Bay Creek Classic
Marty Edwards and Kenneth Crisco topped the leaderboard at the Bay Creek Classic with this 7.25 lb. flounder. Crisco hooked the big flatfish while casting a large mullet to a deep hole in the Lockwood Folly River.
Taking home first place by over a pound, Winnabow, NC’s Kenneth Crisco and Marty Edwards turned a last minute bite into a 7.2 lb. flatfish that earned them first place in the 2014 Bay Creek Classic, held out of Southport’s Wildlife Boat Ramp on September 27th.
The anglers chose to focus on waters they knew well for the event, and fished around the Lockwood Folly River over the course of the day. The bite didn’t seem to be on for the morning and much of the early afternoon, however, as they’d caught only borderline legal fish by the time their money-winner bit just before 3:00 that afternoon.
“We were getting nervous because the weigh-in stopped at 4:00,” Crisco explained.
As he was working a large mullet through an 18’ deep hole on the west side of Lockwood Folly, Crisco got a solid bite around 2:50 and paused to give the fish time to swallow the bait.
“I knew it would have to be a big one to eat that bait,” Crisco continued. “I’d lost a big one earlier, and I sat and waited on that fish. After a while I eased up on the weight a little bit and felt him and set the hook.”
A brief struggle ensued and the flatfish made several short runs, but Crisco was soon able to pressure it to the surface and Edwards’ waiting net. After a successful scoop, the anglers had the flatfish in the boat. Edwards quickly caught another flounder before the pair decided to point their boat towards the scales to ensure they made it in time.
Wilmington’s Greg Kokoski took second place in the tournament with a 5.9 lb. flatfish, and Kyle Hughes earned third overall with a 5.4 lb. flounder.
Doug Cutting topped the event’s competitive 5-fish aggregate category with a solid 18.5 lb. stringer. And for the 7th out of 8 years, Eric McMahan took home the event’s toadfish prize.
Duncan Starnes secured Top Junior Angler in the tournament with a 3.5 lb. flounder.
