Tournament Report: Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge
The 2023 Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge, hosted over the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1, had a weather forecast of strong, steady north winds, and the weatherman was correct.
Tournament anglers visiting the Outer Banks weren’t at all deterred, as these conditions are what some hardcore anglers look for. Reports of numerous big red drum coming from the local piers in the weeks leading up to the event had many hoping for a “drummy” weekend.
The Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge was spread across 36-hours of possible fishing time, from midnight on Friday to noon on Sunday, with multiple weigh-in locations at the major tackle shops along that long strip of sand. This year’s weigh stations included Hatteras Jack (Rodanthe), Frank & Frans (Avon), Hatteras Custom Rods & Tackle (Buxton), Frisco Rod & Gun (Frisco), and Teach’s Lair (Hatteras Village).
Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge
This year saw 138 anglers check-in at Rodanthe’s Camp Hatteras Conference Center (Tournament HQ), all looking forward to a great weekend of fall fishing.
This event’s top bluefish was caught by Todd Snider, of Winston-Salem. He made the weekend trek to compete alongside some friends.
After an overall slower day on Saturday, they regrouped and put together a rough gameplan to fish down towards the Ramp 55 area. They had done some online sleuthing on social media to get an idea of where recent success was being found.
The rough plan worked. Less than 30 minutes after casting out their first rods, a school of blues pushed through. Many in the group hooked a couple of smaller blues in this first run, but it was the second wave that came shortly after that produced the 5.4 lb. fish that would earn Snider top honors in the Bluefish Division.
Dale Traxler, of Greensboro, NC, caught the 0.8 lb. pompano that won that division. Traxler didn’t do any pre-fishing for the tournament, but he knew based on weather forecasts that he would be fishing south of the Point to avoid the strong winds and seas.
Like many other anglers in the event, Traxler needed to make a few moves throughout the weekend to find success. There was a lot of talk about the bluefish bite in the Ramp 55 area, and he also chose to target that area for much of the event.
Around lunchtime on Saturday, the pompano hit a hand-tied bottom rig with a piece of fresh shrimp. It wasn’t a large pompano, but tough conditions allowed it to stay atop of the leaderboard.
A 1.5 lb. sea mullet caught by L. Hart took the top spot in the Sea Mullet Division.
In the 2022 Hatteras event, tournament anglers complained about the Spanish Division and requested a change to a Black Drum Division. The change was made, but there were no black drum weighed in in 2023.
Michelle VanWagner, from Chesapeake, VA, came through with the winning slot red drum in the Red Drum TWT. Her fish weighed 5.9 lbs.
Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge
VanWagner came to Hatteras to compete with her husband (John) and some good friends. They studied the rough conditions and chose to battle the windward beaches, fishing mostly off Ramp 43 in Buxton.
Saturday was tough fishing, with all in the group finding little action. Despite this, they chose to stick it out and again fight to hold bottom on Sunday, and that’s when VanWagner finally found the bite that made the efforts worth it. With her hand-tied bottom rigs, she had switched bead colors from her usual green to an orange in hopes of any little change making the difference. Whether it was the color change, or the fresh filleted chunk of mullet she presented, the slot red snatched up the bait almost instantly after it hit the water on Sunday morning.
All weighed fish from the event are sold to Jeffrey’s Seafood, with 100% of the proceeds going to support Hatteras Island Meals in their efforts.
Anglers look forward to the 2024 Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge, scheduled for September 27-29, 2024, hoping for slightly less current and waves, and the opportunity to win, defend, or earn a leaderboard spot against a field of returning and new anglers.
For a more complete leaderboard, as well as more information on the structure and rules of the Hatteras Island and all of the Fisherman’s Post surf fishing events, please visit www.FishermansPost.com.
