Cody Knight’s little brother was on the fence about fishing in this year’s U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament.
Although his brother was getting married a week later, Knight convinced him to make the trip from Fayetteville to Southport to take part.
“I told him, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to say you won the U.S. Open and got married in the same week?’” Knight recalled with a chuckle.
His brother reminded him of that pep talk after they accepted the trophy and red jackets at the ceremony at Rusty Hooks Dockside Grill on Oct. 3. Knight and his team Freek-A-Leek, which included his father and brothers, were named the 2026 U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament Champions.
For Knight, the victory was a journey — one started by his family decades ago. His dad began
fishing in the U.S. Open around 1995, and Knight was born in 1996. From the time he was old enough to go out in a boat on the ocean, he was alongside his father.
“I don’t think we’ve missed a year,” Knight recalled.
One of those years, when Knight was about 10 years old, he hooked a 15-pound king mackerel, and he too became hooked on fishing. In addition to the U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, Knight has fished in several other tournaments over the years and even landed in the top five several times, but he still wanted that red jacket.
On Saturday, Knight was fishing around several other boats and was considering moving to a different location. But something told him to stay put.
The team decided to switch its bait, and as they were reeling one of the lines in, something hit.
“That fish was headed to the next area code,” Knight said. “He didn’t want anything to do with us.”
Then the fish did something Knight had never seen; it swam back toward the boat and set up camp underneath it. After Knight moved the boat multiple times to get a better position, they finally reeled the fish up and got it into the boat.
“Then we started hootin’ and hollerin’,” Knight recalled.
In that moment, they knew they had something special. Knight tried to play it cool as he made the drive back to the dock, but that was hard. While he wouldn’t say it out loud, he thought he had a winner.
At the scales, the king mackerel weighed in at 44.55 pounds, topping the leaderboard.
As the winners of the 2026 U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, Knight and team Freek-A-Leek took home $162,933, breaking a record for the most money won by a single team in the tournament.
Clint Piner and Side Work came in second place with a 38.5-pound king mackerel, taking home $94,855. Rod Bierstedt and Pura Vida took third place with a 38-pound king, garnering $28,363 in prize money. Trae Blanton and Seaside Collision took fourth place with a 37.6-pound king mackerel, winning $35,435.
There were also several other awards, including High Roller, Lady Angler, Single Primary Engine and Super High Roller, and special weight and sponsor prizes.
This year’s tournament saw 556 boats participate, just shy of the previous record of 565 set in 2024. Because of the strong turnout, the tournament board awarded an additional $15,400 in prize money, paying out a total of more than $428,000 in cash.
With this tournament in the history books, anglers are already making plans to return to Southport for the 49th annual U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, which is scheduled for Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2027.
Knight plans to be there. It’s part of a family tradition that started with his dad and his great-uncle. He said the win belongs to all of them because each generation has shared the knowledge gained during each tournament and passed it down to the next.
He looks forward to seeing his team’s name in the tournament book each year, listed among the past winners.
“Winning any tournament is cool, but to win the biggest one of them all, that’s special,” he said.
Renee Spencer is the community engagement editor at the StarNews. Reach her at rspencer@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: This team from Fayetteville won the U.S. Open tournament in Southport
