Angler offers fishing opportunity to underserved kids at Big Rock tournament

CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. — As the Big Rock Tournament kicks off tomorrow, seasoned angler Harry Smith is preparing for his 20th year of competition aboard his boat, Double B. Named after his children, Brooke and Blaike, Smith has long 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.

Smith is also looking ahead to 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 you know—make an offer within the community really to an under—you know, served child to have an opportunity to fish offshore,” Smith said. “I certainly didn’t have those opportunities when I was growing up and so—you know, we thought about it, and thought it was a good idea. I had no idea, that the post would go viral.”

In addition to providing 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 is about more than just 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, we really enjoy it,” he said.

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