain barrel swivel, doesn’t matter to me.
The bait's prepped already, meaning it's thawed in saltwater, pooped so the guts are squeezed out the vent, and the backbone's broken so it's limber, same as it'd be sitting brined on ice before a trip.
Naked ballyhoo, no skirt and no chugger head. Just the bait on the swivel, the way it swims. Everybody rigs the same thing.
Any size ballyhoo, dink or horse, your pick.

The setup

One take, 12 oz can, solo is fine.

1 TAKESOLO OK12 OZ

Record it however you want, one phone or two, by yourself or with a buddy. What matters is the can, the running clock, and your hands on the bait all stay in one uncut shot the whole way through. Going solo is fine, you just set the camera so it sees everything. Run it yourself and you might lose half a second clicking the clock and punching the can, but that’s on you.
Start the stopwatch off the regular clock app and let it run, in the shot, before you do anything. It doesn't matter what number it's on when you start, the timing gets worked out from the video, so nobody's thumb on the button counts for you or against you.
One take. No cuts, no edits, no speeding it up. Touch the video and you're out.
Any brand, but it's got to be a 12 ounce can. No koozie, we've got to be able to see it's a beer. It just has to be in the shot, you don't have to hold it up to the camera or make the label readable.
Show the prepped bait, the swivel and wire, and the egg sinker sitting on the table.

The beer

Punch the side, then the tab.

SHOTGUNCAN UPSIDE DOWN

It’s a shotgun. Punch a hole low on the side, get your mouth on it, then crack the top tab and it pours right down. The tab being sealed until you punch is how we know the can was full and nobody cracked it early.
The clock starts the second you punch the hole, not when you crack the tab.
Drink the beer. A little down the chin happens, but if you're pouring it out, I'll see it, and that won't go your way.
When it’s empty, set the can down upside down in the shot and leave it there. Upside down is the proof, if there’s beer left, it pours out. Set it and keep moving, you don’t stop to show it, the can does the talking.

The rig

Lock the head, cut it clean.

HANDS IN SHOTSOUND ON

You know the rig. Wire up through the bottom jaw and out the top lip, then the egg sinker slides on and seats tight under the throat, wraps through the gill plates and eye sockets to lock the head, an X over the nose through the swivel to close the mouth, then down the bill and cut it clean, with the swivel flush on the nose.
Keep your hands and the bait in the shot the whole time, and leave the sound on.
The clock stops when the finished bait's on the table and your hands are off it.
Want to see the whole rig done? It’s on my Instagram, @steve360fishing.

After the run

We have to see it wasn’t cut.

ONE UNCUT TAKE

The main thing here is we have to be able to tell the video wasn’t cut. One take, the running clock in the shot the whole way, from the punch to the bait hitting the table.
After the run, bring the finished bait in close and turn it so the rig shows, but keep the clock in the same shot. We look at the clock, then the bait up close, without a break, so the rig can get a look.
If the stopwatch leaves the shot anywhere between the punch and the bait going down, the run's dead, because that running clock is the only thing that proves the time and proves it wasn't cut.

The time

Table time minus the punch.

TABLE − PUNCH

Your time is the stopwatch when the bait hits the table minus the stopwatch when you punched the can. Anybody can pull up your video and land on the same number, and that’s the whole reason we run it this way.

Who can enter

Legal age where you’re recording.

LEGAL AGEWHERE YOU RECORD

You've got to be legal drinking age where you're recording, and you've got to actually be there, not just be from there. What counts is where you are, not where you're from.
In the US, any US territory, or anywhere the legal age is 21, that's 21 and up. Everywhere the legal age is 18, that's 18 and up.

Judging and fairness

How you win

It’s all public
Every run goes up on Instagram, some as reels, some as stories, but all of them public. Everybody sees every entry, not just me.
The automatic outs
A couple things are an automatic out and there’s no arguing them, like an edited video, the stopwatch leaving the shot, or the can never getting shown. Those are black and white.
The rig gets judged
We’re going for time, so we can’t sit here and check that every rig swims perfect, that’s not the game. It just has to be good, not butchered. Turn in a bait that’s completely jacked up or coming apart just to post a fast number, and the commenters are going to catch it. Once a majority are calling a rig out, it goes to a review board, a few captains and mates who aren’t entered and who stay unnamed, and they make the final call. That keeps it off me, and it keeps a guy from getting knocked out just because he’s one spot ahead of somebody’s buddy.
One run, one submission
Practice it at home as many times as you want, record it ten times if that’s what it takes, but the one you send me is the one that counts. You get one submission, but if you make an honest mistake, message me and we’ll let you resubmit. So send your best.

Before you send

What your video needs

Run down this list before you hit record. Everything on it has to be in the one take.

One uncut take, sound on, everything in frame
Stopwatch running and in the shot before anything else
12 oz can in the shot, no koozie, tab still sealed
Prepped bait, swivel and wire, and egg sinker shown on the table
Punch the hole, clock starts, then crack the top tab
Drink it down, then set the empty can upside down in the shot and leave it
Rig it clean, good enough that it’s not butchered
Bait on the table, hands off, clock stops
Bait in close, rig showing, clock still in the same shot

Miss any of these and the run won’t count, so go down the list before you hit record.

To enter, DM your run to @sportfish_hub on Instagram.

Follow @sportfish_hub on Instagram

One submission counts. Honest mistake? Message me and we’ll let you resubmit.

Spot anything?

That’s the rules. If you spot anything, let me know. Once I hear back from you, we lock it and open it up. This goes to me, not the entry inbox.

Sound off on Instagram (@steve360fishing)

The Back of the Boat Challenge

Starts July 4th

~$3,000 in sponsor gear

How you enter

Record it

One submission

DM it to @sportfish_hub

How it runs

Shotgun and rig

The five fastest

The rules

The kit

The setup

The beer

The rig

After the run

The time

Who can enter

How you win

It’s all public

The automatic outs

The rig gets judged

One run, one submission

What your video needs

Spot anything?

The Back of the Boat Challenge

Starts July 4th

~$3,000 in sponsor gear

How you enter

Record it

One submission

DM it to @sportfish_hub

How it runs

Shotgun and rig

The five fastest

The rules

The kit

The setup

The beer

The rig

After the run

The time

Who can enter

How you win

It’s all public

The automatic outs

The rig gets judged

One run, one submission

What your video needs

Spot anything?