Padrick/Smith Place 2nd at Carolina Redfish Series #1

by Lee Padrick, June 2, 2014

Courtesy of Carolina Redfish Series

On May 31st, Dwayne and I had the opportunity to fish the inaugural event of the Carolina Redfish Series, a new tournament trail that consists of three events over the course of the season.  At safe light, 18 teams competed for the 1st place prize of $2,000.  

Dwayne and I had done a fair amount of scouting in the weeks leading up to the event.  We had spent a few days in Swansboro, but did not find enough fish or a pattern that we could rely on, so we decided to focus our practice efforts in eastern Carteret County.  We found an area about 20 miles from takeoff that was holding good numbers of fish, and decided to fish there on tournament day.  

We checked out as Boat #17 on tournament morning and took our time getting to our fishing spot, since the tide was low.  As the tide rose, we were able to get to the area holding fish.  Found fish after a few casts, and caught fish in flurries of chaos during the day, ending up catching around 45 fish.  The fish were in an odd mood and seemed to prefer topwater lures, versus our Salty Bay Red Devils or gold spoons that we had caught them on in practice.  While we would have preferred to fish the single hooks of jigs/Red Devils or spoons, we listened to the fish and threw topwater, although the treble hooks cost us a few fish over the course of the day.

The wind increased to a solid 15 knots during the morning, but the fish still cooperated.  We culled fish most of the day, making half-pound upgrades here and there.  As the sun reached its midday point, the fish started to prefer gold spoons instead of the topwater lures.  We fished until 2:45 pm, then packed up our gear for the ride back to the 4 pm weigh-in at Chasin' Tails Outdoors, on the Causeway at Atlantic Beach.  We thought we had somewhere between 12.8 and 13.1 lbs of fish.

Courtesy of Carolina Redfish Series

It was a good day of fishing for most of the teams in the event, as 15 out of the 18 teams weighed in fish.  Our fish ended up weighing 12.94 lbs, just a hundredth of a pound less than Team B & G's winning bag of 12.95 lbs, putting us in 2nd place.  Congrats to Dave Bernstein and Daniel Griffee of Team B & G for their win!  And great job by all the competitors.

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.  

Our next event is August 9th at the Hook and Bones tournament, part of Carolina Redfish Series Event #2 in Swansboro.    The Hook and Bones folks and the Town of Swansboro really put together a premier event, so this should be a lot of fun.  We are looking forward to it. - Lee

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Fall Trout and Redfish

by Lee Padrick, October 30, 2013

On October 26th, I had the honor and opportunity to fish with two of my best friends and neighbors, Steve Rowe and Todd Sauls.  We signed up for the 11th Annual Jacksonville Speckled Trout Tournament, held out of Casper's Marina in Swansboro.  A beautiful venue for a well-run tournament.

The Tournament Director, Daniel Sbrocco, checked out 38 boats at safe light.  The conditions were perfect, except for a cold front that had moved in the night before.  The air temps at checkout was 34 degrees, with a north wind blowing 10 mph.  My fishing partners and I headed west for 30 miles and fished a spot none of us had fished before.  In hindsight, probably not the best plan, as we did not catch a speckled trout all day.  Skip Smith of Swansboro won with a 4-trout total weight of 20.55 lbs.

Padrick/Smith/Smith Win CCA Inside Out Tournament

by Lee Padrick, October 13, 2013

On Saturday, October 12th, Dwayne Smith, Jeff Smith, and I fished the 2013 CCA Inside Out Tournament, held at Portside Marina in Morehead City, NC.  The goal of the tournament is to bring in one redfish, one speckled trout, and one flounder.  The redfish must be 18-27", the trout must be at least 18", and the flounder must be 16".  

We started fishing at 7 AM, on a falling tide.  Low tide was at 8:47 AM, so it was going to be tough to catch the trout on that tide.  As we worked down a marshbank, Dwayne catches a 3 lb redfish.  A few minutes later, we upgrade the red when I catch a 5+ lb fish, so we hit our target weight for the redfish.  Its time to catch a trout and a flounder.  

Fishing With Friends

by Lee Padrick, October 9, 2013

I had been telling some friends that as soon as October rolls around, we're going trout fishing.  But there is no greater pressure than having to put your family and friends on fish.  So when Stephen E. Smith agreed to go fishing with me and Dwayne Smith, I felt the pressure.  

When I met Stephen at the dock, I asked him if he wanted the good news or the bad news.  He chose the good.  I told him, "We're going to catch some fish."  

Catch Redfish On Popping Corks

by Lee Padrick, October 2, 2013 

The popping cork rig has proven over time to be a deadly technique for catching shallow water redfish.  This simple rig will keep the lure in the strike zone and attract predators with splashes and rattles.  It is an essential part of my approach to putting redfish in the boat.

There are many popping cork products on the market, corks that gurgle, splash, rattle, and click.  The corks come in many types of shapes and colors.  Some popping corks can even be purchased pre-rigged.  The method I prefer is the oval popping cork.  This cork produces a rattle and click that sounds much like a baitfish being eaten, or a shrimp popping.  Also, with the right tackle setup, this cork casts extremely well, in comparison to many of the other products on the market.

September 15, 2013

by Lee Padrick, September 15, 2013

Air temp:  65
Water temp: 75
Wind:  NE at 10 mph
Tide:  Falling
Technique:  Popping corks, soft plastics (weedless and on jigheads), topwater lures

Dwayne and I had a long day on the water.  We launched at Shell Rock Landing before sunrise and checked a few spots for drum for an upcoming tournament.  No fish and/or luck at our first two stops (except for two 18-20" flounder).  Then we fished a spot that Dwayne had caught a few reds yesterday.  

Dwayne sticks a small one on a popping cork, but the fish spit the hook on the way to the boat.  Then he hooks another and lands it.  I had a blowup on topwater, then I hook one when we come around a marsh point.  We fished down a bank, but the dropping tide convinced us to put the boat back on the trailer and head to Morehead City, hoping to catch a few trout on the rising tide.  

We launch the boat, run to a nearby spot, and Dwayne hooks up on his first cast.  Its going to be a good day.  Unfortunately, he had hooked a lizard fish.  He hooked up on a ladyfish soon afterward.  No trout or drum, but I did catch another flounder in the 16" range.  

A few more cooler mornings and some NE winds, and I think the trout bite will start up for the fall.

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