Added on Thursday, May 8, 2014  Gary Hurley

Topsail Surf Challenge

Attracting 173 anglers to the lengthy beachfront of Topsail Island, the inaugural Fisherman’s Post Topsail Island Surf Fishing Challenge was a 36-hour fishing marathon that tested anglers’ skills on five of the most popular surf species in the area. Held May 2-4, the event was headquartered at Surf City’s East Coast Sports with the islands’ three piers serving as round-the-clock weigh stations.

Travis Reardon, of Dunn, NC, landed the event’s largest catch, a massive 13.5 lb. bluefish that earned him a check for $856.

Fishing the North Topsail beachfront with family, Reardon was casting cut mullet shortly after fishing began at midnight on Friday, May 2, when he got a solid strike.

“I actually thought that was a drum,” he reported.

After the blue struck, it came towards the beach before putting up a spirited battle in the wash. Reardon soon got the better of the fish and slid it onto the sand, but he still wasn’t sure what it was.

“I still thought it was a drum and it would’ve been too big to weigh in,” he explained. “Then they started yelling that it was a bluefish. I haven’t caught a blue like that in a long time.”

Reardon quickly decided to haul the fish to Seaview Pier and the official weight was recorded.

Another stout blue weighing 9.5 lbs. earned $513 and second place in that category for John Dubois. Jeremy Fisher was right on Dubois’ heels with a 9.5 lb. fish good for third and $342.

Easily the most valuable catch by weight in the event, Wilmington’s Tom Jarrott scaled a 1.3 lb. flounder also worth $856.

Jarrrott was fishing the beachfront at North Topsail just outside New River Inlet when his money-winner struck around 10:00 Saturday morning. A strip of cut mullet fooled the winning flatfish and many more over the course of the event.

“I caught about two dozen flounder,” Jarrott explained, “but that was the only legal one.”

After landing the flatfish, Jarrott tossed it in his cooler and went back to fishing before deciding to head for Seaview and the scales.

“Believe it or not, I actually just threw it in the cooler and forgot about it,” he continued.

“After a little while I decided to measure it and go ahead and take it in.”

Not only was the 1.3 lb. fish Jarrott’s only legal flatfish, it was the only one landed during the event, leaving the second and third place flounder money to be distributed via a drawing.

Surf City local Chris Tomlin captured the tournament’s heaviest black drum, a 4.7 lb. fish that made him $428 richer.

Tomlin chose to fish a spot about 250 yards north of Surf City Pier on the advice of some fellow locals.

“I’ve always been told there’s a hole there but there’s not much of a slough or anything,” Tomlin explained, “I found it this time.”

Casting fresh shrimp, Tomlin had caught several small sea mullet when he got a better strike around the peak of the high tide late that morning.

“The rod laid over hard and was about to get launched from the sand spike,” Tomlin continued.

Fishing light tackle, the angler battled the drum for an estimated 5-10 minutes before finally putting it on the sand.

“I’ve never caught a black drum like that in NC,” he said.

Tomlin’s black drum took the top spot on the leaderboard after he weighed it in at East Coast Sports and held off the competition until the scales closed.

Brent Hinson, of Wilmington, landed a 4.5 lb. black drum good for second place and $256, and Steven Hall’s 2.9 lb. fish took third place and $171.

The tournament’s sea mullet category was its most competitive, with less than a third of a pound separating first and fifth place.

Harold Watson, of Woodleaf, NC, scaled the winning 1.4 lb. fish in the event to walk away with a check for $428.

A die-hard sea mullet fisherman, Watson ended up casting from the shoreline near 9^th Avenue in North Topsail after finding subpar conditions elsewhere.

“There was a lot of seaweed up and down the beach,” he explained, “but it wasn’t as bad there.”

He was catching smaller sea mullet sporadically over the day before the winning fish bit around 2:00 Saturday afternoon. A bloodworm fooled the near-citation mullet, and Watson eased into first place with the fish after weighing it in at East Coast Sports.

Steve Tysinger slid in just behind Watson with a 1.3 lb. mullet good for $256. Keith Watson’s 1.2 lb. fish rounded out the top three and earned him $171.

Taking home the event’s largest single check, William Green, Jr., of Conway, SC, topped the Red Drum TWT with a 6.5 lb. fish that earned him $1020.

Fishing with his wife and son, Green heard of a decent drum bite near Topsail Inlet on Friday evening before the event, and the family team chose to make the walk to the southern point of Topsail Island.

“We walked toward the inlet and found a little slough right at the point there,” he explained. “I heard they’d caught some drum there Friday evening, so I wanted to be there for that bite on Saturday.”

The first bait Green cast after setting up Saturday, a chunk of a large mullet he’d brought with him from SC, drew a strike around 5:30 that afternoon.

“I saw something bump the line,” Green said, “and I picked up the rod. He took off, and I knew it was a good one.”

Playing the fish gently, the angler estimated it took 12-13 minutes to put the red on the sand.

At first, he wasn’t sure whether to weigh the red in or not.

“I measured him and he was just under 26 inches,” Green continued. “I didn’t want to leave because I knew we’d get more bites and I didn’t know whether that fish would take it, but I decided to go up to the scales.”

The decision turned fruitful, and Green’s fish held off the competition. Adding to his black drum take, Brent Hinson weighed in the 6.1 lb. second place red drum to bring home another $612. Zachary Buesing landed another 6.1 lb. red, but weighed his in 12 hours after Hinson and earned third and $408 based on time.

For more information on the Topsail Island Surf Fishing Challenge and a full leaderboard, visit fishermanspost.com.