2025 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge
The 2025 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge, held over the weekend of July 18-19, delivered scorching summer temperatures and an even hotter red drum bite. A majority of boats weighed in at least one fish, and the smallest drum on the leaderboard tipped the scales at 6.85 lbs., making for one of the more competitive tournaments of the season.
Registration and awards were hosted at Tex’s Tackle in Wilmington, while the weigh-in took place at Bridge Tender Marina in Wrightsville Beach.
Representing the Southport area, Team Rock Creek Land Company—made up of Jonathan Lanier, his father Marty, sister Amanda Lynch, and brother-in-law Logan Lynch—claimed first place with a 7.84 lb. red drum landed just after 1:00 on Saturday afternoon.
The team launched at first light, hoping to find menhaden in their usual creek channel, but low tide and scattered bait forced them to adjust.
“We knew our fish wouldn’t bite until the water came back in,” Jonathan explained.
After relocating to an oyster-encrusted outcropping in a back creek, they finally connected with their winning drum as the tide came in. They were using cut menhaden on Carolina rigs. Rock Creek Land Company swept both the Single Big Red Drum and High Roller TWTs, as well as the Lady and Senior Angler awards.
Rock Creek Land Company (Jonathan Lanier, Amanda Lynch, Logan Lynch, and Marty Lanier) was the overall winner in the 2025 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge. They found a 7.84 lb. red drum on an oyster rock in a creek using cut menhaden on a Carolina rig.
Team Parker, featuring brothers Sam and Mark Daughtry of Wilmington, secured second place with a 7.43 lb. red drum caught just after 2:00 pm. The duo launched before sunrise and executed a methodical plan, working six grass flats near Scotts Hill and cycling through each spot twice as the tide fell. Their strategy focused on covering water efficiently and staying mobile until they located active fish.
“It was slow, but we covered every area until we found fish,” Sam said. Fishing fresh mullet on Carolina rigs, they dialed in on one productive flat to land their big fish, followed by another drum that pushed their two-fish total to 13.81 lbs. Team Parker’s performance earned them second place in both the Single Big Red Drum and High Roller TWTs and third place in the Two Red Drum TWT.
Team Bossy’s Sinkers, made up of Leland’s Bossy Fitzsimmons and Billy Cumbee, rounded out the top three with a 7.37 lb. red drum landed soon after 7:20 am.
Fishing a sandy flat in the ICW off Carolina Beach, they deployed four Carolina rigs baited with cut pogies and waited through a quiet dawn. “We didn’t get our first bite until about 7:20,” Fitzsimmons said. “We had a couple small fish, Billy caught a 20-inch drum, and then his second rod went off. I grabbed it, and that’s when we got the big fish.”
Earlier in the morning, they also boated a 1.46 lb. oyster toadfish to clinch the Trash Fish TWT, marking their second consecutive win in that division after taking top honors at the Topsail Inshore Challenge.
Mark and Sam Daughtry, of Team Parker, took second place in the 2025 Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge with a 7.43 lb. red drum that fell for fresh mullet on a flat in the Scotts Hill area.
Bossy’s Sinkers also finished third in the Single Big Red Drum and High Roller TWTs, and their strong showing vaulted them into second place on the season-long Inshore Tournament Trail standings.
More information, including a complete leaderboard, can be found at www.FishermansPost.com.
The next event is the Southport Inshore Challenge hosted out of Morningstar Marinas Southport over the weekend of August 15-16.
