Tournament Report: Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge
This year’s Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge, presented by Fisherman’s Post, was held over the weekend of May 19-20 and was hosted once again out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center. The Ocean Isle leaderboard offered opportunities to win based on a team’s single heaviest red drum, and the event also featured several TWTs, including Single Big Red Drum TWT, Two Red Drum TWT, Speckled Trout TWT, and “Trash Fish” TWT (heaviest oyster toad or lizardfish).
The Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge’s casual but competitive format allows teams to have as many anglers as they wish, use natural or artificial baits, weigh in alive or dead (with bonus payouts for weighing in alive), and encourages a family atmosphere by also awarding the top Lady, Senior, and Junior Anglers for the weekend.
Team Killin’ Time 2, comprised of Kyle Peters and Zach Soles, took home first place overall in the event with a single red drum weighing 7.59 lbs.
The duo targeted a new spot they had found in the Cape Fear River the weekend before when fishing a Got-Em-On event. The winning red drum came out of a 25’ hole upriver with little around it, and it hit a live pogy on a Carolina rig. Peters and Soles had the fish in the boat around 7:00 am.
Brandon Sauls and Clay Morphis, of Team Pork Chop, finished in second place in the 2023 Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge with a 7.47 lb. red drum that hit a Gulp shrimp in the Shallotte River.
The spot produced both of the red drum the team weighed, with a 6.57 lb. coming over the gunnel around 7:20. Otherwise, they released about eight other red drum.
“We had the fish alive in the livewell,” Peters said, “but when the tide switched, the rainwater killed it.”
The winning red drum measured just at the 27” mark and brought the team first place on the leaderboard, and Killin Time 2 also took first place in the Single Big Red Drum TWT and the Two Red Drum TWT, totaling roughly $2000 in prize money.
Team Pork Chop, made up of Clay Morphis and Brandon Sauls, planned to target the Shallotte River.
They found their first red drum (6.6 lbs.) by 6:30 am on a Gulp shrimp. For the next few hours, they threw topwater plugs and Vudu shrimp around oyster bars and grass flats with varied responses. Around 10:00 am, they switched back to Gulp shrimp and landed the 7.47 lb. red drum that secured second-place in the event.
Team Goof Off, led by Scott Rivers, placed third with a healthy 7.11 lb. red drum. Rivers was joined by anglers Deana Rivers, Trevor Rivers, and Jacob Frick.
Rivers and crew didn’t come into the tournament with any set plan in place. The only plan was loosely to work areas both in the marshes and along the ICW until locating a group of fish to sight-cast on. With a livewell of live shrimp and mullet, they set off in their efforts.
Team Killin Time 2 were the overall winners in the 2023 Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge, weighing in a 7.59 lb. red drum. Zach Soles (left) and Kyle Peters (right) found their winning fish using a live pogie on a Carolina rig in a 25′ hole in the Cape Fear River.
A cloudy morning back in the marshes didn’t produce like they hoped, so as the sun broke through, the team moved out towards the ICW where they found the weekend’s boat traffic to be picking up. Around noon, they spotted some reds tailing on the edge of a channel where both Scott and Jacob finally landed the two redfish they weighed at day’s end.
Team SeaSquirrel finished in fourth place with a 6.81 lb. red drum. SeaSquirrel was also the top Trail boat, already winning back most of their Trail entry fee and securing their spot in the Inshore Trail Championship on September 10.
The Ocean Isle Inshore Challenge benefits the Wilmington Elks who give back to our community through youth programs and honoring the service and sacrifice of our veterans.
To see the complete Ocean Isle leaderboard and details of the next event (the Topsail Inshore Challenge hosted June 23-24), and to keep up to date on the Inshore Trail, please visit FishermansPost.com or look up Fisherman’s Post on Facebook.
