TJM Kayak Tournament
Bob Dainton, of Pittsboro, accepting his many prizes for winning both the Red Drum and Grand Slam Divisons of the TJM Kayak Fishing Tournament. He south of Fort Fisher and landed speckled trout, red drum, and flounder while working artificials in the marsh.
Catching both the event’s longest red drum and the Grand Slam (trout/flounder/drum) aggregate titles, Pittsboro, NC’s Bob Dainton walked away from the TJM Kayak Fishing Tournament with (among other prizes) a pair of brand new kayaks.
Dainton, who’s fished the event every year it’s been held, traveled this year with friend Joey Sullivan, and the anglers knew where they’d be fishing before they even made it to the coast.
“We drive down the beach at Fort Fisher and launch at crossover 4,” Dainton explained. “We know fish are always going to be there, and when they’re biting, they’re usually biting good.”
It didn’t take Dainton long to come up with the first part of his slam as a modest speckled trout took a MirrOlure he was trolling from his kayak early that morning.
He’d added a smaller red on a topwater plug when the 32.75” fish that earned him a kayak bit later in the morning.
“That was one of the most memorable catches of my life,” Dainton said. “I was working a Skitterwalk topwater along a grass edge and was pretty much done with the cast. I started reeling the plug in and a big wake came up behind it. I stopped reeling and that big red came up and just sipped it down.”
The bite wasn’t the only thing that made the winning red memorable, as it took Dainton on a ride before he was able to photograph and release it.
“I did three or four 360’s with that thing pulling me around,” he continued. “It shot under the boat one time. I was scared I was going to lose it. I was so happy to get the net on him finally.”
With a huge red and a trout on the board, Dainton soon decided it was time to look for a flounder, and some pre-fishing the day before had given him an idea where to search.
“I caught seven flounder the day before in one area,” he explained. “I knew they’d be active when the tide started falling around 9:30.”
Casting a pearl Z-Man Minnowz bait on a pink jighead, Dainton accomplished the last part of the slam shortly thereafter when he landed a 19” flounder.
A KC K12 Angler Kayak was his reward for the redfish title, and Dainton earned a Native Mariner 12.5 Propel for narrowly topping the slam division.
Tyler Simmons took home the Yolo Board Yak up for grabs for longest speckled trout with a 23 1/8” fish he photographed and released.
A Wilmington local, Simmons started his day out in Southport and paddled to a flat in the Cape Fear River where he’s had some success in the past.
“I catch a lot of drum there, and I’d caught one around 24 inches already,” he explained. “I actually thought that trout was a smaller drum.”
The big speck inhaled a live finger mullet, and put up enough of a struggle that Simmons was surprised when he realized what it was.
“I saw that tail and knew I was dealing with a decent trout,” he recalled. “I felt good about it but didn’t know if it would hold up. There’s a lot of good fishermen in this event.”
With a trout and a red, Simmons wanted to add a flounder to qualify for the slam category. He paddled back to his launch site and drove to Wrightsville Beach where he did land an 18” flatfish, but it wasn’t quite enough to top Dainton’s aggregate length.
A 22” flounder earned the top spot in that competition and a Native Watercraft Redfish 12 for Fayetteville’s Brian Klamer. A frequent coastal visitor and kayak fisherman, it was his first time competing in the tournament.
Klamer also chose to fish near Southport, launching at Southport Marina and pedaling into the marsh complex of the Elizabeth River.
“I catch reds, specks, and flounder there. There are some really good spots,” Klamer said.
He’d landed some undersized speckled trout and around a half-dozen reds when the big flatfish struck.
“That was actually in my favorite red hole,” Klamer continued. “There are some oyster bars, and there’re usually some reds there.”
Instead of a drum, it was the big flatfish that attacked Klamer’s Slayer swimbait around midday.
“As soon as I got that in the net, I thought I was good to place on the flounder,” he explained.
He continued looking for a big red or speck for the remainder of the day, and landed several of both, but the flounder proved to be his most remarkable catch.
The TJM Kayak Tournament serves as a fundraiser for the New Hanover County Humane Society. More information on the event and a full leaderboard can be found at www.hooklineandpaddle.com.
