OIFC Thanksgiving Flounder/Trout Classic
For the second year in a row, Capt. Brent Banks took home the winner’s check in Capt. Stan’s Thanksgiving Inshore Classic, held November 24 out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center. In the week prior to the event, tournament organizers made the call to shift the event from a one flounder/one speckled trout aggregate to a three trout aggregate format, and Banks, who operates Speck-tacular Charters out of Jacksonville, answered with three trout weighing 14.9 lbs. to pocket $1010.
Not only did he top the overall competition, Banks’ largest speck, at 5.2 lbs., was the heaviest caught in the event, earning him an additional $337.50.
The tournament’s boundaries restrict anglers to the waters between Little River Inlet and the Southport waterfront, and Banks found his winning fish in a spot near the Oak Island Bridge, towards the event’s northern boundary. Live shrimp fished beneath slip floats accounted for all of the many bites Banks had over the day.
“I was fishing in 9-10′ of water,” Banks explained, “and setting the corks at about 6′. I probably caught 40-50 fish. At one point, I sat down in the bottom of the boat and just rested.”
Nearly all Banks fish came on the falling tide, and the bite died out around 11:30. Aside from trout, he landed several black drum in the 15 lb. class.
After the action slowed down, he headed to the Little River jetties but was unable to improve on his aggregate weight. Fortunately for Banks, who was fishing solo, his three largest trout were enough to top the field by five pounds.
The trio of Dana Mauldin, Wendy Mauldin, and Tim Lawson weighed in the second place, 9.90 lb. aggregate, which also earned Wendy the event’s Top Lady Angler title. The Shallotte Point-based anglers took home over $700.
The second place team started out the tournament fishing along the shell banks leading to Little River Inlet. They caught fish almost immediately, but it wasn’t until the anglers moved to the inlet’s jetties that they caught the three fish they weighed in. Like Banks, all of their fish fell for live shrimp under slip floats.
Three trout weighing 8.95 lbs. secured third place for Chris Jenkins, of Oak Island. Jenkins also weighed in the event’s second heaviest trout, at 4.9 lbs., earning a total check for over $600.
Ted Graham took fourth place in the event.
Fifth went to father/son team Nathaniel and Kyle Hughes. The Hughes also took home the event’s Bradley Graham award (presented to the team weighing in the red drum with the most spots) for a seven-spotted red.
Local leaderboard regulars (and the overall winners of the OIFC Spring Inshore Classic) Brian Aycock and Tripp Hooks shared the tournament’s Top Junior Angler honors.
The Thanksgiving Inshore Classic attracted 16 boats for 2007, a crowd mostly made up of locals who fish the event every year. Tournament Director Capt. Stan Gurganus wished to express his gratitude to the event’s sponsors-SeaTow, Marine Service Center of Little River, and the Ocean Isle Fishing Center-and the anglers who fished for making the tournament a success.
