by Lee Padrick, September 29, 2014 On Saturday, September 27th, Dwayne and I had the opportunity to fish the third and final event in the Carolina Redfish Series, held at Chasin' Tails Outdoors in Atlantic Beach. Nineteen (19) teams entered and competed in the blustery northeast winds. Dwayne and I headed eastward a few minutes after 6:45 AM. The wind was forecast to blow 15-20 kts out of the northeast, and high tide was around noon. So because of the incoming tide and the strong north winds, we would have plenty of water in our fishing spots. We arrived at our first stop, a marsh in Back Sound, and spent about an hour blindcasting an area where we had caught some low tide fish in practice. We didn't catch anything, so we headed to our next spot, a grass island/oyster bed in southern Core Sound. The wind was increasing, and this area was exposed to the northeast winds, so we PowerPoled down and started casting popping cork rigs. Dwayne caught the first fish of the day, a small 4.5 lb red. He quickly followed that fish up with a 28.5" fish, that was outside of the 18"-27" slot limit our target fish had to meet. I hooked up, and we had about 10 lbs in the livewell. There was a school of reds around this particular grass island, as we slowly picked our way through them and upgraded the fish in the livewell. The wind continued to increase, and the waves were literally lifting the boat up a few feet at a time, and the PowerPole was bouncing, as we kept drifting closer to the oyster bed. Several times, we repositioned the boat, only to have the boat bounce along again toward the oyster bed. We caught about 10 fish in this spot, but decided to leave, as the wind and waves were making it difficult to stand up in the boat. Our next stop was a remote marsh along Core Banks. A very wet, rough boat ride got us to our spot, but the fish were not in their regular haunts, so we decided to head to a wind-protected bank in Core Sound. When we arrived, the tide was high and fishing the area was going to be difficult with all of the excess water, so we decided to ride out the rest of our time in the back of one of the local coastal rivers. When we arrived at our next stop, the wooded shoreline offered us protection from the wind, so we were able to fish in relative comfort. We caught a few fish, but did not upgrade our 12 lbs in the livewell, so we moved to another nearby spot. This area yielded the best fish of the day, as we found a steady bite and slowly upgraded our fish, until we had what we thought was around 13.5 lbs in the livewell. We headed back to the 4 PM weigh-in, and weighed in a two-fish aggregate of 13.82 lbs, good enough for 1st place in the tournament, and enough points to give us the coveted Team Of The Year title. Congratulations to all the competitors that fished the series this year. I want to thank Hook and Bones, Salty Bay Baits, Temple Fork Outfitters, Pro-Cure Bait Scents, Fins Premium Superlines, No Slack Tackle, Bubba Blade, and PointClickFish.com for keeping us on the water. And big thanks to John Moore, Jay Feimster, and Matt Lamb, and all the folks involved with the Carolina Redfish Series for putting on a great tournament series.
Our next event is the Riley Rods Championship Shootout on October 11th at Fulchers Landing in Sneads Ferry. We are looking forward to it. - Lee
by Lee Padrick, March 30, 2014 The Redfish Guys competed on March 22, 2014 in the Riley Rods Redfish Shootout Series at the West Beaufort Regional Access ramp at Event #1, (3 events, and a Championship Shootout). Directed by Captain Mike Pedersen, and Daniel Sbrocco as the Weighmaster, ten (10) teams competed. Dwayne and I had been scouting for the past few weeks, and we spent an entire day in Swansboro on a cold, windy Saturday with water temps around 43. We saw 3 fish and caught none during practice in Area Code 910. We had found some fish locally, and we thought we could catch between 9.5 - 11 pounds, with our two-fish limit. Last year, 10 lbs of two redfish would get you in the money, so we stayed with the local plan. The field headed toward the No Wake Zone at 6:45 AM, and a shotgun start sent boats heading different directions. Four teams headed across Bogue Sound toward the Swansboro area, the rest of the field stayed in the 252 area code. In the local area, Dwayne and I were fishing a slick calm morning with a 7:22 AM low tide, and rising throughout the morning. We fished out of Dwayne's 18' Shallow Sport Bahia, and jacked the motor up to the 4 mark on the jackplate. Took a few short cuts, then Dwayne gave me the honor of running a shallow flat toward our fish. I bumped twice on the ride into our spot, intending to set the boat down in 2' of water. Pulled back on the throttle as we arrived in deeper water, and fish scattered. Uh oh, I think I just ran across the fish. After rigging up for a morning of fishing, Dwayne and I started to fancast Salty Bay Red Devils (in gold flake and lime jello) around the boat. We fished slowly, but kept spooking the fish in the shallow water. Finally, I hooked up on a mid-slot red, and we had a 3.8 lb fish in the livewell. The bite was slow, and the wind increased to 15 knots. Dwayne caught a 4.9 lb fish to round out our limit, then it was time for an upgrade. We had a few bites, and tried several techniques. Jigs/Red Devils, weedless soft plastics in Pro-Cure and scented baits under popping corks. Dwayne hooked up with a nice fish, and handed me the rod as he grabbed the net. We boated a 5.7 lb fish, and upgraded our smaller red. We had about 10.6 lbs of fish in the livewell, and we thought our weight was enough to cash.
Pulled a hook on another fish, then it was time to weigh our fish in at 4 PM. We loaded the boat on the trailer, and grabbed a basket to put our fish in. There was already 4 teams with 11+ lbs on the board! These guys brought their 'A' games. Our bag weighed in at 10.67 lbs, good enough for 6th place in the event.
Our next event is May 31, 2014 at the Carolina Redfish Series Event #1 in Atlantic Beach. Looking forward to warmer water/weather and more aggressive fish. - Lee
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We headed back to the 4 PM weigh-in, and weighed in a two-fish aggregate of 13.82 lbs, good enough for 1st place in the tournament, and enough points to give us the coveted Team Of The Year title.
Our next event is the Riley Rods Championship Shootout on October 11th at Fulchers Landing in Sneads Ferry. We are looking forward to it. - Lee
