2026 Inshore Trail Championship

The 2026 Inshore Trail Championship brought the season’s top red drum teams back to Inlet Watch Marina on Sunday, September 13, 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 complimentary (no entry fee) shot at the title. 

With a two‑fish aggregate deciding the winners, as well as a Single Big Red Drum TWT, the Trail Championship offered a clean slate and high stakes to crown the Trail Champion.

Claiming the top spot in this year’s Inshore Trail Championship was Salt Air Fishing Charters, weighing in a two‑fish total of 13.67 lbs. Christian Hairr, Jeff Hairr, and Blake Boyd relied on persistence, timing, and a well‑timed move to get it done.

Christian Hairr, Jeff Hairr, and Blake Boyd, of Team Salt Air Fishing Charters, bested the field in the 2026 Trail Championship with two red drum totalling 13.67 lbs. Their fish came from using live mullet at the Masonboro jetties.

Sunday morning began with Salt Air returning to the same school of fish they ended on during Saturday’s Carolina Beach Inshore Challenge, but the fish had vanished. After grinding through the area until nearly mid-morning, they made a long run, catching mullet along the way, and stopped to fish the Masonboro jetties. 

The bite at the jetties turned on immediately, and for nearly two hours, they caught steady fish, including numerous over-slots. Their biggest slot fish settled at 6.9 lbs., with a second fish of similar size rounding out their bag.

The win capped off a season where the team had repeatedly finished in second and third, finally breaking through for the CBIC title and the next day the Trail Championship. 

Clark/Clark, the father-daughter team of Camille and Rennie Clark, earned second place honors in the 2026 Trail Championship with a two-fish total of 12.65 lbs. They caught their fish on shallow flats

Finishing just behind the top boat was Clark/Clark, the father‑daughter team of Rennie and Camille Clark, weighing in a two‑fish aggregate of 12.65 lbs. for a strong second‑place finish. The Clarks had taken second place the day before at the Carolina Beach event, and on Sunday, they found one of the best sight‑fishing windows of their season. 

They targeted rising water and caught their fish as the drum pushed onto the shallows and into the short grass. A slot fish around 6.5 lbs. came at roughly 9:30 a.m. For their second fish, they upgraded multiple times, but Camille stuck their final upgrade around 11:30 a.m. as the tide topped out. 

Team Detrafi, led by Ian Killefer and joined by his younger brother Ned, along with Jet and Slate Lewis, secured third place in the Trail Championship with a two‑fish aggregate of 12.61 lbs. The Holden Beach crew entered the Championship as one of the season’s most consistent teams, regularly weighing solid fish but rarely finding winning fish.

Ian Killefer, Ned Killefer, Jet Lewis, and Slate Lewis, of Team Detrafi, finished in third place in the 2026 Trail Championship with a 12.61. two red drum aggregate. Their fish came from pitching bait up under docks.

Sunday started slow under a strange tide that stayed high and rising for most of the day. After checking several areas with no success, they moved to a historically productive dock and caught three fish in about 15 minutes, including a chunky 25” red in the high‑5 to low‑6 lb. range. A second keeper around 25.5”and just over 6 lbs. followed shortly after.

By early afternoon, the team decided to head to weigh‑in with the two fish they had.

The Inshore Trail will return in 2027, featuring five qualifying events with payouts at all five tournaments, all on the way to qualify for the Trail Championship.

More information can be found at www.FishermansPost.com.

by Fish Poster