Tournament Report – 2016 OIIC
Topping the scales in the red drum division at 7.33 lbs. and adding a 3.88 lb. flounder to clinch the aggregate prize, Team “Pork Chop” with Clay Morphis and Brandon Sauls took home the big prize money in the 4th annual Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge.
Keith Gurganus and Bill Seddinger, of Team “Heather G,” took top spot in the flounder division with their 5.8 lb. fish.
Morphis and Sauls started off their morning in the Shallotte River, and it was only 15 minutes after lines went into the water before they had the winning fish in the boat, with the red falling for cut menhaden. “We knew it was a good fish, but it was gut hooked so we put it on ice. You never know how much it will shrink or how much weight it will lose,” said Morphis, so as the tide rose on their low-water spot, the duo made a plan to come back later and try for another.
Team “Pork Chop” then went offshore to look for a flounder, heading about 5 miles out to the 440. “The flounder bite around here isn’t always great in the river this time of year, so we headed to a place we knew we could get a bigger fish,” Sauls explained. Soon enough, the pair hooked a flounder on a live pogie, and headed back to their original spot to try for another red around 2:00 pm.
Bill Seddinger, of Team Heather G, with their flounder that weighed in at 5.8 lbs. The fish was enough to award them first place on the leaderboard of the flounder division of the 2016 Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge.
“We hooked a few more, but they weren’t as big, so we headed out before the tide got too low,” said Morphis. The pair hit the jetties on the way back in to see if they could catch an additional flounder (seeing a few of their fellow competitors doing the same thing), but then headed back to weigh in not long after. The pair of fish was enough to land the top spot on the leaderboard in the red drum category, as well as earning 4th place in flounder and taking home the top aggregate spot as well.
“We’ve fished the tournament before, but we’ve never won before,” said Morphis, “I guess luck was on our side this year.”
Team “Heather G,” consisting of Gurganus and his nephew Seddinger, had the opposite fishing experience on tournament day, with a slow bite most of the morning. Starting off in the Calabash River, the duo gathered bait to start the day. “We ended up going up into the creeks and fishing a few holes,” said Seddinger, “and we had a few throwbacks, but nothing good. We moved and fished the jetties, too, but only caught a few black sea bass there.”
Brandon Sauls, of Team Pork Chop, with the aggregate that clinched their top finish in the red drum division as well as securing their win in the overall aggregate. The drum weighed in at 7.33 lbs., and the flounder was 3.88 lbs.
The team soon ran out of pogies, so they doubled back and hit up their original spot in the Calabash River to gather more bait. Then they anchored up near a good hole as the tide was getting low.
“My uncle put me on the fish, which fell for a live pogie on a Carolina rig, after we anchored up at about 1:30,” explained Seddinger. “We tried for a red after that, but we just didn’t catch one.”
Much like Team “Pork Chop,” the nephew and uncle team have fished the tournament before, but have never won. This time, though, they took home the flounder division prize as well as the big flounder TWT.
For more information on the Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge and a full leaderboard, visit www.fishermanspost.com. The next event in the Fisherman’s Post Inshore Trail will be June 24-25 in Topsail.
