Tournament Report: Carolina Redfish Series
The last event of the 2015 Carolina Redfish Series took place this past Saturday, rescheduled from a previous delay in September. With the last event taking place in Atlantic Beach, anglers took to the water in the midst of a cold snap to try to snag a winning pair of fish. Taking home the prize of $5,000, with a combined weight of 11.02 lbs., was Capt. Rob Koraly, of Sandbar Safari Charters, and co-angler Jacob Knight.
Capt. Rob Koraly, and co-angler Jacob Knight, with the winning check for the last event in the 2015 Carolina Redfish Series (held April 23, 2016, due to 2015 conflicts). The duo won by a .04 lb. difference, with their two red drum weighing in at 11.02 lbs.
Koraly went into the event having pre-fished the waters around Morehead. He had found a few pockets of fish in the area, but on the day before he and Knight put in time around the Swansboro area. Finding a few pockets of good sized fish, Koraly changed his strategy, returning to the fish the day of the event. “It was tough fishing, and the cold snap didn’t make the fish cooperate,” said Koraly, “but we found two small groups early in the day, pulling a few fish from each group.” The duo fished throughout the day with Gulp flukes and shrimp in various colors, switching them up often to tempt a bite.
Koraly and Knight continued to fish into the afternoon, and found a third group of reds. “Luckily the last group held the winning fish. I pulled in the larger fish and told Jacob that he had to catch us one more,” said Koraly. Knight pulled in a second red, a 4.95 lb. fish.
“After the second fish, we couldn’t get the fish to bite again. We had a decent bag of fish. I didn’t think we would be a winner necessarily, but I thought we had a chance with the fish we had, so we headed in with about 20 minutes left in the day,” explained Koraly. “It was a close call, and we were chewing our fingernails a little when the second boat behind us, with Capt. Johnathan Garrett, weighed in. It was just about as slim of a margin as you could get.”
Garrett’s two fish weighed in at 10.98 lbs., securing Koraly’s win with just a .04 lb. difference. “It was a fun competition, especially being so close to John,” said Koraly of the win. For more information about the Carolina Redfish Series for 2016, visit their website at www.carolinaredfishseries.com.
