Tournament – Swansboro Century Club
The 26th annual Swansboro Century Club Friendly City Speckled Trout Tournament was held out of Casper’s Marina in November. After a traditional pig pickin’ the night before the tournament, 27 boats headed out on a chilly Saturday morning to compete in both a flounder and trout division.
The flounder division (a single-fish tournament) was won by Josh Johnson, Travis Sales, and Blake Brown with their 2.96 lb. flattie.
The trout anglers, however, were looking to make the best three-fish aggregate. There were no boundaries, and only one team could bring home the prize. Richard Gilligan, Cory Durako, and Barron Glen would be that team, pulling in a three fish aggregate of 17.58 lbs. They also won the Big Fish TWT with a monster 7.96 lb. speck.
The team traveled far up the New River to find their fish, and while they only caught 8 specks over the course of the day, half of them were over 4.5 lbs. All were caught on soft plastics, specifically Vudu shrimp and Halo shad.
Gilligan and crew have been fishing the inshore redfish and trout tournament scene for about two and half years. Prior to the Swansboro event, their most recent win was the inaugural Charity Trout Tournament out of Jacksonville, which raised $4,000 for two local families in need.
Richard Gilligan with the single big trout in the Swansboro Century Club Tournament. The 7.96 lb. fish was part of the team’s three-fish aggregate of 17.58 lbs., also a tournament best.
