NC Wahoo Tournament Series | X Rayted Fishing

Well, it's official. We finally have a legit Wahoo tournament series in NC. We launched our first official tournament (testing the waters and putting feelers out for any sign of interest) during our September tournament, The Harvest Of Hoos and we were pleasantly surprised.

Below: Our flyer for the Harvest Of Hoos designed/put together by Capt. Slick

We put the tournament together and went public with it just a few weeks before its scheduled date/s. Wouldn't you know that a Hurricane was brewing in the gulf and threatened to keep us on the hill. Being completely consumed with wahoo fishing and staying vigilant, we decided to make it a 1 of 2 day, Captain's choice, tournament. This opened the doors for more boats, many of which being center consoles, which had their choice of fishing day being either Saturday 9/28 or Sunday 9/29. Saturday's forecast was pretty sloppy but we still had a few boats that braved the seas and went after the hoos.

Our original hope was that we had 20 boats enter so that we could have a substantial payout. By the end of registration closing time on Friday, we had a total of 31 boats entered! This was a true blessing and an obvious sign that we definitely needed a good wahoo tournament around here. Of the 31 boats that fished, we ended up with 30 of them fishing, one of which was accidentally double registered under two different team names.

Above: Our Captains' Meeting set up after the rain

Above: Vendor stations provided by Gore's Offshore, 7 Seas Premium Tackle, Shortrigger Tackle, American Custom Tackle and Strike Point Tackle.

Below: Jason Gore from Gore's Offshore seen counting some of that paper that everybody is hoping to take home.

Above: Friday night registration/Captains' meeting and rules reading

Saturday we had 5 boats fishing the less desirable conditions:

38 Special

April Mae

Beagle

Bootlegger

Marked Off

Sunday was the obvious day for the fair-er weather crews as we had 25 boats fishing:

Ava D

Bedrock

Bow Movement

Carolina Steppin/X Rayted

Catch 32

Double Shot

El Azul

Gray Mist

Hudda Hoo

Kathy K

Local Hooker

Mommy Shark

Moondancer

No Degree

Play It By Ear

Post Call

Reef Girl

Reel Developers

Rolling Reels

Say When

Smoke Show

Sunday Funday

Teaser

Tobacco Dog

Wired Assets

Below: A few photos from weigh in at Chasin Tails Outdoors in Atlantic Beach, NC

Our awards banquet/ceremony was held at Full Moon Oyster Bar located on the Causeway and was the perfect place. We took possession of the Full Moon Freak (first fish over 50lbs) over Travis and he prepared it for our dinner. We had wahoo bites, wahoo sushimi, grilled wahoo, blackened wahoo, oysters over ice, shrimp cocktail and much more. Randy and Travis were nice enought to reserve the entire restaurant with staff to fully cater to our crowd.

Our placeholders/winners are as follows:

Ava D - Total Winnings: $21,975

1st Main - $11,975

1st Morgue Master TWT - $2,000

1st Grave Digger TWT - $2,500

Coffin Calcutta Big Fish TWT - $4,000

Full Moon Freak - $1,500

Wired Assets - Total Winnings: $6,875

2nd Main - $4,375

2nd Grave Digger TWT - $2,500

Reel Developers - Total Winnings: $3,550

3rd Main - $1,550

2nd Morgue Master TWT - $2,000

Below: photos from Full Moon Oyster Bar Awards Banquet:

In conclusion, I will say that though it took a lot of energy, help from our friends, an integral committee and most of all, patience, it was all worth it. We can't wait until spring so that we can do it all over again.

The 2025 tournament series will be comprised of 3 tournaments. A spring leg down south, a spring leg up here around AB/MHC and then a final championship/invitational in the fall up here around AB/MHC. Be sure to like/follow the tournament series on FB/IG at;

FB: @NC Wahoo Tournament Series

IG: @nc_wahoo_tournament_series

Thank you so much to everyone. From our sponsors, contestants, committee members & their significant others, our venues, volunteers and so forth. We owe you the utmost thanks and appreciation.

Full Moon Oyster Bar

Gore's Offshore

Chasin Tails Outdoors

CFS Truck & Diesel

X Rayted Fishing Team

SatFish

C&S Marine Electrical

Navis Yacht Group

VI Lures

Grade A Construction

Shortrigger Tackle

Core Sound Custom Rods