2012 Lowcountry Anglers inshore tourney

Brandon Riley with his second-place flounder

Tom Benton took 2nd and 3rd for sheepshead

One of the largest fishing clubs in the Charleston area held their annual inshore fishing tournament, which began with a Captain's Meeting at the Maritime Center complete with a fundraising auction. Categories included trout, flounder, bluefish, sheepshead, black sea bass, spadefish, spanish mackerel and king mackerel. Beautiful weather on Saturday June 23 greeted the anglers who set out to target these fish from the tidal creeks on out into the nearshore fishery. These experienced anglers brought back coolers that were full of harvested fish, since the tournament awards three places per category. While many outstanding sportsmen were involved this day, Lowcountry Outdoors would like to give special recognition to angler Brandon Riley, for releasing his trout alive after the weigh-in at the Maritime Center. It's not easy to keep three nice trout alive in your baitwell all day, and then it's a pain to fill a 48-quart cooler full of seawater and tote it to the weigh station on the pier. But that's what Riley did, and right after getting these fish weighed, he took them back down the dock and released them! Riley knows that despite a mild winter in 2012, trout populations were hit very hard during the previous two winters, and clearly he feels he should continue to steward their comeback. Riley took first place with his 3.96-pound trout, and besides being named the Outstanding Male Angler for this tourney, he deserves a special shout out from other anglers who support conservation of our fisheries by supporting catch and release tactics. Riley also released three bluefish after the weigh-in and he elected to keep three flounder for supper. Other winners included first-place flounder for Clay Lemly with his first-place 4.58-pound flattie, Alex Pennekamp for first-place sheepshead with his 9.34-pound sheepie, Brandon Riley for his first-place 1.52-pound bluefish, Bob Ogden for his first-place 2.22-pound black sea bass, Doug Hoover for his first-place 6.92-pound spadefish, Chris Tierney for his first-place 4.22-pound spanish mackerel and youth angler Andrew Olsen for his first-place 19.8-pound king mackerel.

David Jones with his 3.58-pound trout

Nick Stallsmith, Jeffrey Pierce, Hunter Hames

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