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By Hannable McGarity, NCBBA 2024 Tournament winner

Spent the last couple days out in Avon, NC, surf fishing in the NCBBA Red Drum tournament. This was a bit of a lark – I’d never even surf fished a “heaver” rod before.

As a matter of fact I had never caught a red drum in my life before a few months ago, and that was in a guided trip.

I had the most humble rig you can imagine – a Penn Squadron III rod I got in an Amazon Prime Deal paired with a vintage Abu Garcia Trophy Collection 6500 – that I paid $20 for at a roadside yard sale.

Wednesday in pre-fishing I caught my first ever surf-landed redfish – a nice slot fish. I caught another as nighttime approached.

When midnight separated Wednesday and Thursday, the tournament began, and would run for 60 hours straight.

Thursday around 9:45 p.m., I hooked up and, after what felt like forever, landed a fish of a lifetime. A citation class drum that measured in at 50.75 inches. That placed me in 1st place for the event when the standings updated at midnight.

The following 36 hours were nerve wracking and stressful as I waited to see if it would stand.

And it did.

I am the happy winner of the Longest Drum Overall for the 2024 NCBBA RDT. My winnings included $1,000, as well as a custom rod and reel and other prizes.

So the tale of two reels, one old one that is gonna retire and one new one I won.

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