Angler Celebrates 20th Year at Big Rock Tournament in North Carolina

CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. — As the Big Rock Tournament begins tomorrow, seasoned angler Harry Smith is gearing up for his 20th year of competition aboard his boat, Double B. Named after his children, Brooke and Blaike, Smith has always cherished fishing as a family tradition.

“It’s named for my two kids, Brooke and Blaike, and so we’ve been really fishing together as a family for a long time,” said Smith.

Looking ahead, Smith is also preparing for the Big Rock Kids’ Tournament, set to take place in about a month. He recently made a Facebook post offering to take four children out to sea for the event, a gesture that quickly gained traction online.

“The intent there was to make an offer within the community really to an underserved child to have an opportunity to fish offshore,” Smith explained. “I certainly didn’t have those opportunities when I was growing up, so we thought about it, and thought it was a good idea. I had no idea that the post would go viral.”

In addition to this unique opportunity for kids, Smith is committed to giving back in other ways. He announced that all of Double B’s tournament winnings will be donated to charity, specifically the Carteret Community Healthcare Foundation and the Carteret Humane Society.

“We do something a little bit unique here at Double B; we donate all of our winnings to charity. And this year we’ve picked Carteret Community Healthcare Foundation and Carteret Humane Society,” he said.

For Smith, the tournament goes beyond competition. “If you’d have told me when I was a kid I was gonna end up as the owner of a boat, fishing the Big Rock, I’d have been pretty surprised. But here we are; we’ve been doing it a long time, and we really enjoy it,” he added.

Smith’s efforts underscore the importance of community involvement and the joy of sharing experiences with others.