The North Carolina East Fishers of Men Firefly Weeknight Series held their second tournament of the 2025 season on the Pasquotank River Friday, March 28, 2025. The weather was sunny and mild with temperatures in the upper 60’s with a stiff breeze out of the west south west at 10-20 mph gusting to 30+ mph.  10 teams participated in the tournament and all teams attended the pre-tournament meeting.

The meeting was started with a prayer and our Chaplain Kenneth Wallace providing the message. The message was titled “The Painting Checkmate: Sermon on Victory”. Kenneth started by talking about the game of chess and the final move signaling the end of the game. The painting “Checkmate” by Freidrich Retzsch depicts a chess game where a man is in despair, seemingly checkmated by Satan but one day when tour group was viewing the painting, A man by the name of Paul Morphy, spots a winning move that the king has one more move that will change the whole game! The King has one more move!!

Kenneth continued with the example of when we find ourselves engaged in battle between good and evil, light and darkness or faith and doubt, God, the Master Artist and Chessmaster, has already painted our checkmate in Jesus Christ.

He discussed the Battlefield of the Mind and Soul referring to Ephesians 6 vs 12. Just like in a chess, the battles we face are strategic and intentional. The enemy seeks to trap us in a cycle of fear, sin and despair but God gives us the Armor to withstand these attacks. The key is to trust the brushstrokes of the artist “GOD” even when we do not yet see the full canvas. Next Kenneth discussed Jesus “Checkmate on the Cross”. On Calvary, Satan thought he had won. Jesus was betrayed, beaten, bloodied and broken, and nailed to the cross. Darkness fell, and it seemed as though evil had checkmated our savior. But in the greatest twist of strategy, Jesus turned the game around! His resurrection was the ultimate checkmate- defeating sin, death and the grave. He refers to Colossians   2 vs 15 where what seems like defeat was actually the final victorious move in God’s grand design. When we feel overwhelmed by life’s struggles, we must remember the game has already been WON! Finally Kenneth discussed “Playing with Confidence in God’s Strategy”. Knowing that Christ has already secured the victory, we must live with confidence. The enemy may still make moves, attempting to deceive and discourage, but he has already lost. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory! Referring to Psalms 3 vs 5-6, Kenneth tells us just as a chess master sees many moves ahead, God knows the end from the beginning. Our job is to trust His hand as He paints the masterpiece of our lives. Kenneth concludes by telling us; today, let us walk in faith, knowing that the victory is secure in Christ Jesus. The final move has been made. The game is won and our lives are a canvas upon which God is still painting His glory.

After reviewing the rules highlights, our fishermen set out on the River in search of the winning catch. The fishermen found the bite to be good with windy conditions and the fish in the pre-spawn period.  There were 38 fish weighed for a total 95.1 pounds. 38 of the fish were released back into the water for 100% release. The average number of fish per team was 3, average weight per team 9.52 pounds and the average fish weight was 2.50 pounds. When the teams came to the scale, Justin Chamblee, and his partner Josh Powell had the winning 5 fish bag that weighed 14.13 pounds with a 7.18 pound kicker fish which was also the Big Fish for the tournament. The first place prize was $285 dollars and Big Fish paid $50.00 dollars. Second place was awarded to Craig Simmons and Gil Burke who brought four fish to the scales that weighed 12.19 pounds with a nice 6.52 pound lunker. They took $65.00 dollars home for their efforts. Third place was Kirk and Trent Nixon who brought 5 fish to the scales that weighed 11.50 pounds with a 6.57 pound kicker. There were only two places paid due to the number of boats.

We would like to thank all those who helped with making this tournament a success, especially Kenneth Wallace, Gary Sawyer, and Eric Ball, Isaiah Seigh as well as all our fishermen. We also would like to thank all the Fishers of Men sponsors; Bass Cat, Mercury, Realtree Fishing, Power Pole, Firefly Outdoor and Marine, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Spiderwire, TH Marine and X2Power.

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	32787	Justin Chamblee Josh Powell	5	7.18	14.13	0	14.13	200
2	35650	Craig Simmons Gill Burke	4	6.52	12.19	0	12.19	199
3	30981	Kirk Nixon trent nixon	3	6.57	11.5	0	11.5	198
4	30973	Chris Meads Zachery Meads	5	4.42	11.32	0	11.32	197
5	30953	Kenneth Wallace Jason Samson	5	0	11.16	0	11.16	196
6	32786	Alan Meads Gerald Murray	5	4.43	10.52	0	10.52	195
7	32788	Jerry Murray Ron Harris	5	0	9.42	0	9.42	194
8	32785	Gary Sawyer Eric Ball	3	4.39	7.2	0	7.2	193
9	30954	Patrick Seigh Isaiah Seigh	2	0	4.72	0	4.72	192
10	35651	Mark Moretz	1	3.02	3.02	0	3.02	191
Justin Chamblee holds the Big Fish for the tournament that weighed 7.18 pounds. Justin and his partner Josh Powell had the winning weight of 14.13 pounds Kenneth Wallace and his partner Jason Sampson shows a decent 5 fish limit that weighed 11.16 pounds Mark Moretz holds a nice 3.02 pound Pasquotank River fish. Trent Nixon shows his teams big fish that weighed 6.57 pounds along wit another nice Pasquotank River fish.