Tournament Reports – Topsail Inshore Challenge
The 6th annual Fisherman’s Post Topsail Inshore Challenge took place at the newly-renovated East Coast Sports (registration) and Sloop Point Boat Storage (weigh-in and awards) on June 27-28, 2019. Sixty-one boats fished in the event, where winners are based on the boat’s heaviest two red drum aggregate.
Team Hooksy, featuring Mike Middlebrooks, his wife Kerri, and their son Connor, all from Hampstead, NC, was the top boat at the close of scales on Saturday, and their big win included a number or hefty prize checks.
Team Hooksy took the top spot on the overall leaderboard for catching a 7.57 lb. red drum and a 5.82 lb. red drum, for a combined aggregate weight of 13.19 lbs. The team caught most of their fish with live bait before 9:00 am, and then switched over to artificial bait in the afternoon.
Kerri, Connor, and Mike Middlebrooks, of Hampstead, NC, won the 2019 Topsail Inshore Challenge with an aggregate weight of 13.19 lbs. The two reds weighed 7.57 and 5.82 lbs., and brought the team over $3300 in prize money.
Their 7.57 lb. red drum took first in the Single Red Drum TWT, their aggregate weight took first in the Two Red Drum TWT, and Kerri took top Lady Angler and Connor top Junior Angler. Altogether, Team Hooksy was awarded $3,332 in winnings.
Following Team Hooksy in second place was team No Name. Angler Jamie Obermeyer, from Carolina Beach, and teammate Mark Daughtry, from Wilmington, earned runner-up honors with a total aggregate weight of 12.98 lbs.
Obermeyer used his knowledge of the Carolina Beach area to secure their winning fish, targeting Snows Cut, where they spent most of their time fishing on tournament day. Team No Name also placed second in the Two Red Drum TWT, giving them a combined total of $1,476 in prize money.
Team Parker, from Scotts Hill, placed third on the leaderboard and third in the Two Red Drum TWT for their combined aggregate weight of 12.85 lbs. Sam Daughtry and his daughter Parker fished off the beach near Fort Fisher. After running into issues with their preferred bait, Team Parker used cut mullet to reel in their two fish—6.46 and 6.39 lb. redfish.
Mark Daughtry (pictured) and Jamie Obermeyer took second place in the Topsail Inshore Challenge with these two reds (weighing a combined 12.98 lbs.) caught in the Carolina Beach area.
The Topsail Inshore Challenge is the second event in the Fisherman’s Post series, with the third event on July 26-27 in Wrightsville Beach (a one flounder and one red drum leaderboard), the fourth on August 23-24 in Southport (a two-flounder leaderboard), and finishing in Carolina Beach on September 13-14 (an event now changed to a two red drum leaderboard as a result of the pending flounder legislation).
For a complete leaderboard for the Topsail Inshore Challenge, as well as more information on all of the Fisherman’s Post events, please visit www.FishermansPost.com.
