Boy Scout Flounder Tournament
Dennis Durham, of Wilmington, with the 10 lb. flounder that topped the field at the Third Annual Masonboro District Flounder Tournament. Durham hooked the flatfish on a live pogy in Snow's Cut.
Hauling a pair of huge flounder to the scales, either one enough to take the top spot in the event, Wilmington’s Dennis Durham wisely weighed in the larger 10.0 lb. flatfish to take the top spot in the Boy Scouts Masonboro District Flounder Tournament by over 4 lbs. Durham’s doormat earned him over $1200 in the event, held Saturday, September 12, out of Bridge Tender Marina.
The day started off strong for Durham, as he had 3.5 and 4 lb. flatties in the boat early, hooking them while fishing along the banks of the Cape Fear River south of Snow’s Cut.
“Then a big ship came by and messed up my shallow fish, murked up the water,” Durham reported, “so I had to go looking for some deep structure.”
Casting a Carolina-rigged pogy after he moved, Durham soon hooked a 7.5 lb. flounder, adding to the strong fish already in the boat.
“I knew to beat that fish I’d have to go to the Cut,” Durham continued, “so I headed over there. I almost got seasick with all the boat wakes bouncing around in there.”
While casting baits to a grass bank in Snow’s Cut and fishing one rod out of a holder, Durham’s big fish bit around 11:00 Saturday morning.
“I’ve got to confess, I shouldn’t have caught that fish,” Durham explained. “I was reeling a rod in when I saw a bluefish bite the rod I had out the back of the boat. I set the rod down to go reel the blue in, and looked back and my rod was doubled over.”
Rushing back to the rod he’d left dangling above the bottom, Durham set the hook, but he didn’t know what he had off the bat.
Terry Wright, of Wilmington, with the 5.40 lb. flounder that took second place in the Masonboro District Flounder Tournament. Wright hooked the fish on a live finger mullet at Carolina Beach Inlet.
“At first, I thought it was another big blue,” he said, “but it just stayed under the boat and I started thinking I had a big stingray. I was wondering how on earth I could have hooked a stingray with my bait not even on the bottom.”
Fighting the unseen fish to the surface, Durham finally saw that he had a massive flounder, and he went for the landing net.
“That fish never even shook his head until he was in the net,” the winning angler continued. “He must have followed my bait in and just grabbed it while it was dangling there. I just got lucky.”
With a pair of likely winners in the boat, Durham finally took it easy.
“After I caught the 10,” he said, “I just pulled up under the shade of the bridge, put four rods out the back of the boat, and relaxed.”
Durham ran for the scales shortly before 2:00 and was one of the first boats to weigh in. As the weigh-in closed, the winner surprised many at the scales by releasing both the monster flatfish.
Weighing in a 5.41 lb. flounder to take home second place, Terry Wright of Wilmington earned $238. Wright fished the event with longtime fishing partner Johnny Hanner, and the pair found their big flatfish fishing a 30’ ledge at Carolina Beach Inlet.
After landing a pair of keeper flatties earlier in the morning, Wright got a strong strike on a Carolina-rigged pogy about the same time Durham hooked his big fish.
“I think it was around 11 or 11:15,” Wright explained. “It was a hard bite. I said ,‘Johnny, it’s a good fish.’ I let him eat for a pretty good while.”
After Wright set the hook, the flatfish came up fairly easily, and Hanner was ready with the net.
“We’re a good team,” Wright continued. “We’ve fished together for many years. We don’t even have to talk to know what to do. Johnny was the net man.”
Once it surfaced, Hanner put the flatfish in the boat, and the anglers began to celebrate.
“We always get excited when we put a big fish in the boat, and 5.4, that’s a good fish,” Wright said.
The anglers continued fishing the inlet for the remainder of the event, catching a few more flounder, but none larger than the citation fish already in the boat.
Steve Peterson earned third place in the tournament with a 5.35. lb. flounder. Doug Dameron secured fourth with 5.15 lb. flattie, and a 4.10 lb. fish earned fifth for Philip Swicegood.
This was the Third Annual Masonboro District Tournament, and the event continues to grow by the year, attracting nearly 50 anglers for 2009. Tournament Director Andrew Zeldin wished to thank all the event’s sponsors and participants for contributing the event’s continued success.
