Pleasure Island Surf Challenge 2007
As one of the few remaining places where the public has four wheel drive access to the beachfront, Pleasure Island (comprised of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher) is an attractive place for anglers from all over the state and region to plan surf fishing vacations.
In an effort to revive the vibrant tradition of Pleasure Island surf fishing tournaments in the wake of the loss of the popular Seagull Bait and Tackle event, Fisherman’s Post Newspaper held the first annual Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge on October 26-28, 2007. Structured much like its predecessor, the event allowed entrants to compete for the heaviest fish in six categories: bluefish, speckled trout, flounder, whiting, pompano, and black drum.
Although the weekend’s stormy forecast became a reality, the 258 participating anglers managed to land impressive qualifying fish in each division.
Flounder, bluefish, and speckled trout made up the event’s primary categories, each dangling a $1000 first place check in front of the anglers, while the winners of the other three divisions each took home $500.
A 4.0 lb. flounder earned the top spot in that division for angler Robert Carter, who traveled from Elizabethtown, NC, to fish the event with his father Ted and friend Thomas Speight. A live finger mullet on a bottom rig fooled the winning flatfish around 2:00 in the afternoon on Saturday while the trio of anglers was fishing from the beach at Fort Fisher.
“He was a long way out there,” Carter said, “but he hit that bait as soon as it hit the water.”
James Pendergrass was right on Carter’s heels in the flounder competition, weighing in a 3.8 lb. flattie to take home $500. Third place and $250 went to George Solomon, whose flounder weighed 2.4 lbs.
Another 4.0 lb. fish took first in the bluefish category. It was caught by Larry Tuttle, of Colfax, NC, who was fishing with a group of friends from the Charlotte area. The anglers fished near marker 16 on the drive-on strand at the north end of Carolina Beach. Tuttle’s big blue bit a chunk of cut mullet at around 1:30 Sunday morning, and after he landed the fish he wasted no time in getting it to the nearby beachfront scales.
“We were fishing right in front of the weigh station,” he explained. “When I caught that fish, I was kind of hyperventilating. I ran right up the beach with the rod, reel, and everything and went right to the weigh station.”
Ronnie Miles earned the second place bluefish check for a 3.8 lb fish, and a 3.0 lb. blue secured third for angler Robert Kegeris.
Allen Mungo caught the only legal speckled trout in the event, at 2.3 lbs. Mungo, from Denver, NC, fished the tournament with his brother Randy Mungo, and he also caught his fish near marker 16 on the North End. The $1000 trout fell for a piece of cut shrimp on a bottom rig at 2:10 Saturday morning, just hours after the event’s midnight lines-in time.
In the highly competitive whiting division, Mike Smith weighed in a 1.6 lb. fish to earn the $500 first place check and beat out his fishing companion C.W. Dunlap’s 1.5 lb. second place fish by just 0.1 lbs.
Smith, from Lillington, NC, and Dunlap, of Wilmington, fished the Fort Fisher surf just 300 yards from the weigh station located at crossover #1. They experienced a nice run of whiting in the late afternoon on Saturday, and Smith landed the winning fish around 5:00 on a sand flea bait.
Michael Tallent weighed in a 1.3 lb. whiting to pin down third place.
In the event of multiple fish of the same weight, the first fish weighed takes precedence, and this rule was put to the test in the pompano competition, where the top three fish all weighed 0.5 lbs.
Keresea Cox, from Fayetteville, weighed in the first half pound pomp, which she caught while fishing with her husband and son near crossover #3 on the south end. A piece of cut shrimp on a bottom rig was too much for the winning pompano to resist.
Second place in the pompano category went to Junior Bunce, and Brian Mills caught the third place fish.
Richard Exum, of Wilmington, was one of only two anglers to weigh a black drum in the event, and his 0.8 lb. drum topped the category and earned him the $500 prize. He caught the black drum while fishing near the Kure/Carolina Beach city limits on a piece of cut shrimp.
Exum’s fish narrowly edged out the second place 0.7 lb. black drum weighed in by Jarrett Kiser.
The tournament also featured Lady, Junior, and Senior Angler competitions, determining the winner by the heaviest fish in any of the six prize categories.
Caroline Robinson weighed in a 1.2 lb. whiting to earn the top Lady Angler crown. In Junior Angler competition, Hunter Andrews’ 0.5 lb. whiting secured the top spot. And a 3.6 lb. flounder was enough to earn the Top Senior Angler honors for Ronnie Miles.
Since tournament anglers didn’t weigh in enough qualifying black drum or speckled trout to fill the prize categories, the organizers awarded the second and third place trout and third place black drum prizes through a random drawing at the awards ceremony.
The event also featured an optional red drum Calcutta, paying out to the heaviest red drum weighed in both alive and within the state’s 18-27″ slot limit. Unfortunately, though tournament anglers caught and released a number of reds over 27″, none inside the slot were caught during the fishing hours, and the red drum money was also awarded via drawing.
Tournament Director Eddie Hardgrove chose the Cape Fear Volunteer Center’s Big Buddy program, which provides local youths in need with adult counterparts serving as friends and positive role models, as the Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge’s primary beneficiary.
“I have served as a Big Buddy for over four years,” Hardgrove said, “and I picked them as our beneficiary because, as a Big Buddy, I’ve seen firsthand the positive results the program has on youths’ lives in our community.”
The event did more than just donate money to the program. On Saturday morning, Hardgrove coordinated a Big Buddy/Little Buddy fishing day on the beach in front of the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, providing 20 local kids who would not ordinarily have an opportunity to experience the thrill of surf fishing with an opportunity to do so while learning from experienced mentors at the same time.
Hardgrove wished to thank all the sponsors that made the Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge possible, and all the anglers who fished the event and made it a success.
