This past weekend wrapped up the Tournament Season for the Tournament Trail Charters fishing team.  My wife, Capt Shannon Clark  and I were one of the 15 teams invited to compete in the Low Country Redfish Cup Championship out of Beaufort, SC.   You had to qualify for this tournament and only the top 15 from the season long tour were invited to the Championship based on points awarded from each tournament fished.  Some of the best Redfish Tournament Anglers in the Country were there.  

Ok, to day one: We battled harsh winds and my wife Shannon hung in there on those cold mornings for the long runs to our fishing grounds.  Day one was brutal and we managed to hook several fish and had a break off  to start the day at our first two spots.  The area we were fishing was on the windward bank with 2 footers rolling in.  We were casting Category 5 soft plastics on 1/16 and 1/8 once weighted hooks.  Was tough to feel the bite as we were having to run the trolling motor way off the bank and fire casts into less than a foot of water surrounded by structure where the fish were sitting.  We managed two slot reds on that flat and hit another spot on our way to our A spot.  When we arrived at our A spot we were more protected and were welcomed to fish slamming up to 10 inch mullets on top.  We approached the busting fish with stealth and hooked up right away and broke off an overslot red.  From there we pulled the hooks on another fish before upgrading with a fat pumpkin just under the SC slot of 23."  We popped a couple more fish and upgraded our other fish we caught earlier.  I switched to a spinnerbait as the tide rose and we hit a few deeper banks connecting water bodies. My wife had a red hit her gold spoon 3 times right down the middle of the creek in over 4 foot of water.  I told her it was probably a gar.  I reluctantly cast where she had just cast and slow rolled the spinnerbait to the boat and stopped it right before it was under the boat and thump, I was hooked up to a perfect slot red that was as fat as the biggest fish we had in the livewell.  We put that fish in the well and cast in the same area again and two more fish back to back almost the same size.  Pressure was off and we had found a pattern the fish were on that day in deeper water.  From there we went on to catch several more upper and over slot reds that were bright orange and fat.  We finished day one with over a one pound lead at 9lbs and 5 oz(our personal best in SC).  Sleeping on a day one lead was a little tough for both of us knowing a brand new 2014 Shallow Sport boat with Yamaha motor and trailer was on the line for the champion.   Day two was a little nicer due to the winds only being 10-12 mph vs 20-30 mph the day before.  We decided to hit a different spot first on Saturday.  I had found a few random pods of upper and just over slot reds two days earlier near some of our other spots.  I started the day off just as I did on day 1 with a pulled hook.  We worked a couple oyster bars on the low tide and we stuck two over slot reds.  Then we landed the biggest fish of the tourney-my personal best in a SC tourney.  I told Shannon when we measured the fish at just 22" that the fish would probably go 5 lbs.  With a solid fish in the livewell we needed another good fish to go with him to secure the tourney.  We hit the next oyster bar and Shannon got stuck in the grass and as it came loose her Category 5 Manic Minnow landed just on the outside edge of the oyster bar and thump-he was there.  Only problem was that her line had looped at the rod tip as the wind knotted it when the line went slack.  We tried to hand line the fish in, but it broke the line.  We probably could have done some things differently to land the fish but in the heat of the moment I didn't think about anything but trying to get the fish in.  This fish came up top and was definitely under the 23" slot.  That would have taken a lot of stress off.  We hit one more spot before returning to our A spot.  Shannon popped an under slot on a gold spoon on the way then we started to work some different areas from our day one spots due to the tide being a little lower than the day before.  We elected to use Category 5 soft plastics on 1/16 oz weighted hooks due to working shallower areas and the fact we blew out a few fish on spinnerbaits and gold spoons.  The bite was a little tougher but we finally stuck a 19" fish to complete our 2 fish limit and take a little pressure off.  That fish gave us chance to win but I knew we needed a better fish to win the Championship.  We stuck a few more slot and over slot fish, then we caught a solid 21" fish that had been working over a school of mullet minnows.  As soon as my Manic Minnow hit the water that fish slammed it and we upgraded our smallest fish.  We fished another 30 minutes and then Shannon wanted to make the run back to check in to give us plenty of time to get there.  We were battling a few motor issues but with some answered prayer we made it back to the dock 30 minutes early.  We were the second boat at the dock.  The anglers that were in second place: Reed Simmons and his partner Ashley were there waiting which meant they had two good ones.  These two were on a hot streak as they had just gone down to the IFA Championship and smoked the fatties and had the largest fish of the tourney down there and without a bumped fish on day 1 would have won the tournament.  The team in 3rd place: two of the best-Ronnie Pitts and Jamie Hough were also on a hot streak with several top finishes on the HT Series, IFA, and the Low Country Redfish Cup, they had just finished in the top 5 the week before in the national championship.  We were asked to weigh last because we were the day one leaders.  As I expected legendary Charleston guide and tournament angler: Reed Simmons weighed a heavy bag that tipped the scales at just over nine lbs and made us start sweating.  I thought Shannon was going to have a heart attack before our fish hit the scales.  We knew we had one heavy fish but were unsure what the 21" fish weighed.  We had to have 8 lbs to win.  After the tournament director weighed our smallest fish and it weighed almost 4 lbs I knew we had it.  Our second fish was the largest of the tournament at 5 lbs 8 oz, giving us the heaviest bag of the day at 9lbs 3 oz.  For our efforts we were rewarded with the Calcutta money for the largest fish and a 2014 18' Shallow Sport boat with a 90 hp Yamaha 4 stroke and trailer.  We finished the tournament with 18lbs 8 oz.  Wes Hudson president of Shallow Sport Boats, Brian Rose, tournament director of the Low Country Redfish Cup, and Chris Butler of Butler Marine presented us with the check and plaques.  This was a great finish to a tournament season that was average at best for us.

Thanks for reading and Tight lines,

Capt Rennie Clark

Here is a link to the tournament write up by outdoor journalist and photographer, Jeff Dennis:

http://sclowcountryoutdoors.blogspot.com/2013/11/2013-lowcountry-redfish-cup-finals.html

Fat Pumpkins

Was down in Houma, La last week for the IFA Redfish Tour Championship.  Caught several reds the 3 days we pre fished and during the tourney.  Unfortunately, our upper slot fish were skinny on game day.  Couldnt get to the fish on day 1 as they slammed pogies just out of reach.  In our B spot we had company.  Hit several back up spots to find the same thing.  Caught several over slots.  The next day we pre fished for next year headed in the opposite direction.  Disappointing season to say the least.  3rd in points was our worst finish in 5 years.  Thanks to Richie at Category 5for supplying us w the finest soft plastics on the market.  We caught fish on every color suicide croaker, manic minnow, and shrimp minnow.

ears.

Cape Fear Topwater Action

Corey and I had pretty conditions early and took advantage of them.  We were a little bummed the high tide did not rise enough to flood the flats we wanted to hit, but the fish were more than cooperative just on the edge of the grass.  Corey stuck several reds on topwater and had several follows and blow ups.  We moved around a bit and stuck them on popping corks and soft plastics as well as Category 5 manic minnows rigged weedless.  Caught a trout and a few flounder as well.  In the afternoon as the tide fell out and the wind picked up we saw reds feeding in the skinny with their backs out of the water, cool sight!  Headed back to the dock so Corey could go buy a new house.  Enjoyed having you on the boat my friend.  Look forward to our next trip!

Insane Redfish Action NC Style

Just got back from a trip to the low country.  Fishing was tougher than normal with the heat and bait everywhere.  Got back to NC and hit some of my favorite  flats and they were waiting on me.  Found two large schools of reds plowing down the bank crushing pogies at my first stop.  I had a family from Germany on the boat with me on this day and they were in for some insane topwater action.  They had experienced some great action with me two years prior but nothing like this trip.  They were triple and quadruple hooked up a few times with several doubles on topwater , spoons, and soft plastics.  Awesome day on the water.  Hit two more flats and found the same thing.  Great to be back in NC.

Low Country Vacation

Had an awesome week fishing in Charleston with Capt Ren. We caught quite a few redfish, trout and flounder. Several reds were over slot but tons of fun! The tides were not the best for that area so we did a lot fishing in the short grass for tailing redfish. I had never pitched a bait to a tailing red so i was very excited when I had the opportunity to do so. Rennie caught a few then I took a shot at it and threw it right in front of a 22" red and he couldn't resist it. That was the most exciting type of fishing to date. We moved around to different spots in search of perfect tournament winners. We found new schools and dud quite a bit of catching. Getting hung up on oysters became a bit of a joke after I hooked a rather large redfish and thought I was just hung again on an oyster. Once it started taking drag Rennie was more than happy to point out the fact that I wasn't having a very smart moment and informed me that yes,I was hung, but I was hung on a fish. He joked about my "oyster hang up" the all week. I also later managed to get "hung" on a 3' bonnet head shark. I was pretty excited about the shark but Rennie wasn't too thrilled. We fished all week preparing for a tournament that we ended up not fishing. We were unaware of a rule stating we had to be off the water by 4:00 the day before the tournament. We were told about this at 4:15 so once we got to the captain's meeting we informed the tournament director that we had broken the rule and let him make the decision to disqualify us or not. His decision was to disqualify us, which we thought was fair because a rule is a rule. I was devastated because I was looking forward to showing a group of boys how it was done. Needless to say, I don't think we'll forget to read the rules before any other tournaments. All in all we had a great time aside from the major buzz kill of not being able to fish the tournament. We'll get them next time - Shannon

Large Red in the Short Grass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYtsXYHR7I Check out this video of Captain Ren in action. Fishing the short grass is where Capt Ren loves to spend most of his time pursuing redfish. Watch as this 30 inch pig pounces on a soft plastic in grass. This was one of many tailing and cruising reds caught this morning.

Calm morning in the skinny

Captain Ren sticks a slot red in the short grass. This was one of 6 fish Captain Shannon Clark and I caught on this flat. What a beautiful morning fishing with my wife.

Video of an awesome take in the short grass

Watch as Captain Ren pitches a soft plastic to a tailing redfish right behind the boat. One of several tailers we stuck on this awesome afternoon on the flood tide.

Epicurian Charity Trip

I donated a trip to the Wilmington Methodist Epicurian Charity Event again this year and on this day the winner of that trip: Becca Fergusen and her two oldest kids fished with me at Wrightsville Beach.  Becca caught an inshore slam consisting of a speckled trout, flounder, and a 32" redfish on artificials.  The kids were great and ended up baiting their own hooks, releasing and taking off their fish.  They caught grouper, ringtails, flounder, pinfish, and a shark.  Non stop action on this half day trip.  Thank you to the Fergusen family for supporting the charity and fishing with me.

Shrimp Minnows Irresistible to Reds

Fishing has finally turned on in the Cape Fear region. Last week I had my best day on the water for redfish this season. I watched school after school chewing on shrimp as they plowed down the banks. I caught over thirty fish hitting over twelve flats without beating any of the fish up on any of these flats. They could not resist the Category5 shrimp minnow in the New purple reign color on a weighted hook. These fish fought over this bait when I pitched out in front of them as they roamed the flats. I also caught flounder and trout in good numbers on the same baits. Try some of these baits out for urself and u will see why these baits r so effective. The action on these baits along with their chartreuse tail attracts fish a long way away. U can order straight thru the Category5 website or thru bass pro or cabelas. These things really work this is not just a sales pitch.

Shrimp Minnows Irresistible to Reds

Fishing has finally turned on in the Cape Fear region. Last week I had my best day on the water for redfish this season. I watched school after school chewing on shrimp as they plowed down the banks. I caught over thirty fish hitting over twelve flats without beating any of the fish up on any of these flats. They could not resist the Category5 shrimp minnow in the New purple reign color on a weighted hook. These fish fought over this bait when I pitched out in front of them as they roamed the flats. I also caught flounder and trout in good numbers on the same baits. Try some of these baits out for urself and u will see why these baits r so effective. The action on these baits along with their chartreuse tail attracts fish a long way away. U can order straight thru the Category5 website or thru bass pro or cabelas. These things really work this is not just a sales pitch.

July Fishing

July was a difficult month for Capt Ren.  A knee injury kept me off the water for most of July.  I was able to fish the Low Country Redfish Cup in Savannah, Ga with my fishing partner Drew Arndt.  We had a couple days to pre fish in the brutal heat and found only a few fish.  We struggled to put fish in the boat but managed to grind out two slot fish to finish in the top ten for the tournament.

Block Island and Cuttyhunk Island Trip

Here are some pics from a recent trip to Block Island, RI and Cuttyhunk Island, MA. The weather was not ideal for a most of the trip but I did get in some fishing a couple days. Got a nice largemouth on Block Island as I was exploring the island on a nasty day. I sight fished this green fish with a Category 5 manic minnow on a weighted hook. I caught the stripers from the beach on Cuttyhunk Island, MA. Cuttyhunk is one of my favorite places to visit. It is the southernmost of the Elizabeth Islands and is only accessible by boat. There are limited accommodations and amenities but in the summer months this place is loaded with stripers. The water temps were 58 degrees which is about 4 to 6 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year which means the bait was not around the island like it usually is. The majority of bait the fish were feeding on were small schools of shad that were cruising the shoreline. The sand eels were not in full force like normal. Even so I managed 30 fish in four hours of fishing from the bank on Category 5 soft plastics one day and a handful in an hour of fishing the next day. This is truly incredible fishing these rocky shorelines on light tackle. I didn't get any big fish but I did manage a 32 incher one day. To get the big ones it is best to fish at night.