Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament 2009
Lynn Sellers, Adam Sellers, and Wes Knox with the 11.14 lb. flounder that secured their victory in the Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament. Adam Sellers hooked the huge flatfish on a Carolina-rigged pogy in the Shallotte River.
Any angler lucky enough to catch the biggest fish of a given species of their lives while in a tournament for that very fish has some reason for excitement, and that’s precisely what Adam Sellers did in the 2009 Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament. The 11.14 lb. doormat that Sellers, from Bolivia, NC, hooked, caught, and brought to the scales bested the second place fish by over 3 lbs. and earned Sellers and his teammates $1500.
“I did. I got real worked up,” the winning angler explained. “That’s the biggest one I’ve ever caught, and I just love catching those things.”
Sellers, fishing with his brother Lynn Sellers and their tournament partner Wes Knox aboard Knox’s 18′ Mako, had to do some waiting during the two-day event before his big flounder number was called.
“We caught five or six flounder Friday,” Sellers said, “but they were all real small fish. We fished everywhere in the Lockwood Folly River, just beating the banks.”
Returning to the Lockwood Folly River on Saturday, the trio fished half the day and, biteless, decided to fish some new water.
Around 1:00 Saturday afternoon, while they were anchored up on a 15′ deep hole in the Shallotte River, Sellers got a bite on a Carolina-rigged pogy, but he didn’t think much of it at first.
“Wes had one bite at the same time, and I said there wasn’t much to mine,” reported Sellers. “I let him sit there a couple of minutes and set the hook.”
Even after the hookup, Sellers had no idea he was fast to the largest flatfish of his angling career.
“The current was coming towards us, and it just kind of pushed him to me. When he got close, I could tell he had some weight to him, though.”
When he finally worked the flounder to the surface, the anglers were all in awe of its size, and Lynn Sellers handled the net work.
“The netting went surprisingly smooth,” Sellers continued. “I thought he was even bigger than he was when he hit the deck.”
With the fish in the boat, the anglers decided to immediately go weigh it in, so they headed to the scales. After finding out the fish’s size, they went right back to the 15′ hole the flounder had come from to try and pry another doormat off the bottom. They got no other bites, but the team’s doormat was heavy enough to handily beat the competition and earn the winner’s check.
Tyler Lancaster with the 7.83 lb. flounder that won him $1000 in the Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament. Lancaster hooked his flatfish on a Carolina-rigged peanut pogy well up the Lockwood Folly River.
Hauling a 7.85 lb. flatfish to the scales to earn second place were Raleigh anglers Tyler Lancaster and Alex Top. The stout flattie earned the pair $1000.
After catching only one small flounder on Friday, Lancaster and Top headed up the Lockwood Folly River to hunt for a money-winner on Saturday morning. They found one at 10:30, when Lancaster had a strike while his teammate was napping.
A Carolina-rigged pogy fooled the second place fish as well.
“When he bit he took off across the river, so I knew he had something to him,” Lancaster explained. “He came up pretty easy after that.”
After getting a glimpse of the fish before it turned back for the bottom, Lancaster knew he had something special.
When he brought the fish to the surface a second time, Top had the net ready, and the anglers boated their fat flounder.
“I knew we’d be making some money when we got him in the boat,” Lancaster concluded.
The Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament awards third place to the anglers landing the heaviest five flounder aggregate, and the Varnamtown, NC team of Blake Stone, Brad Fauok, and Craig Fields dominated the aggregate competition with five flatties weighing 21.26 lbs. Third place earned the anglers a check for $600.
Fishing Carolina-rigged peanut pogies at docks on the Intracoastal Waterway between Oak Island and Sunset Beach, the trio caught five flounder on Friday and six on Saturday.
Friday’s fish included their largest flattie, a 6.25 lb. fish that Craig Fields landed.
“We went from Blue Water Point to the Sunset Beach Bridge,” Stone reported, “just hitting the piers.”
The solid flounder fishing must have caused some excitement for Fauok, as he fell out of the boat on the way to the scales.
“He was doing the happy feet dance,” Stone said.
Ola Bea Lefler topped the Lady Angler competition in the tournament, weighing in a 5.47 lb. flounder to pocket $500. Friday’s Top Junior Angler was Austin Shaver with a 4.05 lb. flatfish. Jake Starnes took home the Junior Angler award on Saturday, putting a 2.93 lb. flounder on the scales.
The Sudan Daredevils Shriners Club took over the Shallotte Point tournament from the Shallotte Point Volunteer Fire Department several years ago, and the event serves as a big fundraiser for the Shriners. The money goes towards the Shriners’ annual operating budget of over $900 million, which funds no-cost care for children who suffer burns and other catastrophic injuries.
