Category: News

Morehead City, N.C. – The Big Rock Keli Wagner Lady Angler Tournament (KWLA) is proud to
announce Truist as the new major sponsor of the twenty-third annual event, to be held on June
5 – June 6, 2020.

In 2019, SunTrust and BB&T combined in a historic merger of equals to create Truist, the sixth
largest U.S. bank holding company. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is a
purpose-driven company dedicated to building a better future for its clients, teammates and
communities. With 275 years of combined BB&T and SunTrust history, Truist is one of the
nation's largest financial services holding companies and serves approximately 10 million
households with leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Truist as Major Sponsor of the KWLA Tournament!” ,
said Madison Maxwell, KWLA Tournament Director. “We’re incredibly grateful for their support
and together we look forward to building an even bigger and better KWLA Tournament for
2020.”

The KWLA Tournament is a one-day billfish release tournament with lines dropping in at 8 a.m.
on Saturday, June 6th, 2020 and fishing ending at 2 p.m. The lady angler reception held on
Friday, June 5th, 2020 will serve as the official kick-off to the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament
and its 62nd Annual event.

The Big Rock KWLA Tournament is devoted to raising charitable dollars to help improve the
comfort and care of patients receiving treatment at Carteret Health Care’s Cancer Center. To
date, KWLA has donated a total of $374,415.50 towards the improvement of patient comfort
and care.

Last year, the tournament produced a record purse of $177,925 and made a $25,000
donation to the Carteret Health Care Cancer Center.

Students and staff of Morehead City Middle School will start 2020 with a new gym floor thanks to a grant from the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament Charitable Giving Foundation and private donations. The Big Rock joined MCMS on January 9th during a home basketball game to celebrate the completion of their new gym floor & to recognize donors for their contributions to the project.

The total cost of the floor is $90,000. MCMS raised $36,000 through private donations & the Big Rock matched their amount with a $54,000 grant. “We are extremely grateful to the Big Rock as well as all of our private donors for helping our students and community to have a much-needed update to our facility that is safe and comparable to other gyms in our county,” MCMS Principal Adam Olander said Saturday.

The school is also hoping to raise an additional $30,000 for new paint in the gym, updated lighting, new baseline wall mats, a new scorers table and added chairs for more seating. Mr. Olander said the old gym floor was made of a concrete tile substance that had been in place for more than 20 years.

Mr. Olander said the school has included the gym project in previous county capital requests, but it remained unfunded. This inspired him to apply for a Big Rock grant and begin a fundraising effort. He pointed out that the gym “is the centerpiece of the entire school,” and is used daily by students. It’s used for athletic events, band concerts, awards ceremonies and community events.

“We’ve spent the last 3 weeks doing school tours of every school in our county. Without fail, it seems that the Big Rock has had a hand in some kind of project in every school we have visited” explained Clark Jenkins, Carteret County Board of Education Vice Chair. “I personally had no idea how much of an investment The Big Rock has put into our schools and I would like to thank you and your board of directors from the bottom of my heart. What the Big Rock does makes a huge difference for our kids.”

(Information provided by Carteret County News-Times article.)

Happy New Year and welcome to 2020! We are eager to showcase Big Rock Production’s FIRST video & introduce our FIRST female President of the Big Rock Tournament, Joy Bell!

WATCH NOW! Joy Bell has served on the Board of Directors since 1993. She is an avid fisherman, hunter, and winner of the 2017 Keli Wagner Lady Angler Tournament – & her legacy starts TODAY! Stay tuned to learn more about Joy & her BIG plans for 2020!
Video produced by TriWork Studios

Wait, there’s more!  2019 might have been our BEST year yet, and we’re ready to share exclusive interviews, clips, & insight behind ALL the record-breaking moments. Along with our live streaming platform, Big Rock TV, we now bring you Big Rock Productions- a series of videos created to give you an inside look at the past, present, and future of the Big Rock Tournament! 

STAY TUNED for never-before-seen interviews & tournament footage, PLUS watch local charitable projects come full-circle! The series kicks off with our first reel above, featuring the first female Big Rock President. We are looking forward to sharing MORE with you in 2020!

Don’t panic, there’s still two days left for last minute shopping! If you’re local, shop with us this season at Big Rock headquarters. We’re OPEN Monday – Saturday from 10AM to 5PM. Our holiday hours are as follows:

Christmas Eve – OPEN, 10AM to 3PM
Christmas Day – CLOSED
New Years Eve – OPEN, 10AM to 5PM
New Years Day – OPEN, 10AM to 5PM

In need of a last minute… Stocking stuffer? Teacher gift? Secret Santa present?

Have no fear, Big Rock gift cards are HERE! Enjoy a stress-free holiday & grab a Big Rock gift card for ANYONE on your list! Big Rock gift cards are now available for purchase valid on all merchandise, in-store only. To purchase, give us a call at (252) 247-3575 or visit us in-store, today!

 

Big Rock is your ONE STOP shop for everyone on the list! Here’s a few of our favorite things to get you started. + PLUS, introducing Big Rock gift cards- now available for in store purchases!

Visit the links below to shop our TOP picks!

Men’s Vintage Micro Striped Polo (4 colors)  –  Men’s NC Streak Belt  –  Assorted Buckets  –  62nd Annual Long Sleeve Tee  –  Cut Through Patch Camo Trucker Hat  –  62nd Annual Hoodie

Shop Big Rock online or in-store today. Visit www.thebigrockstore.com to order online, now! Don’t forget, December 13th is the LAST day for standard holiday delivery!

On Friday, November 1st the Division of Marine Fisheries hosted the 2019 NC Governor’s Cup Awards Banquet in downtown Morehead City.

The North Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Conservation Series is an annual sportfishing series operating cooperatively with eight major billfish tournaments held along the Tar Heel coast. The Series promotes conservation, protection, and preservation of our marine resources.

Participating boats are awarded Series points for billfish caught & released and for billfish taken which met tournament minimum size requirements. Penalty points are assessed for undersized fish taken, the emphasis being on fish released. This year, the field of 43 participating boats racked up 134 qualifying billfish: 57 blue marlin- 46 of which were released, 20 white marlin releases & 57 sailfish releases totaling a 91.79% release rate!

Trophies are awarded to boats with the most points in both the “Private Boat” and “Charter Boat” categories. Our 61st Annual Big Rock (record-breaking) WINNER, TOP DOG, won 1st Place overall with 3984.4 total points! THE GENERAL took home 2nd place overall and 1st place in the charter boat category with 3664.5 points.

Individual awards are given to the outstanding junior boy, outstanding junior girl and lady anglers. Brown Gaddy (THE GENERAL) and Banks Downing (FIN PLANNER)  were the 2019 outstanding junior boy anglers & Landt Smith (THE GENERAL) and Brooke Smith (DOUBLE B) won outstanding 2019 lady angler awards! Brooke Smith was the angler of a 497.6 lb. blue marlin caught aboard DOUBLE B, a 54′ Jarrett Bay, during this year’s Big Rock Tournament! (There were no junior girl anglers for 2019)

In addition, trophies are awarded for the largest blue marlin, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and dolphin. To no surprise, TOP DOG’s 914 lb. (record-breaking!) catch won them largest blue marlin & PIRACY followed in 2nd with a 655.9 lb. blue caught during the Hatteras Village Tournament. JOB SITE’s 53.7 lb. dolphin caught during the Big Rock Tournament held on through the summer for largest dolphin! Our very own Will Hanley, Jr. Angler & son of 2017 Big Rock winner Matt Hanley, won largest wahoo with his 56.5 lb. catch during this year’s tournament! Big Rock participant, J&B, claimed largest tuna.

Congratulations to the 2019 NC Governor’s Cup winners & to ALL on an awesome season! We thank you for your continued support to our tournament & this sport- looking forward to next year!

To view the 2019 NC Governor’s Cup final standings, click here.

The Big Rock Board of Director’s announced today a 2019 donation of $25,000.00 to the Carteret Health Care Cancer Center. Support from the Big Rock Keli Wagner tournament continues to improve the quality of life for cancer patients receiving services such as medical oncology, chemotherapy and hematology. Patients can spend more than 6 hours per visit to the clinic receiving treatments. All funds donated to the clinic are used solely for patients comfort and care.

The KWLA Tournament is named in honor of the late wife of Big Rock Board Member, Casey Wagner. Keli Wagner was a patient at the Carteret Health Care Cancer Center and played an instrumental role in forming the partnership between the two organizations. Keli Wagner lost her battle with cancer in 2008.

The continued support of tournament sponsors & participants has allowed the Big Rock Lady Angler Tournament to donate more than $374,000 to women-specific worthy charities since it began 1998. To date, $328,916 has been donated to the Carteret Health Care Cancer Center. Since the partnership began, the center has used the money for replacement robes, patient-specific pillows, handmade socks & aromatherapy. One of the most appreciated & attended programs supported by KWLA’s charitable donation is the Art as Therapy Program at Blue Sail Gallery. Over 160 people, including both patients & caregivers, have participated in the program this year.

The KWLA Tournament is passionate and committed to improving patient comfort & care at CHC’s Cancer Center with hopes to raise the spirit of those undergoing treatments

 

We were pleased to welcome Ocracoke School children affected by Hurricane Dorian to town for a few days of fun last weekend. In partnership with Carteret County Schools, students had an action packed weekend including an aquarium visit, putt-putt, and much more! Big Rock was proud to sponsor the shopping portion of their trip with a $18,400 charitable donation. These funds allowed students to purchase essentials lost during the storm- socks, underwear, book bags, etc.. We would like to thank our Major Sponsor, Jarrett Bay Boatworks, along with many others who continue to support Big Rock year after year.

CARTERET NEWS TIMES Press Release:

Thanks to support from area restaurants, businesses, the Big Rock Foundation and other groups, students got an Ocracoke Island Students’ Weekend they won’t soon forget. Plus, everything was sponsored and free to students and their chaperones.

The group started off Friday afternoon enjoying various activities at ECHS, from art and music activities to basketball and games. They also attended a soccer match and played laser tag.

Saturday and Sunday, students toured county sites, from the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort to the N.C. Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. They also visited several amusement attractions, enjoying bumper cars, miniature golf, movies and more. Area restaurants donated meals, and the Big Rock Foundation donated $18,400 to buy each student items they may have lost to the storm, including shoes and school supplies.

The students stayed at Camp Albemarle near Newport for the weekend.

Karen Jordan, a senior at Ocracoke School, a pre-kindergarten through grade 12 institution, said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the county.

“I am very grateful,” she said. “It’s kind of incredible how everyone here banded together to donate this weekend to us kids.”

Ocracoke junior Dylan Esham agreed.

“I am really grateful that everyone has gone out of their way to help us,” he said.

Ocracoke middle school science teacher Patricia Piland, too, said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the county.

She said the school remains closed and officials are identifying other buildings on the island that can serve as classrooms for students. School buildings were flooded when Dorian came through, leaving 10-12 inches of water and mud in much of the school.

“They’ll be separated into groups in different buildings. I’m not sure when they will go back to school. I know they were trying to get them started back next week, but I’m not sure if that will happen,” she said.

“What this county has done for these students is incredible. These students love each other and have missed being together. Just being able to play together and see each other is a big deal. Their streets are lined right now with people’s lives (discarded belongings) and just getting a few days away from that means a lot for them. They needed a weekend away. It’s also helping the parents,” she continued.

Tommy Bennett with the Big Rock Foundation said his organization, too, was glad to be able to help the students.

“The Big Rock Foundation is dedicated to helping the community become a better place. It just seemed a natural extension of our mission to meet this need,” Mr. Bennett said. “There are so many ties here to the people of Ocracoke.”

Top Dog’s Weigh-In Video by Liquid Video Productions.