Carolina Redfish Series #1
Daniel Griffee and Dave Bernstein–Team B&G Fishing–with a pair of red drum weighing 12.95 lbs. (including a 7.20 lb. big fish) that earned them victory in the first Carolina Redfish Series Event, held May 31 out of Chasin’ Tails Outdoors. They hooked their fish in marshes off the ICW on topwater plugs and popping cork rigs.
Squeaking by their competition by just one hundredth of a pound, Team B&G Fishing scaled a pair of red drum weighing 12.95 lbs. to earn victory at the first of three 2014 Carolina Redfish Series events, held out of Atlantic Beach’s Chasin’ Tails Outdoors on May 31.
Dave Bernstein and Daniel Griffee, fishing aboard a 21’ Nauticstar bay boat, didn’t do too much pre-fishing for the event but found a few solid upper-slot fish in the days leading up to the tournament and reported excellent action throughout the Morehead City area on tournament day.
“Just about everywhere we fished there were good fish to catch,” Bernstein explained. “It’s been an up-and-down spring, but it seems like there’s a very solid class of reds in the area right now, with a lot of heavy 23-25 inch fish.”
The anglers’ number one spot for the event was only fishable at high tide, and with low water early on the morning of the event, they fished their way around the area while waiting for the tide to flood.
“We couldn’t even get over an oyster bar at our first spot,” Bernstein continued, “but we were making long casts over the bar and I hooked a big fish on my first cast. He chafed the leader off on the bar, but we were able to catch a couple solid fish there once the tide rose a bit.”
The anglers continued fishing marshy coves along the ICW as the tide rose that morning, and found upgrades to the fish they had in their livewell at virtually every one.
“All those fish were about the same length,” Bernstein said, “but we’d get one that slightly tipped the culling bar and make an upgrade.”
Finally the pair were able to squeeze their bay boat into the spot where Bernstein had hooked a 26” fish before the event, and it, too, proved productive.
“Fish were way back in the grass in there feeding on grass shrimp and glass minnows,” he reported. “We’d see a shrimp pop, cast in there, and hook up.”
Though most of their fish came on topwater plugs over the course of the day, the 7.2 lb. red that anchored their winning weight fell for a soft plastic bait on a circle hook beneath a Bomber popping cork.
“I wasn’t really paying attention and that cork had kind of come off the bank and then it started screaming out of there,” Bernstein said.
Once they caught sight of the fish, the anglers knew that if it wasn’t over the 27” slot limit, it was the one they were looking for. However, the fish didn’t make things easy once Bernstein worked it to the boat.
“Every time he came back to the side of the boat, he’d get back away,” he said. “I had a brand new landing net with a long handle for that tournament, and I got him just close enough for Daniel to get him. Seeing the fish in that net was a great feeling.”
The feeling got even better when the anglers realized the fat red fell within the slot.
“Our buddies on Team Reel Truth were across the bay from us, and I think they heard us celebrating,” Bernstein added.
The anglers fished a few more spots, upgrading their smaller fish again before heading for the scales. When the weigh-in ended, their pair of reds were just heavy enough to ease past fellow competitors “The Redfish Guys” and secure the win for Bernstein and Griffee. The “B&G” crew would like to thank Bomber and Buffalo Wild Wings of Morehead City, New Bern, and Greenville for their support of the team.
With a big fish weighing 6.73 lbs. and a two-fish aggregate of 12.94, the aforementioned “Redfish Guys,” Lee Padrick and Dwayne Smith, earned second place in the event. The “Broken Hook” crew secured third with a pair of reds weighing 12.74 lbs.
A full leaderboard from the event and more information on the Carolina Redfish Series can be found at www.carolinaredfishseries.com.
