Inshore Trail Rules

2025 INSHORE TRAIL RULES

Click here for a printable version of the rules: 2024 Inshore Trail Rules

The Inshore Trail is a tournament series made up of five qualifying events and one invite-only Inshore Trail Championship event.
The Inshore Trail features a Red Drum Division, and the Red Drum Division is limited to 50 boats.
The entry fee for the Red Drum Division in the Inshore Trail is $400 per boat/team. Inshore Trail teams will still need to pay the entry fee to enter each individual event they choose to compete in.
The five tournaments that serve as qualifiers for points towards earning an invitation to the Inshore Trail Championship are the following: Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge (event #1—up to two red drum qualify), Topsail Inshore Challenge (event #2—up to two red drum qualify), Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge (event #3—up to two red drum qualify), Southport Inshore Challenge (up to two red drum qualify), and Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge (event #5—up to two red drum qualify).
Entering the Two Red Drum TWT in an Inshore Trail event is required for the second red drum to qualify for Inshore Trail points in that event.
Inshore Trail boats are subject to all the rules and any date changes of each individual qualifying event. In the event that a qualifying event is cancelled, then there will be no make-up as it relates to points (possible qualifying fish). As it relates to qualifying event payouts, the money from the cancelled event will be pushed to the Trail Championship.
The top 10 Red Drum Division teams with the highest point totals for up to three red drum over the course of the five qualifying events will earn an invitation to the Inshore Trail Championship. Red Drum Division teams can earn an automatic invitation to the Inshore Trail Championship by winning first place in one of the five Inshore Trail red drum payouts during the qualifying events.
The Inshore Trail Championship will be held Sunday, September 7, at Inlet Watch Marina (the day after the Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge). If necessary, the Inshore Trail reserves the right to schedule the Inshore Trail Championship on a later weekend. There are no parameters on rescheduling a date.
This is a team competition. The team must designate a captain and a co-captain when registering for the Inshore Trail, and the captain and/or co-captain must be on board for any fish to qualify in the individual events (and the Inshore Trail Championship). Teams are allowed to change boats over the course of the qualifying events and Inshore Trail Championship, but teams are not allowed to change the captain or co-captain.
Points will be accumulated under the team’s name.
Teams will be awarded points in each individual tournament corresponding to their qualifying red drum. For example, if a team weighs a 6.65 lb. red drum, the team will receive 6.65 points.
Participants may fish any or all the events to qualify for points toward the Inshore Trail Championship. Teams are not required to fish a minimum number of events.
In the event of a tie at the culmination of the five qualifying events, the tie will be broken by the team’s single heaviest red drum. In the event a tie still exists, the winner will be declared by the team that weighed in their single heaviest red drum first.
By entering the Inshore Trail, the captain, crew, and team consent that the Inshore Trail may use without payment or restrictions any photographs in which he or she appears for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to resale, advertising, commercial, or promotional material.
Infractions of the individual tournament rules and/or Inshore Trail rules may impact a team’s ability to fish the rest of the qualifying events and/or the Inshore Trail Championship.
Competitors may be subject to a polygraph test at any time over the course of the Inshore Trail (including the conclusion of the Inshore Trail Championship), and a failed polygraph will be grounds for immediate disqualification from the Inshore Trail.
Any protests shall be accompanied by a $350 cash deposit, and the protest must be made within one hour of the close of scales of the event where an action occurred that prompted the protest. The $350 cash deposit will be returned if the protest is upheld, and the $350 cash deposit will be forfeited to the Inshore Trail if the protest is not upheld.
All rule decisions are left to the Inshore Trail Committee, and all decisions are final.
The Inshore Trail Committee has the right to refuse entry from any applicant.
All captains, crewmembers, and teams are responsible for reading and following all individual tournament and Inshore Trail rules.

Questions? Contact Fisherman’s Post at (910) 452-6378 or trail@fishermanspost.com.