2025 Inshore Trail Championship
The 2025 Inshore Trail Championship brought the season’s top red drum teams back to Inlet Watch Marina on Sunday, September 7, for one final showdown. After months of competition across five Inshore Challenge events, the top ten teams, ranked by their three heaviest red drum culled from the regular season, earned a shot at the title. With no entry fee and a two-fish aggregate deciding the winners, the Championship offered a clean slate and high stakes.Â
Claiming the top spot in this year’s Inshore Trail Championship was Team Kook Tacos, weighing in a two-fish total of 13.81 lbs. and edging out second place by just a few tenths of a pound. The crew, made up of Tim Disano, Jimmy Dever, Tripp Hooks, and Hunter Williams, relied on local knowledge and a patient game plan to get it done.Â
“We only had five bites all day,” said Disano, “but we knew we didn’t need a pile of fish—we just needed the right ones.”
The team stayed close to home on Sunday morning, fishing areas around Ocean Isle that hadn’t produced much the week prior but had a history of holding big reds. Their first fish, a 6.7-pounder, came early. A second fish of similar size followed, but knowing it wouldn’t be enough, they returned to a previously unproductive spot and landed a red just over seven pounds.
Team East Coast Sports, comprised of Ethan Bilderback and Daniel Lawson, finished in third place in the 2025 Trail Championship with a two-fish aggregate of 12.81 lbs. The duo found their fish mostly in shallow water in the Topsail area using live and cut bait.
“We trusted the plan and got a little lucky,” Disano added. “If we hadn’t upgraded that second fish, we wouldn’t have won.”Â
The team fished live mullet on Carolina rigs throughout the day, catching fresh bait as needed to keep their baits lively.
Finishing just behind the top boat was Team Nautic Charge Batteries, weighing in a two-fish aggregate of 13.56 lbs. for a strong second place finish. Fishing with his daughter Camille, Rennie Clark made a strategic shift from Saturday’s gameplan. On Sunday, they targeted areas they hadn’t fished in months, and it paid off early.Â
“Camille caught a 26.75-inch fish in the first five minutes,” said Clark. “That took a little pressure off.”
From there, the team covered water and picked at fish throughout the morning before locating a deep school around midday.Â
“We probably caught 30 fish,” he said. “Most were upper-slot or over-slot, and we had a run of perfect 27s in about ten minutes.”Â
Camille and Rennie Clark, of Team Nautic Charge Batteries, finished the 2025 Trail Championship in second place with two red drum weighing 13.56 lbs. Their fish fell for a mix of artificial and live baits.
The team used a mix of artificials and live bait, switching to mullet once the bite slowed. After finding a second school later in the day, they culled through several more quality reds before heading in early to beat an approaching storm.Â
Daniel Lawson and Ethan Bilderback, of Team East Coast Sports, secured a third-place finish in the 2025 Inshore Trail Championship after a day defined by persistence, adaptability, and one pivotal school of fish. Their strategy began the day before during the Carolina Beach tournament, where they intentionally held back on key spots to save them for Sunday.Â
“We had a plan for both days,” said Lawson, “and we felt better about Sunday than any other tournament this year.”
Sunday morning started slow. Their first school had moved, and the early fish were undersized. After bouncing between backup spots, they finally connected with a shallow school around midmorning.Â
“We went through all our live bait and cut bait—probably 30 fish total,” Lawson explained. “We culled through everything we had.”Â
Team Kook Tacos, for the second year in a row, took first place in the Trail Championship. Hunter Williams, Tripp Hooks, Jimmy Dever, and Tim Disano brought in two red drum weighing 13.81 lbs. that they found in the Ocean Isle area on live bait.
A digital scale failure added pressure, Lawson continued, but a backup scale gave them just enough confidence to make the right calls, “We weren’t sure on exact weights, but we knew the two fish we kept were the biggest we’d caught.”
Most of their bites came in less than 2.5-feet of water, with fish holding on oyster bars, grass banks, and sand flats in the Topsail area. Though they started the morning throwing topwaters and artificials, nearly all of their tournament fish came on live or cut bait.Â
“We’re comfortable with artificials from guiding year-round,” said Lawson, “but when it’s time to cull through fish, bait gets it done. One school pretty much made the day for us.”
The Inshore Trail will return in 2026, featuring five qualifying events, with payouts at all five events, on the way to next year’s Trail Championship on Sunday, September 13.
More information can be found at www.FishermansPost.com.
