Sudan Daredevils Flounder Tournament
Hank Martinez, Leah Inscore, and Fred Davis with the 7.21 lb. flounder that earned them victory in the Shallotte Point Flounder Tournament. The big flatty bit a live menhaden near some structure in 12′ of water.
Besting their competition by a few tenths of a pound, Wilmington’s Fred Davis and his daughter Leah Inscore, fishing on the “Turnitup,” scaled a 7.21 lb. flounder to earn first place and $1,500 in the Sudan Daredevils Flounder Tournament, held June 14-15 out of the Shallotte Point Volunteer Fire Department.
Davis had done some pre-fishing from the Southport area to nearly the South Carolina border, but he hadn’t found much he liked by the start of the tournament.
“I’d fished a little bit,” he explained, “from Lockwood to Sunset Beach, but I didn’t know much going in. There just isn’t that much of a flounder bite going yet.”
In fact, the “Turnitup” anglers caught only three fish over the event’s two fishing days, but their first proved to be the only one that mattered.
Inscore got a bite while the pair were casting to a dock in 12’ of water in the Shallotte River shortly after noon on Friday. She let the fish chew on her menhaden for a time before setting the hook, and then immediately knew she’d snagged a solid fish.
“She said she had a good one,” Davis said, “and that fish started running at the dock.”
The fish made several surges towards the dock, but eventually the angler pressured it back towards the boat.
“When she got it beside the boat,” Davis continued, “I said ‘Lord it is a good one,’ and it came right to the net.”
With the big flounder in the boat, the anglers celebrated a bit but couldn’t be certain it would be the tournament winner.
“I called it 8 for a little while because it had a big head,” reported Davis, “but eventually I backed off to 7. I knew it would at least place.”
Inscore landed another smaller flatfish later in the day, but the anglers saw nothing else that approached their big fish. She was unable to fish on Saturday, and Davis paired up with longtime partner Hank Martinez for Saturday’s fishing, but the anglers could find nothing to improve upon their first day’s doormat.
Nipping at the “Turnitup” anglers’ heels with a 7.04 lb. flounder were John and Nita Starnes, who scaled a 7.04 lb. fish good for second place.
Third place in the event goes to the angler with the heaviest five-fish aggregate, and Dewayne Kirby took home that honor with five flatfish weighing 21.49 lbs.
Adam Sellers 6.81 lb. fish captured the fourth place money, and Tracey Lefler scaled a 6.66 lb. flatfish to secure fifth place (and Top Junior Angler honors for Travis Lefler).
Ola Bea Lefler earned the event’s Top Lady Angler prize with a 3.89 lb. fish, and Scotty Clontz secured the Senior Angler honors with a 5.83 lb. flounder.
