2024 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge
The Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge, held over the weekend of July 19-20, experienced much better weather than forecasted, and the competing boats rallied a strong leaderboard, with a 6.28 lb. red drum needed to make the final payout spot.
Like all of the 2024 Fisherman’s Post Inshore Challenges, the Wrightsville event featured a single red drum leaderboard, plus TWTs that included a Single Heavy TWT, a Two-Fish TWT, a High Roller TWT, and a Trash Fish TWT (oyster toad or lizardfish).
Registration and Awards were held at Tex’s Tackle, like last year, but this year featured a new location for weigh-in. The Bridge Tender Marina, under short notice, graciously made available their ICW fuel dock and gazebo, and the location proved convenient both for weigh-in and releasing the over 90% of red drum that were weighed in alive.
The top boat in the Wrightsville Beach tournament was Kook Tacos, made up of Tim Disano, Tripp Hooks, Hunter Williams, and Jimmy Dever. Their winning drum measured right at 27” and weighed 7.38 lbs.
The team had caught mullet the day before, knowing that the rain had bait scattered in the area. In addition, the mullet had been running a little small, so catching bait the day before allowed the team to hand pick mullet of the best size.
Jimmy Dever and Hunter Williams (pictured) and Tim Disano and Tripp Hooks (not pictured), of Team Kook Tacos, won the 2024 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge with a 7.38 lb. red drum caught off a dock using live mullet. The team took home over $3200 in prize money.
On Saturday morning, the tide was high rising, and they only managed a couple of 20-21” reds from the first location. Then when the tide got full and just started to drop, they moved to a dock they can only fish at high tide. Their first bite at the dock would be the tournament winner, a fish that hit a live mullet and then wrapped around a piling, but they were ultimately able to get the fish out.
That 7.38 lb. red would be the only bite from the dock, so they moved to a spot in a creek where oyster beds were beginning to be exposed. At this spot, they had two bites—a 25.5” and a 26.5” redfish, and the 26.5” redfish would be the team’s second fish to weigh. Both fish came on live mullet.
Kook Tacos took first place on the leaderboard, as well as first place in all three red drum TWTs, earned them a total of $3200+.
Team Days Off finished in second place with a 7.06 lb. red drum. Taylor Hensley and Phil Ivins, both from Wilmington, started their tournament fishing day like they usually do, on the water by 4:00 am to give plenty of time for making the run south, perhaps picking up bait, and slowly moving into position at their first fishing spot. They like to arrive at least 30 minutes early to allow conditions to settle down before lines in the water at 6:00 am.
Unlike a typical tournament day when the team often finds the need to move around from spot to spot, Days Off spent most of their fishing time at one location, their first spot of the day. They started the morning by throwing topwaters and had a redfish to the boat by 6:10 am. After landing about five more reds on topwaters, the duo switched over to a mix of artificials and live bait. Twenty fish later, it was about 10:30, and they had two strong upper-slot reds to weigh in, one that would go 7.06 lbs. and finish in second place, and the other that weighed 6.39 lbs.
The tide was steadily falling, and they found their success targeting oyster beds that were becoming exposed as the water fell. Their bigger fish hit a live mullet, and the second fish in their bag fell for a soft plastic paddle tail.
Taylor Hensley (right) and Phil Ivins, of Team Days Off, finished in second place in the 2024 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge with a 7.06 lb. red drum that fell for a live mullet placed near some oyster rocks.
The third-place spot was won by Team Change Order and Carter and Brittany Pigford, of Wilmington. The duo were on the water and in position for lines in the water at 6:00 am, and they started right away but with the wrong species, landing trout and flounder.
The Pigfords like fishing a mix of live mullet and pogies, and they had penned up mullet in advance of Saturday, and then added live pogies that morning.
Change Order typically fishes the Cape Fear River, and their most productive location on this day came from an 18’ deep hole in the river. While most of the red drum they pulled in at this spot were 21” and under, at about 2:00 they landed the third place 6.92 lb. redfish on a live mullet.
This year’s Junior Angler champion was Camille Clark with a 6.45 lb. redfish, the Lady Angler winner was Landa Bridges with a 6.85 lb. redfish, and Mark Daughtry earned the Senior Angler title with a 6.62 lb. red.
For a more complete leaderboard, including information on the current standings of the season-long Inshore Tournament Trail, please visit www.FishermansPost.com.
