Added on Saturday, May 2, 2026  Fish Poster

2026 Pleasure Island Team Surf Fishing Challenge

The 2026 Pleasure Island Team Surf Fishing Challenge once again opened Fisherman’s Post’s surf fishing season, drawing teams to the beaches of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher for a full weekend of around‑the‑clock fishing. 

Up to four anglers per team competed for leaderboard honors in red drum, bluefish, black drum, and sea mullet, with each division decided by a team’s three‑fish aggregate. The tournament also featured the Team Aggregate TWT, based on the combined weight of a team’s single heaviest fish from each of the four species, as well as the Hall of Fame Award, recognizing the total weight of all fish a team weighed in across all divisions.

Though many teams described the weekend as slow and at times frustrating, several groups still managed to find the right stretches of beach and the right tide windows, overcoming both the freshly nourished shoreline along Pleasure Island and the natural challenges that come with early‑spring surf fishing.

Team Aquaholics, featuring anglers Britt Martin, Kent Gatewood, Rob Seguin, and Todd Stevenson, won the Red Drum Division with the only red drum weighed‑in, a 4.1 lb. slot fish caught late Saturday morning. The four anglers originally met at ECU and now live across North Carolina, Rob down on the coast, Kent near Smithfield, Todd in Raleigh, and Britt in Durham, and they have fished every Pleasure Island Team event since the tournament began.

The team set up just north of the old pier at the north end of Carolina Beach. Their Friday pre‑fishing produced a few sheepshead and small drum and gave them some early confidence, but once tournament hours began, the bite died to only croaker and a couple of undersized whiting. 

Their weekend turned around about an hour after low tide on Saturday, when the smallest rod in their spread, rigged with fresh shrimp on a hand‑tied two‑drop rig with a size 1 hook, got hammered around 10:40 a.m. As the fish came in, it surfaced across the trough on the bar, and the final moments of the fight were tense. 

“It felt like pulling it over a cliff with the way the waves were breaking,” Britt recalled. He waded down and grabbed the fish, and the team immediately knew they had something that would matter.

Team Chicken Scratch, featuring Vic Lynch, his mother Candace, and his eight‑year‑old son Carson, won the Bluefish Division with 3.0 lbs., anchored by two 1.5 lb. bluefish both caught by Carson. The family traveled from Siler City and set up on Carolina Beach near the north end, about 300 yards to the right of the pier, where a well‑defined hole sat directly in front of their rental house.

Fishing from midnight Friday through Saturday afternoon was painfully slow, producing only three croaker overnight and little more through the day. 

The tide finally shifted in their favor around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, when Carson hooked and landed both of their division‑winning bluefish on Vic’s homemade double‑drop rig baited with shrimp. They added several small blues as well, including a few only six or seven inches long.

Team Reel Good, featuring Wayne Ayers, Tim Harrison, and Jamie Meller, won the Black Drum Division with a 4.5 lb. black drum, a fish that salvaged what Wayne described as one of the most frustrating surf fishing weekends he has had. The team fished Kure Beach on Friday night, moved to Fort Fisher on Saturday, and returned to Kure Beach for sunrise on Sunday. Friday produced nothing, and Saturday brought only sporadic whiting and a run of sharks. Wayne walked over nine miles trying to find a pattern, throwing shrimp, cut mullet, blue crab, and sand fleas without much success.

The breakthrough finally came Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. as the team worked the wind‑stirred, turbulent water at sunrise. The black drum hit, and Wayne immediately knew it was the kind of fish that could change their weekend. The fish not only won the division but completely turned the mood of the trip. 

Team Gotcha, featuring angler Chris Oldham, won the Sea Mullet Division with 5.7 lbs., including the tournament’s largest sea mullet at 2.1 lbs.

Team Mercer Maniacs, featuring anglers Brian Bray, James McAdoo, Sam Trussler, and Matt McCoy, won the Team Aggregate TWT with a combined weight of 6.5 lbs. from their single largest fish in each division. The team also earned a spot in the Hall of Fame with 11.2 lbs. of total fish. Though the anglers live across the state, James in Wilmington, Brian splitting time between Surf City and Knightdale, Matt in Thomasville, and Sam in Wendell, they fish together often at Johnnie Mercers Pier and Surf City Pier.

Fishing as a group at Kure Beach directly at the dredge line, the team found steady action from the start. Within 20 minutes of the midnight kickoff, they were already landing sea mullet, and the bite stayed consistent through the night and into Saturday morning. After a brief lull around midday, the mullet returned with the tide, and the team continued catching them even as the beach filled with anglers. The action carried into Saturday night and Sunday morning, with fish cycling in and out of the wash.

Their aggregate included 2.90 lbs. of bluefish, 3.20 lbs. of black drum, and 5.10 lbs. of sea mullet. The team split rigs evenly between two‑drops and Carolina rigs, starting with fresh shrimp before transitioning to sand fleas on Saturday evening. Bycatch was light, mostly dogfish and a few croaker, but the steady mullet and bluefish bite and one solid black drum were enough to secure the TWT win and a Hall of Fame finish.

The Pleasure Island Team Surf Fishing Challenge is the opening event in the Fisherman’s Post Surf Series Trail, a season‑long competition where anglers fish as many of Fisherman’s Post’s surf tournaments as they choose. Following the last event of the season—the Topsail Fall Surf & Pier—the Surf Series champions are determined by each one’s five heaviest fish across the up‑to‑five events, with Surf Series payouts going to the top five anglers.

As always, all fish weighed in were donated to First Fruit Ministries, which provides meals, groceries, and shelter to individuals and families in need throughout the Wilmington area.

For full leaderboards, Surf Series Trail standings, and information on the remaining four surf tournaments in 2026, visit www.FishermansPost.com.