Eric Powell Redfish Tournament
Christian Taylor (age 4), and Capt. Mike Taylor--Team Taylor-Made--with the 14.47 lb. pair of red drum that earned them victory in the Second Annual Eric Powell Redfish Tournament. They hooked the fish on Gulp baits in a Swansboro-area marsh bay.
Scaling a pair of 27” red drum weighing 14.47 lbs., Capt. Mike Taylor, of Team Taylor-Made, and his four-year-old son Christian took first place in the Second Annual Eric Powell Redfish Tournament by over 2 lbs. and earned the guaranteed $2500 first place prize.
Taylor didn’t have a chance to pre-fish for the event, held July 14 out of New River Marina, but he and his son found action almost immediately on the morning of competition.
“We just went fishing and got on a small school of fish right away,” Taylor explained.
The anglers found the school of upper-slot red drum feeding near an oyster bed in a Swansboro-area marsh, and they started catching them immediately while casting 4” Gulp baits.
“We got one good fish out of that group,” Taylor said. “We probably caught 15 or so before they locked up and moved on.”
Heading to another marshy bay near Swansboro, Taylor and his son started prospecting with the trolling motor and soon struck red gold.
“I hooked one fish in there and then saw the school,” the winning captain explained. “They kind of spooked, and I could tell it was a big school.”
The father/son pair found their second group of fish around 7:30 that morning, and they had fast action for around three hours.
“We had two at a time hooked from then till 11:00,” Taylor continued. “We Power-Poled down and the tide dropped out and those fish just couldn’t go anywhere.”
Casting Gulp Pogies and Shrimp, the pair stayed hooked up, catching big numbers of upper-slot fish that enabled them to cull for the heaviest pair to take to the scales.
“There had to be 1000 fish in that school,” Taylor recalled. “We caught at least 50 and it didn’t bother them at all. They usually quit biting after you catch that many, but these never did.”
Taylor’s young son proved quite the asset on tournament day, landing around 25 of the reds himself.
“He caught his first red when he was 18 months old,” Taylor said, “and he’s been catching them since.”
After culling reds for three hours, the captain decided it was time to head for the scales around 11:00.
“We had two perfect 27” fish,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t upgrade from that. Our fish could’ve been beat, but I knew I couldn’t beat them right there.”
After packing up, they pointed the boat down the waterway for New River Marina.
“We headed for Sneads Ferry after that—slowly,” Taylor said. “Christian took a nap on the way. He was worn out.”
The 14.47 lb. pair of fish they weighed in once there included the 7.34 lb. red that topped the event’s single heaviest fish TWT.
Scaling a pair of drum that weighed 12.39 lbs. to earn second place was Lee Waters and Tommy Parkin—Team Waters Turf Farm. Dwayne Smith and Lee Padrick were right on their heels with two reds weighing 12.31 lbs. to take third.
The Eric Powell Redfish Tournament is held each year in honor of Powell, the beloved manager of New River Marina who was stricken with ALS in 2010. The event generates proceeds for the Jim “Catfish” Hunter chapter of the ALS Association, an organization dedicated to treatment and an eventual cure of the degenerative disease. This year’s event attracted 50 boats and generated additional funds through donations and a silent auction.
