Tournament Report – Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge
The winners of the Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge with their plaques, prizes, and checks totalling over $22,000 following the tournament’s awards ceremony and raffle.
Attracting 475 anglers to the three beach communities on the strand, the Fisherman’s Post Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge tested anglers’ skills and stamina in a round-the-clock, 36-hour race to see who could weigh the heaviest of seven popular surf species. The event was held October 17-19 along the shores of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher.
Traveling up from Murrells Inlet, SC, to fish the event for the third year, Shaun Bess came out the tournament’s big winner. He topped not only the black drum category, but took home first place in the tournament’s Red Drum Calcutta to return to South Carolina over $3,500 richer.
Fishing near the middle of the island, Bess put knowledge he’s gained over the past few years to use on his way to capturing both winning fish.
“I learned a lot in this tournament last year,” Bess explained. “It’s a lot different than fishing the beach at Garden City and Pawleys Island.”
His first valuable catch came early on Saturday when he landed the winning 2.4 lb. black drum early that morning. The fish struck a piece of shrimp just off the shoreline.
Several hours later, Bess got another strong strike on a chunk of mullet and grew excited as he battled the fish to the beach.
“I knew it was a quality fish and not a stingray,” he continued. “When I saw it was a red, I was processing the limits between NC and SC in my head. I knew it had to be under 27”, and when I put it on my fishing cart it was 26.75. I freaked out for a second then.”
Cory Lane Weisner, of Lexington, NC, took home an $1,880 check for scaling the event’s 4.3 lb. heaviest bluefish, also landed early on Saturday morning.
Weisner fished a hole on the drive-on beach at the north end all weekend after landing several red drum in the days preceding the event.
“We didn’t actually catch any drum during the tournament,” he explained, “but we had four slot fish and four over on Wednesday and Thursday.”
His big bite came just after 7:00 on Saturday morning.
“I thought it was a drum when he bit,” Weisner continued, “but he came out of the water and I saw he was a blue.”
Putting the fish on the sand, the angler knew he had something worth taking to the scales.
“That’s about the biggest blue I’d ever caught,” he added, “so I figured it was going to be good.”
A trio of 1.8 lb. black drum rounded out that leaderboard. Alex Sneed weighed his in first to earn second place, Jacob Britt was third, and Robert Olski weighed in the final fish to finish fourth.
Haslin Rogers took home second place in the Red Drum Calcutta with a 7.7 lb. fish, and Denny Curtin’s 7.0 rounded out the top three.
Ward Bailey, of Wilmington, topped the tournament’s flounder leaderboard with a 3.7 lb. flatfish also worth $1,880.
Fishing some areas he was familiar with on the drive-on beach at Fort Fisher, Bailey landed his fat flatfish as noon approached on Saturday.
He’d just landed several other flounder when the big fish bit a live finger mullet in a gully between the beach and a sandbar offshore. When he pulled the flounder onto the sand, he was excited but didn’t think he’d end up on top of the category.
“I knew the winner was 6 lbs. last year which is unusually large for the beach,” Bailey said, “but there were a bunch of four pounders and I thought my fish might be good for fifth.”
When the scales closed and the results were tallied, however, Bailey’s fish narrowly edged out a 3.6 lb. flounder to stay on top.
William Green, Jr. weighed in the 3.6 to earn second place flounder. Michael Wall scaled a 3.2 lb. flatfish to earn third. Another 3.2 secured fourth place for Donald Peterson, and Joshua Allred’s 3.1 rounded out the top five.
Barry Layton, of Greensboro, NC, secured his $1,880 check with the first speckled trout weighed in at the tournament in three years.
Fishing near the border of Kure Beach and Fort Fisher, Layton hooked his 2.1 lb. trout on a live finger mullet around 5:00 Saturday afternoon.
With no specks weighed in over the past few years, the event opened up the leaderboard to gray trout, but despite a large number weighed in, none could top Layton’s fish.
“We come down to fish this tournament every year,” Layton said, “just to have a good time. This is the first time I’ve caught something worth weighing in. I was excited, but with 500 people fishing you never know what’s going to happen.”
What happened was Layton’s speck edged out the heaviest gray trout by a tenth of a pound, leaving him the winner. M.C. Fowler weighed in the 2.0 lb. trout that earned second, and Dallas Elliot secured third with a 1.6 lb. fish. James Buchanan weighed in the first 1.4 lb. trout for fourth, and Joe Butts took fifth with another 1.4.
Wayland Britt took home $945 for the event’s largest pompano, a .6 lb. fish that was unquestionably the most valuable of the weekend by weight.
He landed his fish after it struck a sand flea at 4:30 Saturday afternoon, and was amazed it held up through Sunday’s fishing.
“I’ve caught 3 lb. citation pompano before,” he explained.
A host of .5 lb. pomps were weighed in the event, with Victoria Ulrich’s fish first to the scales for second. Jeff Morris was third, David Harger took fourth, and Elbert Fussell’s .5 earned fifth.
A 1.8 lb. sea mullet earned the $945 bounty in that category for John Hurtado. Nancy Johnson was right on his heels with a 1.7 lb. fish. Garey Willis earned third place for a 1.6 lb. mullet, and a pair of 1.4 lb. fish gave Ronnie Goble and Billy Ulrich fourth and fifth.
More information on the event and a full leaderboard are available at www.fishermanspost.com.
