Outdoors column: Duo’s plan to fish farther out results in IFA Redfish Tour victory

Dodd Wood and Glenn Finley like to get away from the crowd when fishing in IFA Redfish Tour tournaments such as Saturday’s event out of the Carroll A. Campbell Marine Complex in Georgetown.

The duo headed down the Intracoastal Waterway to fish several spots in the Bulls Bay vicinity well south of Georgetown.

The lengthy run was worth it as Wood and Finley weighed in a two-redfish limit of 8.7 pounds to earn their fifth victory on the tour in the last seven years over a field of 82 boats. Each two-man team can weigh in two redfish within South Carolina’s slot limit of 15 to 23 inches in a Redfish Tour event.

“We try to get away from all the other competitors, so we ran about 50 miles before it finally thinned out,” Wood said. “If you’ve got several competitors fishing the same area, (the fish) get (spooked).’’

The tournament was the second and final event in the Redfish Tour’s Atlantic Division with both held in Georgetown.

The Florida team of JD Nobles and Kyle Craven won the first Atlantic Division tournament in May, and nearly made it a repeat. Nobles and Craven’s two-fish weight was 8.49 pounds, only .21 pounds off the pace set by Wood and Finley.

Dodd and Wood took home a total of $30,763 in winnings while Nobles and Craven earned $4,555.

Local anglers had a good showing in the tournament, too.

The Horry County duo of Rigoberto Lomeli of Longs and Michael Rouhselang of Conway finished third with a two-fish weight of 8.31 pounds. Lomeli and Rouhselang earned $1,987.

The local father-son fishing team of Billy and Will Cook, from Georgetown, weighed in the biggest redfish, a 5.31-pounder but weren’t able to weigh in another keeper and finished in 17th place.

Anglers can only use artificial baits in Redfish Tour events and the winners used 3-inch white Berkeley Gulp! Shrimp under popping corks to catch their fish.

“The Gulp! Shrimp on a popping cork was the only thing we actually landed fish on,” Wood said.

Wood and Finley took up saltwater fishing over 15 years ago and have become familiar with the waters from Charleston to Georgetown, despite living a four-plus-hour drive from the coast in the Upstate.

“I had never heard of a redfish until Glenn asked me if I wanted to try to catch one,” Wood said with a laugh.

Since then, the duo has become very adept at catching redfish including the last seven years on the Redfish Tour.

“We’ve fished from North Carolina to Texas, and Louisiana has far and away the best fishery (for redfish),” Wood said. “But the best treatment is at Georgetown. They welcome you, they’re cordial and they want you there. We’re treated as well in Georgetown as anywhere we travel.’’

The Redfish Tour has committed to return to Georgetown for the 2016 season.

Kayak Division

Dave Jaskiewicz of Wando had a total measurement of 48.75 inches to win the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour event on Sunday in Georgetown.

Jaskiewicz caught a 30.25-inch redfish and an 18.5-inch trout for the Atlantic Division win, good for $3,450 in earnings. Anglers in the kayak events take photos to verify their catches before releasing the fish. Anglers can submit photos of one redfish and one trout for a total length.

Jaskiewicz also won the kayak tour’s Atlantic Division stop at Georgetown in May.

“I knew coming in that I had a good amount,” Jaskiewicz said. “However, I didn’t think it would be good enough to get another win here in Georgetown.”

Jaskiewicz used a Zara Spook to catch his fish.

“I could have caught top-water fish all day,” Jaskiewicz said. “The conditions were really helpful for throwing this pattern at the fish the entire day.”

John Chapman of Jacksonville, Fla., finished second with a 28.5-inch redfish and a 15-inch trout.

A total of 32 anglers fished in the kayak tour event.

Spanish Derby

The father-daughter team of Patrick Smith and 14-year-old Caroline Smith of Wilmington, N.C., weighed in a 3.77-pound Spanish mackerel to win the 5th annual Sea Hunt Boats/Marine Service Center Spanish Mackerel Derby Saturday out of Murrells Inlet.

The Smiths have fished the tournament each year since it began in 2011, and came out on top this time over the 61-boat field to claim over $7,000.

“That’s pretty good for a 3.77-pound Spanish, isn’t it?” Patrick Smith said. “It’s been a great tournament for the families. Caroline has fished it since she was nine. We love it.”

With a northeast wind blowing, the Smiths headed north up the beach out of Murrells Inlet to the Springmaid Beach area.

“We got that northeast wind on our tail and fished it all the way back to the inlet,” Patrick Smith said.

The duo used No. 1 Clark spoons on trolling leads to catch their fish.

“The first school of bait we saw, we stayed right there and ended up catching that one at about 9 a.m.,” Patrick Smith. “We were real excited when we caught that fish.”

Caroline Smith was the angler on the eventual winning fish.

“We had no idea that fish would win it,” Patrick Smith said. “We caught another dozen fish – we had a pretty decent day considering a lot of people didn’t catch anything.”

Rounding out the top five finishers were Ambush with a 3.53-pound Spanish, Reel Hookin (3.25), Outcast (2.94) and Grand Chillin (2.74).

Tournament coordinator Robert Thompson noted the Spanish Derby, based out of the Mullet Hut on the Murrells Inlet Marshwalk, will be held a week before Labor Day weekend in years to come.

SALTT registration

The Student Angler League Tournament Trail (SALTT), which is open to middle and high school students, is expanding to include bass fishing during the upcoming season.

Anglers will be able to choose whether to target red drum or bass during the SALTT events which are scheduled for Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Feb. 20, 2016 and March 5, 2016. All events will be held out of the Carroll A. Campbell Marine Complex in Georgetown.

There will be a registration event for the trail on Tuesday at Conway High School from 6-7 p.m. Students can find more information on the trail and can print registration forms at www.salttfishing.com.

A SALTT fund-raising event will be held Sept. 12 in Murrells Inlet in the form of a flounder tournament. Registration forms for the tournament can also be found on the website. A captains meeting will be held at Murrells Inlet Outpost on Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Outdoors column: Duo’s plan to fish farther out results in IFA Redfish Tour victory."