How many times have you been out on the boat fishing for fun, and you catch that fish of a lifetime? After the initial excitement wears off, you think to yourself, why didn’t I catch this fish in a tournament where I could get a little recognition and possibly a prize to go with this “prize” catch? For the past 37 years, the Trident Fishing Tournament has provided the perfect solution for this dilemma.
The Trident Tournament is a free tournament co-sponsored by Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission and area businesses. The tournament runs from March 1-October 31 each year and includes over 45 species of saltwater and freshwater fish. There are 4 different categories for each species: Ultra light tackle -8lb. test line or less, light tackle- over 8lb-20lb(8-14lb for freshwater) test line, general tackle- over 20lb.(14lb for freshwater) test line and a fly rod category. The Trident Tournament also encourages Release of fish, with a separate category, where anglers accumulate points for successfully catching releasing their catch. This was a Tag and Release Category, but DNR no longer needs tags in many different species of fish and prefer only certain fish tagged for study purposes).
The results of the tournament are updated each week and anglers can look and see if their fish is still in the lead. The tournament is easy to enter. Anglers just need to take their fish to one of the many weigh stations located in the tri-county area. Most of the weigh stations are located in area fishing tackle stores.
At the end of each tournament year, there is a banquet (with some great food) and awards are given out to the anglers with the largest fish in each category. There are also some special awards given these awards include offshore and inshore awards for Outstanding lady angler, youth angler, light tackle angler, Fly rod angler, out of the area angler, recreational boat, charter boat, saltwater angler, freshwater angler, ecology awards, and there is even a photo contest with 4 winner