Tournament Report – Redfish Shootout Series Event 1
Posting an impressive bag on a windy day, team “Chasin’ Gingers” culled a pair of slot red drum weighing 13.68 lbs. to earn the top spot on the leaderboard at Redfish Shootout Series Event #1, held April 18 out of Wilmington’s Intracoastal Angler.
Richard Gilligan and Corey Durako–Team “Chasin’ Gingers”–with the pair of red drum totaling 13.59 lbs. that earned them first place in the Riley Rods Redfish Shootout Series Event #1. Both reds bit Gulp minnows in a bay off the Cape Fear River.
Wilmington’s Corey Durako and Richard Gilligan spent a number of days on the water in the weeks leading up to the tournament, and they found schooling red drum in several areas they thought about returning to on the morning of the competition.
“We found 7-8 schools of fish that were fired up,” Durako explained, “but it was too windy to fish some of the ones near Figure Eight, so we fished down in the bays.”
Targeting some shallow bays off the lower Cape Fear River, the anglers found action fairly quickly that morning.
“We had three different spots we wanted to hit down in the bays,” Durako continued. “We found them at the second one.”
Casting Gulp Minnows in white and gray, the anglers pulled a total of seven upper-slot fish off their second spot, including the two they brought back to Wrightsville and the scales.
“Five of them were 6.1-6.3 lbs.,” reported Durako, “and Richard worked his magic and caught our big 7.29 lb. fish.”
Fortunately for both Durako and Gilligan, the reds they were able to fish off the Cape Fear River were also running significantly huskier than the ones they’d found further north.
“That 7.29 was only 25.5 inches long,” Durako said. “I caught a perfect 26 7/8 inch fish at Figure Eight the week before that was only 5.5 lbs.”
The schools of fish closer to the ramp had also been experiencing some intense fishing pressure in the weeks leading up to the tournament, further convincing the “Chasin’ Gingers” anglers that running south was the best plan of action.
“Those fish were biting pretty good, but there’ve been 20-30 boats back in there and that’s made it tougher,” the winning captain continued.
After breaking out a digital scale to weigh their two largest fish, the anglers thought they were in decent shape to make the leaderboard, and they got a bit more confident after hearing from some of the other anglers in the tournament.
“I saw that 12 lbs. won this one last year,” Durako said. “We knew breaking 13 was pretty good, and we had a few guys text us that they were having a tough day in those conditions.”
With two substantial reds in the livewell and the weather still not friendly, Durako and Gilligan spent a short time targeting speckled trout before deciding to head closer to the weigh-in around midday.
“We were cold with all the rain and wind,” he explained, “so we decided to head back up to Wrightsville.”
Their instincts were proven solid when the scales closed that afternoon and the “Chasin’ Ginger” fish maintained the top spot on the leaderboard by over 5 lbs.
The “Dingbatters” fishing team of Capts. Rennie Clark and Drew Arndt secured second place in the Shootout with an 8.59 lb. bag. Rounding out the top three were Capts. Mike Hoffman and Lee Parsons—team “GottaCorona”—with a 5.59 lb. bag.
More information on the Redfish Shootout Series and a schedule of upcoming events can be found at www.redfishshootoutseries.com.
