Tournament Report: Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge
The weekend of September 8-9 was set to be an action packed one for tournament anglers fishing in the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge. In addition to the prize money up for grabs in the event, Inshore Trail anglers were also hoping a win or strong showing would help to qualify them for the Fisherman’s Post Inshore Trail Championship, held on Sunday, September 10.
For the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, the leaderboard was decided by a team’s single heaviest red drum, and the event also hosted several TWTs including Single Big Red Drum TWT, High Roller Single Big Red Drum TWT, Two Red Drum TWT, and the popular Trash Fish TWT (based on a boat’s heaviest oyster toad or lizardfish).
The Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge’s format includes one day of fishing, allows for any number of team members on a boat, permits anglers to use live, dead, or artificial baits, and is the final stop of five annual red drum events. Like all Fisherman Post events, it encourages a family atmosphere by awarding the top Lady, Senior, and Junior anglers.
Team Marsh Fiddler, led by Rockingham County anglers Scott Teeters with Scott Weaver and Mike Eanes, took home the top prize with their healthy 8.20 lb. red drum.
The team chose to make a run north to fish marshes up around Wrightsville Beach. After little success, it wasn’t long before shallow water pushed them out of their desired spot, so the team made a call to completely change course. They packed it up and made a long run back down the river and out into the ocean to target a local wreck.
Setting up, they started burning through their livewell full of finger mullet in search of an upper-slot drum. They were catching fish, but bite after bite was resulting in a ton of large flounder. New tournament angler Mike Eanes had landed a 6.60 lb. red, but the team knew they needed better to truly compete. As the time ticked away, Scott finally hooked into the stout 8.20 lb. red drum, and the team raced back to weigh-in at Inlet Watch Marina to claim the top prize.
Team Lunar Low had Wilmington anglers Wayne Newkirk joined by David Langly and David Lynch. Their 8.02 lb. red drum netted them second overall in the event.
Lunar Low knew right where they were headed on that Saturday morning. A run south put them into a section of marsh where they found a school of reds and stuck with them all day long, moving around with the tides and casting around creek mouths and oyster mounds.
They picked away at the reds all day with their Carolina-rigged finger mullet. In clutch fashion, angler David Lynch made his last fish really count, producing the 8.02 lb. fish that allowed them to close out their day near the top of the leaderboard.
Team Kook Tacos, a group of Ocean Isle anglers that includes Tripp Hooks, Tim Disano, Hunter Williams, and Jimmy Dever, leaned on their red drum tournament experience to walk away with third place for their 7.35 lb. red drum.
The goal of Kook Tacos was simple, do enough to qualify for the Trail Championship event being held on Sunday. From some pre-fishing, they knew of a school of red drum hanging along the ICW to the south that they planned on targeting.
The team started their day off picking through what was mostly an over-slot class of fish. After a little adjustment, they found a nearby school that ended up being on the shorter (20-25”) side of the spectrum.
As the day faded, Jimmy finally got the bite they needed on a live mullet. It was already about 2:00 pm when they landed the 7.35 lb. redfish, and they had to quickly pack it up to make the long run up the ICW, across the Cape Fear River, and over to the Carolina Beach area.
The Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge benefits the Wilmington Elks who give back to our community through youth programs and honoring the service and sacrifice of our veterans.
To see the complete Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge leaderboard, visit FishermansPost.com or visit their Facebook page.
The 2024 red drum schedule, both details on the five standalone events and the Inshore Trail, will be posted in Fisherman’s Post Winter issue and on the website by mid-December.
