Cape Fear Red Trout 2007
The fifth annual Cape Fear Red Trout Celebrity Classic, held the weekend of October 19-20 at the Figure Eight Island Marina, paired tournament anglers with local guides in an effort to help raise money to “Catch a Cure for Cystic Fibrosis.”
This event has a points system that judges anglers not just on how big or many red drum and trout are caught, but also on how the fish are caught (100 points for each fish on fly, 75 points for each fish on artificial, and 50 points for each fish on live bait).
Tournament Director Pete Baxley said, “It’s a gamble for the anglers. Catching fish with a fly rod can be difficult but can land you big points. In the time that you try and catch one fish with a fly rod, you may have caught five with live bait.”
The gamble paid off for the pair of anglers fishing with Capt. Fisher Culbreth, of Capture Charters out of Kure Beach, who landed two of their trout on a fly rod. “We were fishing in the Cape Fear River on a ledge and had a few fish already and said why not try fly,” said Culbreth. “Sure enough, we landed two more trout.”
John Andrews, who was fishing with Culbreth, was named Grand Champion Angler. Andrews caught 14 trout and 2 reds over the two days of fishing. “We were using a jerk bait called the Norton Sandeel,” said Andrews. “It landed us a lot of fish in a short period of time.”
Andrews also took home the prize for Most Trout Caught and Spin Division Champion. “We found a hot ledge and pulled up a bunch of fish,” Culbreth said. “The nicest part about it was that we got it all in one day, which is a rarity.”
Taking the Team Grand Championship was Jason Crowder and George Openshaw. They were fishing with Capt. Ricky Kellum, of Speckled Specialist Inshore Charters, and targeted redfish and trout in the New River.
Crowder and Openshaw were the only duo where both members of the team each caught both reds and trout. Openshaw also took home the Bait Division Championship.
The Ladies Grand Champion was Jeannette Gallaher who fished with Capt. Stuart Caulder of Gold Leader Guide Service. She caught two specks on topwater lures in the Topsail area.
The Fly Division Championship went to John Sloan who fished with Capt. Eddie Stuart of Sandpiper Charters.
Steve Diab, fishing with Capt. Jot Owens of Fortune Hunter Too Charters, landed the largest trout at 22.5 inches. The big trout hit a live shrimp. “We were fishing the Cape Fear River around an island, and found a drop off and caught a real nice fish,” said Owens. “The fish were really responsive to topwater jigs, too.”
Landing the largest redfish was Paul Greene, who was fishing with Capt. Owen Sewell of Cape Fear Coastal Charters. The redfish measured 31 inches and was caught on a topwater lure.
Capt. Seth Vernon, of Double Haul Guide Service, helped Bill Slaughter land 13 redfish to win Most Redfish Caught.
While several anglers at the Cape Fear Red Trout Celebrity Classic won prizes, the real winner was “Catch a Cure for Cystic Fibrosis.”
Tournament Coordinator Erica Lind said, “Ninety cents of every dollar raised here goes directly to science to help fund the search to find a cure. This year we raised close to $81,000 to help find a cure for this disease. We’ve done that amount with only 27 boats, so as we grow we can give more and more to those scientists who are looking for a cure.”
The tournament was sponsored in large part by Charter Lakes Marine Insurance and Chaos Boats.
