Ryan White, owner of Hatteras Jack’s Tackle Shop in Rodanthe, is an avid fan of a form of fishing that’s everywhere on Hatteras island, but seldom enjoyed by local and visiting fishermen alike.
What’s his advice? Go west.
“Fishermen need to check out the sound,” says Ryan. “Obviously, this whole area [Hatteras Island] is just tremendous for fishing, but the tip of the iceberg has only been scratched with what’s out here and what’s around.”
To raise awareness and get more visitors dropping lines on the soundside, Ryan has launched the First Annual Hatteras Jack’s Inshore Slam Fishing Tournament to be held on August 1st-2nd.
The tournament is open to 200 participants, and sign up is available at Hatteras Jacks or online at www.hatterasjacks.com. The cost to sign up is $100 per person, and everyone is welcome, whether they are casting from the shore, wading, fishing from a kayak, or from a boat. “There’s a lot of fun to be had in the backwater,” says Ryan. “It’s pretty much something everyone can take advantage of, whether you’re in a kayak, a john boat, or a commercial charter boat. It’s a very diverse place to fish.”
Ryan has made a name for himself for his long proprietorship of Hatteras Jack’s, his success in casting tournaments up and down the East Coast, and his custom built reels. In January, he decided to parlay the shop’s good reputation into a sound fishing tournament, and months of hard work tying everything together and generating sponsors followed. “It’s turning out to be quite a project. Finally, everything is just now starting to come together.”
Once the tournament begins, sign in is from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. at the Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo community center, and lines can be in the water from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. There will be a weigh in at the end of each evening at 7:00 p.m., also at the community center.
While there are plenty of fish in the sound, the tournament is concentrating on four species: speckled trout, bluefish, flounder and puppy drum. The largest of each fish will get a $1,000 prize, and the fisherman who gets the largest total weight of a grand slam, or one of each four fish, will win $2,000.
“There are the four types the tournament is focused on,” says Ryan, “but there’s also a ton of other fish, for every kind of fishermen. For example, sport fishermen can get out into the [sound] water and catch a Hound fish, or a poor man’s marlin. They’re a gar and great fighters, which makes them lots of fun and quite a challenge.”
A few entries have been filed so far, but Ryan is hoping that as the tournament date draws closer, more fishermen will find out about the tournament, and catch on that there’s plenty of fun to be had on both coasts of Hatteras Island.
“I am extremely excited about it,” says Ryan. “I’m doing this because I want to show everyone how good the sound fishing is during the summertime. Once they figure it out, I know they’ll keep coming back.”

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