We kicked off the 2026 fishing season last Sunday at Hyco Lake.
After making the decision to move the tournament from Saturday to Sunday due to listening to a weather man we actually ended up getting the worst weather of the two days anyway.
It’s was COLD and WINDY and several told me that they had never seen Hyco Lake that rough.
Although the weather was tough it didn’t appear to stop some good ones from biting.
25 boats showed up to kick off the 2026 season.
At the end of the day it was the team of Phillip Eakes & Todd Gibson that topped the field with a 5 fish limit weighing 18.05 pounds. That bag earned them the WIN and a extra $900.00 to go with it. This is a new team and this is a team stacked with talent. I asure you this is a team that everybody better take serious this year. BIG CONGRATULATIONS to them on their WIN!
They were followed by another team that has plenty of talent as well and these two young men are just getting their fishing careers started. The team of Ayden Rigsbee and Chase Brown had a 5 fish limit weighing 17.67 pounds anchored by a 6.70 pound fish that also earned them Big Fish for the tournament as well. These two young men carried home a total of $650.00 for the day. Great job guys on a heck of a day fishing!!
NC Marine also provides what we call the Caymas Cash for each tournament of the 5 tournament series.
Each tournament we payout a total of $500.00 to the top two finishing Caymas Boats in the field.
The top finishing Caymas team was the team Glenn & Glenn $300.00
The 2nd highest finishing Caymus team was the team of Gilbert & Gilbert $200.00 Congrats guys!
Congratulations to everyone who placed in the money.
We want to say Thank you to everyone who came out and fished with us last Sunday.
Tournament #2 of the NC MARINE HYCO TRAIL is this coming Saturday 1/24/26. Yall come on out and jump in and fish with a great group of guys and gal’s!
Want to say Thank You to Tournament director Tim Staton and his wife Pam Staton on doing another great job with the tournament.
MOST DEFINITELY want to give a shout out to NC Marine Sales for Sponsoring the trail again this year! If anyone is looking for Caymas bass boat go check them out. They carry a variety of boats from fishing to ski boats. If your looking to get into any kind of water sports give them a try because they have it all.
If you have any questions or want to pre register contact me Kevin Sheppard at 336-264-8416 Thanks!
Top 5.
1st. Eakes & Gibson- 18.05 pounds-$900.00 TWT
2nd. Rigsbee & Brown- 17.67 pounds-$650.00
3rd. Cobb Blackwell- 17.22 pounds-$425.00 TWT
4th. Edward’s & Edward’s- 14.1 pounds-$275 TWT-TB
5th. Brown & Wimbish- 14.1 pounds -$120.00
Big fish.
Rigsbee & Brown- 6.70 pounds- $250.00