Topsail Inshore Challenge
Mike Fields with a 3.00 lb. flounder and John Ballantine with the 6.66 lb. flatfish that took first place flounder in the Topsail Inshore Challenge. Ballantine and Ricky Evans hooked the big flounder on a live finger mullet in Snow's Cut.
The “number of the beast” turned out to be a lucky one for Southport anglers Ricky Evans and John Ballantine, as they hauled a 6.66 lb. flounder to the scales to top the flatfish leaderboard in the Fisherman’s Post Topsail Inshore Challenge, held August 24-25 out of East Coast Sports and the Topsail Beach Assembly Building.
The anglers, fishing together aboard Evans’ Carolina Skiff, didn’t do any pre-fishing before the event, but that didn’t hinder their tournament-day game plan.
“We were going to fish the Cut,” Evans explained.
Snow’s Cut’s reputation for producing trophy flounder is well deserved, and when the anglers arrived, they weren’t the only ones with the same plan.
“I saw Fred Davis anchored up in there at 6:30,” Evans continued. “He told us where to get some bait.”
After loading up their livewell with mullet, the anglers set up on a spot in Snow’s Cut, and they fished the area throughout the morning, catching fish but nothing too remarkable before Ballantine hooked something big around 10:00.
“John hooked a big one that boiled the water,” said Evans, “but he pulled off.”
The pair didn’t have to wait long for another chance.
“I got one of those bites you wait a lifetime for on my next cast,” Evans explained. “It shocked my arm. It might have been the same fish, but it’s the Cut so you never know.”
Evans was casting a finger mullet when he got the big bite, and he allowed the fish a bit of time to finish its meal before setting the hook.
“I told John I had a good one on, and he said he did, too,” Evans reported. “I told him to go to the back of the boat, and I went to the front.”
Mike Jeffers and Rob Lowe with the 7.18 lb. red drum that took first place in the Topsail Inshore Challenge's redfish category. Their prize-winning red bit a live finger mullet in a creek near Topsail Inlet.
Satisfied his fish had had time to swallow the mullet, Evans set the hook into the unseen predator.
“I cranked two or three times, and he came right up,” he continued. “I shouted for John to net him, but he was still messing with his fish.”
The big flounder then ran around the Carolina Skiff’s stern, forcing Evans to follow as Ballantine grabbed the net. He was ready when the flounder surfaced again, and scooped the winning flatfish into the boat.
The anglers continued fishing Snow’s Cut until noon, and then spot-hopped their way toward the scales in Topsail Beach.
In the event’s Red Drum category, Mike Jeffers and Rob Lowe—the “Fish Stalker” fishing team–slid into first place by just two-hundredths of a pound, scaling a 7.18 lb. fish to earn the title.
The Wilmington anglers decided to fish close to the scales around Topsail Inlet despite some unfamiliarity with the area.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever fished up there,” Jeffers said.
He and Lowe, also fishing on a Carolina Skiff, easily found bait after launching their boat at the new public ramp in Pender County, then began looking for a winning fish.
“We fished the docks and seawalls around there and towards the inlet,” Jeffers explained.
The pair fished hard over the course of the morning, landing several of both of the tournament’s target species, but they hadn’t hooked anything of legal size by early afternoon and decided to change up their location.
“We went back around the inlet and into a creek right there,” Jeffers continued. “I think they call it Black Mud Creek.”
Finally, while casting to a cut grass bank in 8’ of water around 3:00 that afternoon, Jeffers got a solid strike on a live finger mullet.
“That fish came to the surface about 30-40 yards away from us,” he said, “and I thought for sure it was over the slot.”
This 6.57 lb. red drum earned Banks Avram (second from left) the Top Junior Angler honors in the Topsail Inshore Challenge.
He continued battling the drum, and when it surfaced closer to the boat, Jeffers got a better look.
“Then I thought he was going to be real close,” he continued.
A short time late, Lowe was able to slide a landing net under the drum and haul it into the skiff.
“We put him in the boat and measured him twice,” Jeffers added. “That was at 3:10 and that was it for us—we went straight to weigh-in. I knew that fish was going to help us out in the trail.”
The anglers made the run without incident and were soon sitting on top of the leaderboard.
Scott Blevins and Tim Corn were hot on the “Fish Stalker” crew’s heels, weighing a 7.16 lb. red to finish second. David Avram scaled the 6.57 lb. red that took third, and also earned Banks Avram the events Top Junior angler honors.
A 6.53 lb. red drum secured fourth for Andy Broadwell, and bestowed the Top Lady Angler crown on Lauren Broadwell. Butch Davis rounded out the top five on the red drum leaderboard with a 6.21 lb. fish.
In the flounder division, Luke Donat’s 5.56 was good for second place and Top Senior Angler for Winfield Donat. Al Fulford scaled a 4.17 lb. flatfish to earn third. Robert Hughes’ 4.13 lb. flounder was good for fourth, and Fred Davis took home fifth place with a 3.94 lb. fish.
The Topsail Inshore Challenge was event number four in Fisherman’s Post’s five-event Inshore Tournament Trail. The Trail Champions will be crowned at the North Carolina Inshore Championship, slated for September 14-15 out of Inlet Watch Yacht Club in Carolina Beach.
For more information on all Fisherman’s Post events and full leaderboards for both the Topsail Inshore Challenge and the Inshore Tournament Trail, please visit fishermanspost.com.
