WB Inshore Challenge Welcome

July 17 – 18, 2026, at Bridge Tender Marina

WELCOME

Welcome to the Wrightsville Beach Inshore Challenge, the longest standing Fisherman’s Post tournament tradition (in its 23rd year).

This year our Wrightsville tournament will have all of the weekend events–Registration, Captains’ Meeting, Weigh-In, Awards Dinner, and Awards–at Bridge Tender Marina. As many know, we will be losing (and perhaps have already lost at the time of this printing) the longtime connection with Tex‘s Tackle, as Tex Grissom is retiring after a legendary run in the fishing community.

The Bridge Tender Marina crew is similar to Tex in that they enjoy a good time, so we will be making ourselves comfortable at their marina over the course of the weekend. This includes offering a variety of drinks on both Friday and Saturday, and Saturday’s Awards Dinner will feature Papa Murphy’s Pizza (and hot dogs and sides).

For Weigh-In, Bridge Tender will once again provide convenient boat space on their fuel dock that sits directly on the ICW, as well as space for our scales under their gazebo out on the end.

This event continues to present a more casual approach, offering anglers (1) the option to use live, dead, or artificial bait; (2) no live weigh-in required; and (3) the choice to fish as many anglers on their boat as they prefer. Our hope is that these relaxed rules encourage more people to join in on the fun and excitement of red drum tournament fishing.

Like previous years, the WBIC will feature an eight-place leaderboard focusing on one red drum, as we believe more anglers can be competitive in a search for one instead of two upper-slot red drum.

For those anglers looking to enhance their winnings beyond the substantial cash on our main leaderboard, there are also Single Big Red Drum, Two Red Drum, and High Roller Single Big Red Drum TWTs offered, as well as a “Trash Fish” TWT. The “Trash Fish” TWT payouts will go to the boats that weigh in the heaviest weight of either one oyster toad or one lizardfish.

We’re also continuing to encourage teams to bring the whole family out to fish by offering $50 bounties for the heaviest single red drum weighed in by crews with junior, lady, and/or senior anglers onboard.

More special prizes include an Intracoastal Angler gift certificate for the heaviest single red drum weighed in by a SeaTow member, the Don’s Rod & Reel Custom Rod Prize (every boat that weighs in a fish is automatically entered for a chance at a $300+ custom rod), and the Intracoastal Angler Special Weight prizes ($50 gift cards, plus additional $25 gift cards if the fish is weighed in alive).

Fisherman’s Post continues its commitment to releasing as many fish alive as possible, so the bonus payouts remain a constant—get an extra $20 payout (sponsored by CCA) for each red drum weighed in alive and in releasable condition that makes the leaderboard.

The volunteers from Wilmington Elks will be helping us release fish, and they’ll be receiving proceeds from the event to aid their mission of helping children, enhancing communities, and honoring the service and sacrifices of our military veterans.

If you’ve never fished a tournament before, this event is a great way to join in on the experience. We hope to see you—old and new friends alike—for a weekend of fun, fishing, food and drink, competition, and camaraderie.

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