07/22/2026
June 14, 2026
The Nags Head Surf Fishing Club celebrated its 54th Annual Fritz Boyden Memorial Youth Tournament on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. We had a fantastic turnout with 265 participants from ten states and nearby areas! The states represented were Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Maryland, Illinois, Washington, New York, and Kansas.
For the younger anglers aged 4 to 9, we had 95 participants, with 52 boys and 43 girls joining in the fun.
In the 10 to 16 age group, there were 170 anglers, including 132 boys and 38 girls. Overall, we had 184 male anglers and 81 female anglers. There were 153 local anglers and 112 visitors from out of town.
Avalon Fishing Pier welcomed 77 anglers, while Nags Head Fishing Pier was under construction and couldn’t participate this year.
Jennette’s Fishing Pier had 166 anglers, and Outer Banks Fishing Pier had 22 anglers.
Wednesday was a bit of a slow day due to low tide, but the weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid-80s and a pleasant breeze.
When the kids registered at the piers, they received a free t-shirt and a package of Fish Bites, generously donated by Fish Bites.
After the fishing wrapped up at noon, everyone gathered at Jennette’s Fishing Pier upstairs in the banquet room for the Award Ceremony.
Kelly’s Hospitality Group provided pepperoni pizza (donated by Scot Ledford of Village Pizza in Nags Head), cookies, water, and tea for everyone to enjoy.
At this year’s Awards Ceremony, we paused for a moment of silence to honor one of our beloved female anglers, Chelsea Simonsen, who passed away last October. Chelsea, a 12-year-old from Virginia, had been a frequent participant in this tournament. To remember her, we also displayed a private slideshow of her on one of the TV monitors.
We also took a moment to offer our prayers for Jon Worthington, who is currently facing some challenging times.
To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we performed a pledge of allegiance to the flag.
This year, we presented 50 tackle boxes, each filled with items ranging from a $10 bill to a $100 bill. As a special tribute to America’s 250th anniversary, we included one tackle box with $250, featuring two $100 bills and one $50 bill. In total, each tackle box contained $1150 in cash, plus a $10 gift certificate from local tackle shops.
54th Annual Winners
4 to 9 Age Group
Name Pier. S*x. Fish. Size
1.Malachi Hughes. Jennette’s M. Spanish Mackerel 15
2.Teddy Russell. Jennette’s. M Blue Fish. 15
3.Shawn Groese. Avalon. M. Blue Fish. 15
4.Troy Chittum. Jennette’s M. Flounder. 12 1/2
5.Grayson Edwards. Avalon. M. Croaker. 9 1/4
6.Simon Sharp-Wilson Jennette’s. M. Spot. 5 1/2
Largest Fish Female
Dakota Wharton Jennette’s. F. Blue Fish. 14
Largest Fish Male
1.Teddy Russell. Jennette’s. M. Blue Fish. 15
2.Shawn Groese. Avalon. M. Blue Fish. 15
3.Malachi Hughes. Jennette’s. M. Spanish Mackerel 15
Exemplary Catch
1.Michael Haynes. Jennette’s. M. Cobia. 18 1/2
2.Uriah Brooks. Outer Banks. M. Sand Perch 6 1/2
3.Elaina Wright. Outer Banks. F. Sand Perch. 6 1/2
4.James Hillsman Outer Banks. M Five Croakers on one line
10 to 16 Age Group
Name. Pier. S*x. Fish. Size
1.Zayne Ramson Avalon. M. Red Drum. 29 1/2
2.Cader Nichols. Avalon M. Spanish Mackerel 16 1/2
3.Cameron Marks Jennette’s. M. Blue Fish. 16
4.Finn Brophy. Jennette’s. M. Flounder. 15 1/4
5.Clay Dennis. Avalon. M. Sea Mullet. 14 1/4
6.Bently Perry. Avalon. M. Croaker. 9 1/2
7.Thomas Belcher. Avalon. M. Spot. 9
8.Jackson Kerr. Outer Banks M. Pig Fish. 6
Largest Fish Female
Miranda Simonson. Jennette’s. F. Blue Fish. 14 1/4
Largest Fish Male
Zayne Ramson. Avalon. M. Red Drum. 29 1/2
Exemplary Catch
1.Alex Zitco Jennette’s. M. Cobia. 17 3/4
2.Ju Forbeson. Avalon. M. Sand Perch. 7 1/2
3.Brody Reams. Avalon. M. Sand Perch. 7 1/2
LARGEST FISH OVERALL
Zayne Ramson Avalon. M. Red Drum. 29 1/2
I would like to thank the following organizations and individuals who helped me make this Youth Tournament a very very huge success.
NHSFC and members.
1.Dave Masters Jr. our club President and Master of Ceremonies for our tournament. Also for bringing the water and cookies and coolers to the Awards Ceremony. Putting out posters and getting the gift certificates for the tackle boxes. Getting the t shirts and putting them in the Captain’s tote box. Putting the money and gift certificates in the 50 tackle boxes. Assisting in set up and cleanup. Taking pictures on the Avalon Fishing Pier and the Outer Banks Fishing Pier.
2.Rose Lay for being pier Captain on Jennette’s Pier this year as well as being the Chief Score Keeper. She done a great job helping me get the Captain boots together.
3.Allison Rucker for getting the tournament trophies and also helping register the kids at Jennette’s Fishing Pier.
4.Bobby Halstead for being pier Captain at the Outer Banks Fishing Pier. He and Garrett Lee done an excellent job working on the pier as well as setting up and taking down all the table and chairs at the banquet room.
5.Candi George for getting the $1,000 in cash for the 50 tackle boxes and helping out with the registration of the kids at Jennette’s Fishing Pier.
Rob Crawford for setting up and taking down the table and chairs at the banquet room.
NCBBA
Carol Mowers for being pier Captain at Avalon Fishing Pier and the club’s donation of $1000
N C Sea Hags
Glenda Gaskil for helping out at the Avalon Fishing Pier and the club’s donation of $100
Outer Banks Anglers Club
All the club members that helped out at Jennette’s Fishing Pier and the club’s donation of $1000
Faith Garrett
Helping with putting the Captain books together.
Putting out posters. Taking photos of the kids fishing on Jennette’s Fishing Pier and the Awards Ceremony. She also gave out to the kids some cute little figures of sharks,starfish,dolphins,stingrays ,whales and turtles that she had made. She was a great help in setting up and taking down the tables and chairs in the banquet room.
Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
Their $1500 grant
Dominion Energy N C
Winnie Wade and all of her volunteers from the company and their donation of $500
Fish Bites
Furnished 300 sample packs of fish bites for all the kids during registration
Kelly Hospitality Group
Mike Kelly and his workers who helped serve the pizzas, cookies, water and tea
Village Pizza (Nags Head)
Scot Ledford who donated all the pepperoni pizza at the Awards Ceremony.
Ocean East Bait and Tackle
Jimmy Hillsman who gave us a huge discounts on tackle bags and a rod and reel
T W’s Bait and Tackle ( Kitty Hawk Store )
Justin Stewart who gave us a huge discount on rod and reels
Walmart (Kitty Hawk Store)
Jennifer Beamon for her help in getting us 50 tackle boxes which were donated to our youth tournament
Jennette’s Fishing Pier
Jenny Ash for getting us the banquet room and helping us setting up and taking down the tables and chairs. Also setting up the tv monitors for us
ALL THE PIER OWNERS AND THEIR STAFF WHO MAKE THIS YOUTH TOURNAMENT A HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT BROUGHT THEIR KIDS TO THE YOUTH TOURNAMENT
This years 54th Fritz Boyden Memorial Youth Tournament was a huge success and brought so much excitement and joy to all of the kids as reflected in their eyes and the sound of their laughter which brought many smiles upon their faces. I was really proud and amazed when all the kids stood up and pledged allegiance to the flag and they actually knew all the words, that shows you how great America is , especially our young generation. God Bless America!!!!!!
A lot of memories were made and shared this year that will last a lifetime. All of this could not happen if it was not for the many volunteers and sponsors who contributed so much to this youth tournament making it the Greatest Youth Fishing Tournament on the East Coast
Looking forward to next year’s tournament on Wednesday June 9, 2027.
Youth Tournament Director
Tony S. Garrett Sr
