Pleasure Island Fall Surf Challenge Welcome

October 18 – 20, 2024

WELCOME

The fall season will soon be arriving and, along with it, so will the fantastic fall surf fishing action along the shores of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher. So break out the long rods and join Fisherman’s Post for our annual Pleasure Island Fall Surf Fishing Challenge, southern NC’s largest surf fishing tournament.

Anglers will find our familiar format, a 36-hour round-the-clock fishing event with leaderboards paying out for the area’s most common surf catches (plus a Red Drum TWT). The heaviest bluefish, trout (speckled or gray), pompano, black drum, and sea mullet weighed in will be earning anglers some fat checks, and with five places per species, that means 25 happy anglers will be walking away with stout checks following Sunday’s Awards Ceremony.

In addition, the very popular Red Drum TWT (optional) will award potentially record-payouts to the anglers weighing in the heaviest slot red drum (18-27”) during the tournament.

The Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge has always hosted some excellent family participation, and we’re proud once again to offer Junior, Senior, and Lady Angler guaranteed prizes to encourage everyone to bring the whole clan down to the beach for the tournament weekend.

All told, there are over 30 ways to get in on some of the event’s prize purse–approximately $30,000 given away last year! All of our participants will be receiving a complimentary ticket (at Registration) to our big prize raffle on Sunday, as well as complimentary food and drink at the Awards Dinner immediately preceding the presentation of checks and prizes. In addition, Island Tackle & Hardware will be hosting their annual raffle again this year (just prior to Awards).

For your convenience, anglers can once again weigh their catches in at any time during the course of fishing at any of our three 24-hour weigh stations—Island Tackle & Hardware, Freeman Park (the North End) near Zone 15, and on the beach near the Fort Fisher State Recreation 4-wheel drive entry.

Also returning this year will be our beneficiary, First Fruit Ministries. First Fruit Ministries began in 1998 and has grown to serve over 20,000 hot meals, provide emergency groceries to over 5,000 households, and shelter over 24 homeless women and families annually, and they will receive the donation of all fish weighed in by all anglers over the course of the weekend.

In addition, the Pleasure Island Fall Surf Fishing Challenge is the fourth qualifying event in the Surf Series Trail, a season-long points competition running in the background of the five surf fishing events we host every year. Individuals can enter the Surf Series Trail during Friday’s Registration, and then use Pleasure Island Fall fish towards the Surf Series Trail–click here for more info and the complete rules of the Surf Series Trail.

So please show (or tell) some of our invaluable sponsors that you appreciate their support of this event, and come see us in the public parking lot nestled between the Sea Witch Café and Carolina Beach Municipal Yacht Basin (224 Canal Drive, Carolina Beach, NC 28428) to register and get in on the action.

Gary Hurley / Tournament Director
(910) 452-6378
surf@fishermanspost.com