‘It’s the only way’: Fishing tournament’s format to help alleviate pressure on estuary

The trout bite in Murrells Inlet has been excellent this late autumn, but the pressure on the little estuary’s population of spotted seatrout has been unprecedented with the number of anglers working the inlet over.

The inlet’s population of trout will get a much-needed break next Saturday during the 4th annual Speckled Studs Trout Tournament out of the Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters (MIFC) location on the Marshwalk.

The tournament has featured an all-release format since its inception, and has continued to grow.

“It’s grown every single year,” said Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions, who stages the tournament with Capt. Jason Burton of Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters.

“The first year was kind of a low key thing, I didn’t really go looking for sponsors or anything. The second year I found a couple sponsors, then I started talking to Englis (Glover, of the Southern Anglers Radio Show) and all those guys, and it’s been blowing up.”

The Captains Meeting is set for the MIFC December 13, 5 p.m., with fishing set to begin the next morning at 7 a.m.

This is where the tournament differs from kill tournaments.

The weigh station at the MIFC opens at 8 a.m., just an hour after the lines-in time.

“We open the weigh station at 8 a.m., and (anglers) can weigh fish in at any time during the day,” said Connolly. “They can catch them and put them in the live well, weigh them in, then run back out and keep fishing. So far we haven’t had any fish die that have been weighed in during the tournament.”

The trout will be released right there at the Marshwalk, which makes a special rule necessary.

“They can’t fish inside any of the entrances to the Marshwalk in the tournament,” said Connolly.

The angler weighing in the heaviest two-fish aggregate wins the tournament, meaning the biggest, most mature spawning females are the fish that are being caught and weighed in. In short, the all-release format saves the biggest spawners of the population, allowing them to survive, which bodes well for the future.

Connolly acknowledges the fishing pressure throughout the year on the small estuary, and feels non-kill tournaments are needed.

“It’s the only way to have a tournament these days with all the people fishing,” said Connolly. “All those people fishing (in a tournament) at the same time in this little inlet killing fish on the same day, it’s just not right.”

After a few years of the majority of trout being with an inch or two of the minimum size limit of 14 inches, the consensus is the grade of fish is much better this fall.

Connolly, who expects over 20 boats and 40-60 anglers to fish in the tournament, thinks the grade of fish will make for a very competitive event.

“The average size fish this year is way bigger than last year for sure,” said Connolly. “I think this year’s going to be a real tight race, cause there’s a lot of big fish around.”

The tournament will also feature categories for black drum and flounder, which will also be released alive. Connolly’s O-Fish-Al Expeditions is sponsoring a Youth Angler category for the largest trout caught by an angler 16 years of age or under.

For more information, visit 4th Annual Speckled Studs Trout Tournament on Facebook.

Redbreast Release

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stocked over 102,000 Redbreast sunfish in the Black River in Williamsburg County in late November.

The fish, supplied from the Orangeburg National Fish Hatchery, averaged 555 fish per pound and should be catchable size a year from now.

The fish were released at Gilland Park in Kingstree into the Black River, which downstream flows into Winyah Bay.

Redbreast sunfish prefer slow-moving streams and rivers and are found throughout South Carolina’s blackwater rivers.