Tournament Report: Inshore Trail Championship
After a full tournament day on Saturday hosting the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, the Fisherman’s Post crew quickly turned the page to prepare for their Inshore Trail Championship held Sunday, September 10.
The 2023 Trail Championship, like the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, had headquarters and weigh-in at Inlet Watch Marina, and the field was made up of the top ten teams from the year’s Inshore Trail regular season. Those standings were based on a team’s three heaviest red drum over the course of the five standalone Inshore Challenge events (culling up to 10 fish).
There was no entry fee for qualifying boats, and the Championship prize money was awarded to the top three teams based on a team’s aggregate weight of two slot red drum. In addition, Havana’s Restaurant sponsored a guaranteed $500 prize for the single heaviest red drum weighed in at the Championship
Team Lunar Low, with Wilmington anglers Wayne Newkirk, David Langly, and David Lynch, walked away as this year’s champions with their 7.01 and 6.82 fish totaling 13.83 lbs.
After a second place showing in Saturday’s Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, the team chose to make no changes for their fishing day on Sunday. However, one day can make a big difference when it comes to fishing, and that proved true for Lunar Low.
Wayne Newkirk, David Langly, and David Lynch, of Team Lunar Low, won the 2023 Trail Championship with a two-fish aggregate weight of 13.83 lbs. Their 7.01 lb. red drum was also the single heaviest red drum weighed in (tie based on time).
The team battled through wet weather early, yet they were still able to put a couple fish together in the morning’s storms. David Langly landed the first red (6.82), with the very next fish being Wayne’s 7.01. As the sun finally broke through the clouds, the bite shut off.
Lunar Low was able to strip off the rain jackets, but they were stuck picking away at smaller reds, with a couple of over-slot fish mixed in, until their fishing time ended. The team had a solid total weight, but in their past experiences with Fisherman’s Post events, often finishing as runner-up, they weren’t so sure it was going to be enough to win.
The 13.83 lb. bag weight held up, and the team finished the day and the season as not only the Trail Championship winners, but they also weighed in the heaviest single red drum in the Championship and finished in first place in the regular season standings.
Team Fowler came away from the day with second place for their 6.35 lb. and 6.01 lb. redfish, totaling 12.36 lbs.
Cole Fowler and Madison York, two of the members of Team Fowler, with the two red drum that earned them a second place finish in the 2023 Inshore Trail Championship. The fish were caught on a mix of mullet and menhaden.
Team Change Order, with Wilmington anglers Carter Pigford and Brittany Pigford, ended their year with a third place finish in the Championship with a 11.94 lb. aggregate weight (7.01 and 4.93 lb. red drum).
The Pigfords left Sunday morning and made a run through the rain to an area of marshes on the southern Cape Fear River they loosely planned on targeting. Like many tournament anglers, Change Order fished almost exclusively with Carolina-rigged mullet, and they bounced around a bunch as they picked away at smaller reds.
Around lunchtime, they landed the 4.93 lb. fish, a fish certainly smaller then they hoped for but so far their heaviest slot fish of the day. Then late in the fishing day (around 3:00 pm), the 7.01 lb. fish picked up a live mullet, and the team ran back to Inlet Watch.
To see the complete Trail Championship leaderboard, including the regular season standings, the teams that won Trail money at each of the five events on their way to qualifying, and the list of automatic qualifiers, visit FishermansPost.com or their Facebook page.
Details on the 2024 Inshore Trail and 2024 Trail Championship will be posted in the newspaper and on the website by mid-December.
