Tournament Report – Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge
Scaling a flatfish weighing 7.56 lbs. earned first place in the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge’s flounder division for Hope Mills, NC’s Jim Strickland and the “Three Stricklands” fishing team. Butch Davis, of Wilmington, and the “I’d Hit It” got the best of the competition in the event’s Red Drum category with a 7.64 lb. red. Both fish topped strong leaderboards in the event, held July 17-18 out of Wild Wing Café and Wrightsville Beach Marina.
The “Three Stricklands”—Jim and sons Robert and Jimmy—didn’t prefish for the event but had some spots in the Cape Fear River they wanted to fish during the morning’s rising tide on the 18th. When the tide turned around 10:30 that morning, however, they only had a few small flatfish to show for their efforts.
Butch Davis with the 7.64 lb. red drum that earned him first place on the red drum side of the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge leaderboard. The big red bit a live finger mullet near a grass line at Carolina Beach.
After catching some fresh bait, the anglers decided to hit some of the same spots on falling water and were surprised to see the bite had turned on.
“We hit two of our favorite spots and caught a couple fish to 3.5 lbs. right away,” Jim Strickland explained.
They continued spot-hopping up the river with success before deciding to try a new spot in Snows Cut Robert had located while looking at satellite maps on Google Earth.
Robert and Jimmy Strickland with a 7.56 lb. flounder that earned first place flatfish in the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge for they and their father Jim–the “Three Stricklands” fishing team. The flounder bit a live bait at a rockpile in Snows Cut.
“We found some subermerged rocks there with side-scan sonar,” Strickland continued.
They hadn’t fished the spot long when Robert got an authoritative strike.
After waiting a few moments to let the fish eat the bait, he set the hook, and the big flatfish rose to the surface.
“I was frustrated because I missed him with the net on the first shot,” Strickland said. “I was laying on deck when Robert got him up again and reached out and got him.”
Al Fulford and the “Flounder Nutz” secured second place on the flounder leaderboard with a 6.92 lb. fish. Taylor Henley’s 5.96 lb. flatfish earned third.
Butch Davis fished solo on his way to the red drum victory in the event and found action with reds right away, but not quite the right fish.
“I caught a 23 and a 29 inch fish,” Davis explained. “The tide had come in more than I wanted so I left to another spot and fished for 2 hours without a bite.”
His second spot, a grass line near Carolina Beach, turned on shortly after, however, and Davis lost a large fish on an oyster bar shortly before putting a 24” red in the boat. Several casts later, the near-27” fish he weighed in engulfed a live mullet. After landing that one, Davis measured it several times before deciding it was close enough to the states’ 27” maximum to be worth taking to the scales. The first boat in, he grabbed the top of the leaderboard and held it until the weigh-in closed.
The “Xpress” crew and Bryan Armstrong weighed the event’s second-heaviest drum, a 7.60 lb. fish that nearly usurped the winner. Tex Ritter and the “Brown Dog” secured third place with a 7.27 lb. fish.
More information on the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge and a full leaderboard for the event as well as the ongoing Inshore Tournament Trail can be found at www.fishermanspost.com.
