NCCHARTERFISHING-Capt.'s Jeff Cronk and MIke Taylor-Crystal Coast, Swansboro, Emerald Isle

................................IFA Charleston Redfish Tournament - April 5th 2008
TEAM NCCHARTERFISHING (Capt. Jeff Cronk and Capt. Mike Taylor)

1st Place Ranger Cup Winners
3rd Place Main Event 2 fish Aggregate 7.94
3rd Place TWT Aggregate


Capt. Mike Taylor and Myself, Capt. Jeff Cronk would like to thank all of our Sponsors and advertisers for their support as the 2008 Tournament Season kicks off. Thanks goes out to Ron Enslen/Ranger Boats, Les Collins/Collin's Inc., Tim H./Yamaha Outboards, Dan Vinent/Berkley and Purefishing, Chris Ulmer/graphics by Sign Language, John Willard/Dudley's Marina, John S./Stevenson Chevrolet, Jack S./SeaLake Maps, Dion Lynn/Carolina Furniture Co., Tommy/AB Surf Shop.

Well, first of all I apologize if I have missed any calls from clients and friends over this past week. We've been down in Charleston trying to learn waters we've never fished.... and a lot of water they've got! The Charleston area has a lot of 25 to 35in. fish but the smaller slot sized fish (15 - 23in.)can be hard to come by. After several days of locating fish and patterning them... the tournament day arrived and the weather completely switched with a forecast including a Marine Smallcraft Advisory and winds up to 30mph accompanied by approaching Thunderstorms, etc. It wasn't looking good for the anglers. Regardless of the rough, wide open waters and 3ft chop in the rivers, Mike and I made a comfortable and quiet 25mile run in the new 2400 Ranger Bay with its Yamaha 250 fourstroke. We caught our first upper slot redfish of 22 1/2 in. about 9:10am on a flooded grass flat using a Berkley Powerbait Shrimp(Pearl) rigged semi-weedless on a weightless hook. Several days prior, the reds were tailing all over this grass flat and were very easy targets. The wind and the upper end of the flood tide had them hidden but we knew they were there and continued blind casting to less dense patches of grass over the first couple hours of fishing hoping for a couple bites... and that's what we got... two bites one of which was our 22 1/2in fish. The tide then began falling and the flat we were on would soon be out of water, so we moved on to set up for our falling tide holes. Over the next couple hours, with winds at 20 to 30mph, we were fortunate enough to land 2 more slot reds and an 11lb monster. One of those reds was just under 22in. and struck a Berkley Gulp Alive 4in Shrimp fished on a 3/16oz Gamagatsu Jighead. We fished a little longer and knowing we had a strong weight for such a bad weather day, we decided to head back to the dock early to allow for bad weather travel. Thanks to the IFA and all its partners for hosting such an organized event. Everyone we met, both fishermen and IFA staff, were helpful and friendly. The commradery reminds me of our local events here in NC. We look forward to being a part of the IFA redfish tournament coming to SurfCity, NC later this summer. If I can assist anglers with names of good accomodations in the Swansboro area just shoot me an email at jcronk@ec.rr.com or a phone call at 336-558-5697.
-Capt. Jeff Cronk
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