2025 Running of the Bulls Charity Surf Redfish Tournament – A Record-Breaking Weekend on the Georgia Coast
📍 Location: Saint Simons & Jekyll Island, Georgia
📅 Dates: October 11–12, 2025
🎣 Participants: 333 anglers, including 85 youth
💰 Cash Prize Pool: $22,470
🏆 Champions:
- Adult Division: Kelee Ballard (Brunswick, GA) – $10,000 Grand Prize Winner
- Youth Division: Wyatt Farland (Vilano Beach, FL)
From Fishing Camp to $10,000 Champion: Kelee Ballard’s Incredible Catch
Kelee Ballard, a Brunswick, Georgia native, never imagined her first redfish would be a tournament winner—let alone earn her $10,000.
Kelee and her husband brought their kids to a Kids Can Fish Surf Fishing Camp, where they all learned the art of bull red fishing. Using the exact gear donated at camp—including a Daiwa Eliminator 6500, Rogue Reelz bull drum leader, and a Sinker Guy Sputnik—Kelee entered the tournament and landed the biggest surf fish of her life.
That fish not only marked her first-ever redfish—it made her the Adult Division Champion of one of the largest surf fishing tournaments on the East Coast.
Wyatt Farland Makes History as First Repeat Youth Champion
We met Wyatt Farland four years ago at our Vilano Beach camp in Florida. Now, at just [insert age if known], Wyatt has become the first-ever repeat Youth Champion of the Running of the Bulls tournament.
A disabled angler with a deep passion for surf fishing, Wyatt was sponsored by Kids Can Fish in both 2023 and 2025. His 40-inch redfish earned him:
- A custom 11’ Team Rainshadow surf rod by Bandit Custom Rods
- A Florida Fishing Products Resolute 6000 reel
- $1,000 cash
A Community Powered by Purpose
This year’s tournament brought together 333 anglers, including 85 kids, all supporting the mission of the Kids Can Fish Foundation—to make fishing accessible and empowering for the next generation.
Thanks to our amazing volunteers, sponsors, and the coastal community that makes this all possible. We’re already counting down to 2026!
