Southport Inshore Challenge Welcome

August 15 – 16, 2025, at Morningstar Marinas Southport

WELCOME

Welcome to the 2025 Southport Inshore Challenge, a premiere red drum tournament that, truth be told, still kinda wishes it was a premiere flounder tournament, too.

Fisherman’s Post is thrilled to be returning to the beautiful setting of Morningstar Marinas Southport. The marina and its crew are excited to welcome back Fisherman’s Post and all of our anglers, as they will be the host site of all tournament activities—Registration, Captains’ Party, Captains‘ Meeting, Weigh-In, Awards Dinner, and Awards Ceremony.

This year’s Southport Inshore Challenge will feature an eight-place, one red drum leaderboard. With a leaderboard based on only your single heaviest red drum, we believe more anglers/teams can be competitive in a search for one (instead of two) upper-slot red drum.

Alongside the main leaderboard, there are also Single Big Red Drum, Two Red Drum, and (new this year) High Roller Single Big Red Drum TWTs offered, as well as a “Trash Fish” TWT. The “Trash Fish” TWT payouts will go to the boats that weigh in the heaviest oyster toad or lizardfish.

Our Captains’ Party on Friday is compliments of Adams Beverages & Anheuser Busch, and our Awards Dinner on Saturday is sponsored by Zimmerman Marine & Southport Yamaha. When scales close on Saturday, we will be putting out a great spread for our tournament anglers to enjoy after a fun day of fishing.

In the long-standing spirit of Fisherman’s Post, we’re continuing to encourage teams to bring the whole family out by offering $50 prize checks for the heaviest single red drum weighed in by crews with junior, lady, and/or senior anglers on board.

More special prizes include a Dutchman Creek Bait & Tackle gift certificate for the heaviest single red drum weighed in by a SeaTow member, the Mudpuppy Salt Stix Raffle (every boat that weighs in a fish is automatically entered for a chance at a $300+ custom rod), the Pigford Homes Big Cash Drawing (a potential $250 prize just for weighing in), the big Marine Bean raffle prize, and the Intracoastal Angler Special Weight prizes ($50 gift cards, plus an additional $25 if the fish is weighed in alive).

Fisherman’s Post continues its commitment to releasing as many fish alive as possible, so the bonus payouts remain a constant—get an extra $20 payout for each red drum weighed in alive and in releasable condition that makes the leaderboard.

Our casual approach to red drum tournament fishing will be offering anglers (1) the option to use live, dead, or artificial bait; (2) no live weigh-in required; and (3) the choice to fish as many anglers on their boat as they prefer. Our hope is that these relaxed rules encourage more people to join in on the fun and excitement of red drum tournament fishing.

And just like all of our inshore events this year, we’ll be partnering with the Wilmington Elks for volunteer support and then donating proceeds from the event to aid their mission of helping children, enhancing communities, and honoring the service and sacrifices of our military veterans.

If you’ve never fished a tournament before, this event is a great way to join in the tournament experience. Come celebrate red drum fishing with others looking for healthy and fun competition, and we hope to see you for a weekend of heavy fish and good times.

Gary Hurley / Tournament Director
(910) 452-6378
trail@fishermanspost.com