Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge
Capt. Brandon Dean, of Southport, with a 7.12 lb. red drum and a 3.16 lb. flounder that earned first place red drum and first place aggregate in the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge. The red bit a live menhaden at some bottom structure just off Kure Beach while he was fishing with his father Larry.
With a host of boats full of area anglers plying the waters of Cape Fear in search of money-winning red drum and flounder, the Fisherman’s Post Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge participants faced some stiff competition. Southport’s Brandon Dean and Wilmington’s Matt Davis finished at the front of the pack; Dean weighing a 7.12 lb. red drum and Davis scaling a 5.18 lb. flounder to top their respective leaderboards.
Dean and his father Larry—the “Top Priority” fishing team—added a 3.16 lb. flounder to his drum to earn first place in the event’s aggregate competition as well. With limited time off his main gig as an NCWRC Enforcement Officer, Dean hadn’t had much time to pre-fish for the event.
“That was only the third time I’d been fishing this year,” he explained. “We decided to take a gamble and run to Carolina Beach.”
After catching bait in the dredge pond off the east side of the Cape Fear River, Dean headed out Carolina Beach Inlet to some nearshore bottom structure in 35’ of water off Kure Beach.
“We caught our first flounder there at 9:30,” Dean explained. “That red bit around 10:00.”
Matt Davis and Todd Eason, of Wilmington, with the 5.18 lb. flounder that earned first place in flounder division of the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge. Eason hooked the big flatfish on a live menhaden beneath a Cape Fear River dock.
A small live menhaden fooled the red, and as the team put it in the boat, Dean thought it would be over the 27” legal maximum for a red in NC waters.
“When I first saw it,” he said, “I thought it’d be a keeper. But when Dad netted it, I thought he looked over. Dad said to measure it anyway, and I couldn’t believe it was just 26.”
The fish’s large head and high back fooled Dean at first, but after repeated measurements, they knew it was within the slot limit and would be a tough fish to beat.
The spot produced a total of five flounder in addition to the red. Dean kept a 19” fish in his livewell to accompany the drum to the scales, but he decided to move and hunt some new baits for a flatfish upgrade.
“We jumped the shoals at Bald Head,” he explained, “and headed over to the hot hole off Oak Island to catch more bait.”
After loading up on some larger menhaden, Dean headed into the Cape Fear River to begin the hunt for a big flounder around the Southport waterfront.
His first few spots didn’t produce, but a final stop at a wreck just off Southport in the river gave him the flounder upgrade he was looking for.
“We pulled up there at 2:30,” Dean reported. “It was our last stop, because I knew we had to leave at 3:00 to make the scales.”
On his first cast to the wreck, the captain cranked in a solid flatfish.
“That fish was under 20,” Dean said, “but he was a lot fatter than the 19-inch one we had.”
Patricia and Paul Arvidson with the 2.93 lb. flounder that earned Paul the Top Junior Angler honors in the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge and this guaranteed photo appearance.
After a few more casts to the spot, the anglers packed up and headed for Wrightsville and the scales, where their drum topped the others on the board by a full half-pound.
Mike Jeffers scaled a 6.56 lb. red drum to finish second, and a 6.35 lb. fish earned Sam Daughtry third place in the drum competition. Barry Fowler took fourth with a 6.16 lb. fish, and Bryan Armstrong’s 6.10 lb. red rounded out the top five.
Matt Davis and Todd Eason made up the “Davis Fence” crew that earned first place in the flounder competition.
Their day got off to an inauspicious start as an electrical issue threatened to knock the team out of competition early on.
“We got to our first spot at Scotts Hill and caught bait,” Davis explained. “We fished about 15 minutes and picked up to move, and when I turned the key to start the motor, there was just nothing.”
After taking the cowling off the outboard, the anglers realized the positive wire’s crimp had broken off the motor’s starter.
“I spent 15 minutes messing with it; trying to get the crimp wedged in there,” Davis continued. “Finally I took a hook, crimped it on the wire, and managed to get it on the terminal.”
The quick-thinking kept the outboard running for the rest of the day, and the pair made a haul to the Cape Fear River to try some new ground.
Around 11:00, while they were casting to a dock north of Snow’s Cut, Eason got a bite.
“We’d been fishing there a while and were about to move,” Davis said. “Todd stopped and said he had a bite.”
After hooking the fish, Eason had no idea the tournament winner was on the end of his line.
“I asked him if he needed the net,” Davis said, “and he said it was only maybe a 2 pounder. Then he got a look at it and said to get the net, so I did.”
Chris Hanson, of Wilmington, with the 5.02 lb. third place overall flounder and a 4.85 lb. red drum that made he and Troy Philip's second place aggregate weight in the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge.
The big flatfish took one more run, but Eason worked it to the net and Davis scooped it into the boat.
“I thought we’d see some money with that fish,” Davis explained, “but I told Todd before the tournament it would take a 10 pounder to win. I can’t believe we did it with half that.”
Fishing the rest of the day, the anglers didn’t come up with anything else to bring to the scales, but their flounder edged out the second place fish by a tenth of a pound.
Karl Anderson landed the 5.08 lb. second place fish, and Troy Philip was right on his heels with a 5.02 lb. flounder good for third. Andy Broadwell secured fourth place with a 4.66 pounder, and a 4.62 lb. flatfish gave John Donovan fifth.
The Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge is the first of five events in the 2012 Fisherman’s Post Inshore Tournament Trail. More information on the tournament and a full leaderboard, along with standings for the trail, are available at www.fishermanspost.com.
