2024 Southport Inshore Challenge
While the 40+ boats that entered the 2024 Southport Inshore Challenge enjoyed beautiful weather on both Friday’s registration and Saturday’s one day of fishing, the effects of Tropical Storm Debby were on the minds of most teams as they headed out Saturday morning during a high morning tide.
While the waters in the Southport and surrounding areas were still dirty from the extensive rain runoff, and the king tides had also had an effect on “normal” conditions, the bait (especially mullet) and redfish didn’t seem to mind those conditions. The mullet were all over in big numbers, and the redfish cooperated all day long, though the best action for most boats seemed to happen in the morning as the tide started to fall.
The leaderboard of the Southport Inshore Challenge is based on a boat’s single heaviest red drum (in the slot), but there are several TWTs and additional prizes, such as Closest in Weight prizes, additional payouts for weighing in your fish alive, and every boat that weighs in a fish receives a chance to win a Mudpuppy Salt Stix custom rod, a Marine Bean bean bag, and a Kirk Pigford Homes cash prize.
The big winner on the weekend was Team Marine Warehouse Center, whose single big red drum weighing 7.29 lbs. won the leaderboard, as well as the Single Big Red Drum TWT and the High Roller Single Big TWT. In addition, the team weighed in a second red drum weighing 6.89 lbs. to win the Two Red Drum TWT.
Mason Porter, George Bryan (not pictured), and Aaron Bryan, of Team Marine Warehouse Center, with the two red drum (7.29 and 6.89) that brought the team a payout of over $3000 in the 2024 Southport Inshore Challenge. The team found their fish on live mullet in the lower Cape Fear River.
Team Marine Warehouse Center, comprised of Mason Porter, George Bryan, and Aaron Bryan, put in on Saturday morning at Fort Fisher. They headed out early to find bait in time to be ready at their first spot by lines in the water time of 6:30 am.
Bait was a little hard to find due to the extreme high tide, but they found a few dozen mullet and made way to Buzzards Bay where they threw topwaters and popping cork rigs.
Their first stop didn’t produce much action, so they moved to a small point closer to the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The tide was now falling, and in the 4’ of cleaner water over a shelly bottom, the bites came fairly regular.
The first action was some over-slot fish, but then at around 8:30, George Bryan brought in what would be the team’s second heaviest slot red drum of the day. His 6.89 lb. fish hit a mullet on a Carolina rig.
For the tail end of the falling tide, the team moved to yet another new location, a deeper channel in a creek bend. The first fish they hooked were smaller, but then they started finding bigger fish (25”). Finally, Mason Porter brought in the 26 15/16” red drum that would be the tournament winner, helping the team bring home over $3000 in prize money.
Team Rock Creek Land Company, made up of Jonathan Lanier, Logan Lynch, and Marty Lanier (not pictured), took second place in the 2024 Southport Inshore Challenge with a 7.07 lb. redfish. They hooked the redfish in the Cape Fear River on the start of the falling tide while targeting a grass line with mullet.
Finishing in second place was Team Rock Creek Land Company, made up of Jonathan Lanier, dad Marty Lanier, and Logan Lynch, with a 7.07 lb. redfish.
The Southport team located mullet the day before in order to get to their first spot in the Cape Fear River early enough to hold their place and wait for lines in the water.
The start of fishing was dead high tide and the action was slow, but steady action began just as soon as the tide started to fall. The team’s first two fish on the day would be the two red drum they weighed in, one red drum weighing 7.07 lbs. and another weighing 7.05 lbs. Both came off of live mullet along a grass line and were in the boat by roughly 8:00 am.
The team continued to catch red drum all day long, but both the numbers and sizes of fish slowly declined. The team won just over $2300 for their efforts, including Marty Lanier’s Senior Angler payout.
The Junior Angler champions of the event were Kyle Alm and Jason Alm, Jr. with a 6.96 lb. red drum. They were fishing on Team ALMost Legendary, which also earned the Lady Angler title for Chandler Alm.
The Trash Fish TWT, based on a team’s heaviest oyster toad or lizardfish, went to Team Parker for a 1.82 lb. oyster toad.
For more information including a complete leaderboard of the Southport Inshore Challenge, please visit www.FishermansPost.com. The website also contains information on the next event, the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, as well as the Inshore Trail, the current Inshore Trail standings, and the Inshore Trail Championship.
