The North Carolina East Fishers of Men Firefly Weeknight Series held their seventh tournament of the 2025 season on the Perquimans River, Friday, August 29, 2025. The weather was perfect with Bluebird skies and temperatures in the low 80’s. There was a light west northwest breeze that provided for comfortable evening. Eleven teams participated in the tournament and all the teams attended the pre-tournament meeting.

The meeting was started with a prayer given by Gary Sawyer, who is one of our fishermen. Gary also provided our message titled “Encouragement”. He mentioned scripture verses from 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 and Philemon 7, which talks about the how Jesus Christ who loved us and has given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, encourages our hearts and strengthen us in every good work and word. Aside from God, no relationship is more vital to you as a man and it starts with loving others the way Jesus loved.  Gary ended by telling us that we need this regular reminder that Gods word is what steers us away from pitfalls that can devastate our lives. Gary ended with a prayer.

After reviewing the rules highlights, our fishermen set out on the Perquimans River in search of the winning catch. The fishermen found bite to be slow with a number of short fish being caught however there are always a few fishermen that figure out the bite.  There were 25 fish weighed for a total 76.34 pounds. 24 of the fish were released back into the water for 96% release. The average number of fish per team was 2, average weight per team 6.94 pounds and the average fish weight was 3.05 pounds.

When the teams came to the scale, Kirk and Trent Nixon, brought a five fish limit to the scales that weighed 16.29 pounds however they had one dead fish which gave them a .25lb penalty. Their final weight was 16.04 pounds with a nice 5.83 pound kicker fish to secure first place for the tournament. They took home $315.00 dollars for first place.  Second place went to the team of Justin Chamblee and Josh Powell with a five fish limit that weighed 15.71 pounds which included the Big Fish for the tournament that weighed 5.84 pounds. They took home $70.00 dollars for second place and $55.00 dollars for the Big Fish. Third place went to Alan Meads and Gerald Murray with five fish that weighed 14.20 pounds. There were only two places paid due to the number of boats entered in the tournament.

We would like to thank all those who helped with making this tournament a success, especially Gary Sawyer, Eric Ball and Josh Powell as well as all our fishermen who helped with set-up and take down of the scales and equipment.   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	30981	Kirk Nixon trent nixon	5	5.83	16.29	0.25	16.04	200
2	32787	Justin Chamblee Josh Powell	5	5.84	15.71	0	15.71	199
3	32786	Alan Meads Gerald Murray	5	0	14.2	0	14.2	198
4	35650	Craig Simmons Gill Burke	3	0	9.77	0	9.77	197
5	30973	Chris Meads Zachery Meads	2	0	6.74	0	6.74	196
6	30954	Patrick Seigh Isaiah Seigh	2	0	5.65	0	5.65	195
7	32785	Gary Sawyer Eric Ball	2	0	4.35	0	4.35	194
8	30953	Kenneth Wallace Jason Samson	1	3.88	3.88	0	3.88	193
9	30952	Jim Dick Greg Dick	0	0	0	0	0	192
10	31152	Tommy Houlroyd Darren Saunders	0	0	0	0	0	192
11	35651	Mark Moretz	0	0	0	0	0	192
First Place awarded to Kirk and Trent Nixon weighing a five fish limit that weighed 16.04pounds that included a nice 5.83 pound kicker fish. Second Place awarded to Justin Chamblee and Josh Powell with a five fish limit that weighed 15.71 pounds. They also had the big fish for the tournament that weighed 5.84 pounds. Third place honors went to Alan Meads and Gerald Murray with a five fish limit that weighed 14.20 pounds. Craig Simmons and Gill Burke show 3 nice fish that weighed 9.77 pounds