Tournament Report: Topsail Spring Surf and Pier Fishing Challenge
Fisherman’s Post hosted its annual Topsail Spring Surf and Pier Fishing Challenge over the weekend of April 29-May 1. The event featured a competition made up of two divisions: those fishing from the beachfront within the Topsail Island beach boundaries, and those fishing from one of the three Topsail Island piers.
The Surf Division was on the hunt for bluefish, speckled or gray trout, black drum, and sea mullet, as well as a Red Drum TWT. The Pier Division anglers were in search of bites from bluefish, spanish, black drum, and sea mullet, with a Trout TWT. In addition, the Pier Division features a Pier Cup trophy awarded to the pier angler and pier responsible for the heaviest leaderboard fish.
The 2022 tournament saw 109 anglers register for the surf fishing division and 69 anglers enter the pier fishing division.
The first-place Surf Division bluefish weighed in at an admirable 3.5 lbs. and was caught by Kent Gatewood, from Smithfield, NC.
The winning trout pulled in from the surf weighed 1.7 lbs. and was caught by Willie Stewart, of Spivey’s Corner, NC. He was using a bottom rig with cut bait mullet and was fishing just north of Seaview Pier when he caught the winning trout.
The surf’s first-place black drum was caught by Bradley Johnson, of Stedman, NC. His fish weighed a hefty 5.9 lbs. and was caught on fresh shrimp.
David Stanley, of Sanford, NC, landed the heaviest sea mullet from the sand. Stanley’s winning fish weighed in at 2 lbs. flat and was caught on a bottom rig baited with a live sandflea. Stanley stated, “The southwest winds really did a number on the fishing. The water near the beach was really cloudy and the bite was quite slow.”
Chris Allen, of Benson, NC, won the surf division Red Drum TWT with a 23” redfish weighing 4.1 lbs. The winning red was caught on the north end of the island on a bottom rig baited with squid. Allen stated, “There was quite a few other fishermen around Sunday morning and the bite was scattered, so I felt pretty good about my catch with the pressure of anglers on the beach at the time.”
In the Pier Division, Rick Harless, of Millers Creek, NC, won the bluefish category with a 1.6 lb. fish, and Zachary Hubbard, from Winston-Salem, NC, took the top spot in the spanish category with a fish weighing in at 2.5 lbs.
The heaviest black drum from the pier was also the heaviest fish weighed in by either division all weekend. Robbin Justice-Jones, of Garner, NC, hauled in a 7.2 lb. black drum that was caught on a double-drop bottom rig baited with cut shrimp while fishing from Surf City Pier. Justice-Jones stated, “The conditions for fishing were great, but the overall bite was incredibly slow other than picking up spanish mackerel here and there.”
The big black drum would also lead Justice-Jones to win the Lady Angler title, along with the Pier Cup. The Pier Cup now resides at Surf City Pier all year until it is to be defended again during the Topsail Fall Surf & Pier Fishing Challenge.
The first-place sea mullet from a pier was caught by Ronnie Hinson, of Kenly, NC. Hinson’s fish weighed in at 1.3 lbs. and was caught on Jolly Roger Pier using cut bait shrimp and bloodworm on a bottom rig. Hinson also battled the slow bite, but he attributed landing a winning fish to presenting a number of different baits over the weekend.
The Pier Trout TWT was won by Jayden Yawn with a speckled trout weighing in at the 0.8 lb. mark.
Braxton Vogel took home the title of Junior Angler with his 1.9 lb. spanish mackerel, and Jeffrie Hubbard ended up with the Senior Angler award for his 2 lb. spanish mackerel.
The Topsail Spring Surf & Pier Fishing Challenge donated all of the fish weighed in to First Fruit Ministries. The non-profit began in 1998, and since then, the organization has grown to serve over 20,000 hot meals and provide emergency groceries to over 5,000 households.
For a more complete leaderboard, as well as information on the fall version of this event scheduled for November 4-6, you can visit www.FishermansPost.com.
