Cory McGuire of Pine Island and tournament partner Cody Chivas of Clearwater weighed in a two-redfish limit totaling 14.73 pounds to win the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour event at Ruskin, Florida., on August 22. To win the one-day event, which launched out of Little Harbor and hosted by Pirate's Pointe Resort, McGuire and Chivas bested a field of other two-angler teams to win the event.
After experiencing early mechanical difficulties with their boat, requiring the pair to return to the launch site, the pair worked to repair the vessel and return to the competition waters. With the boat operational, the pair ran approximately 30 miles to find their fish. Using Berkley Gulp! baits, the tandem sight fished for tailing redfish, securing a sack buoyed by a 7.68-pound kicker - the biggest fish weighed in during the tournament.
"It's frustrating to have to lose time on the water to something like a mechanical problem," McGuire said. "Your worse fear is that while you are working on the boat that someone else is out there catching all of the fish. But we had two days of good practice and were comfortable that our fish would be there - and they were."
With the win, the pair won a 2009 Ranger Banshee Extreme valued at more than $30,000. The boat is powered by a 60-horsepower, four-stroke Yamaha outboard and is equipped with a Bob's four-inch Ultra Light Jackplate, Power-Pole shallow water anchor, Minn Kota trolling motor, Humminbird electronics, Blue Point Fabrication metal work and Loadmaster trailer.
The second-place team of Kyle Potts, of Pine Island, and Chris Magnano, of Ft. Myers, Fla., brought 13.69 pounds to the scales on Saturday, including a 7.08-pound kicker redfish. Utilizing information from their two days of pre-tournament practice, the pair ran approximately 10 miles. Dodging weather not present during their practice period, the pair boated five fish for the day.
"It wasn't much like practice out there for us," Potts said. "We lost a couple of fish early and spent a lot of time staying out of the way of the weather. We didn't catch as many as we thought we would, but still there were some good ones there."
The third-place team of Mickey Gibbs and Jeremy Heimes, both of Zephyrhills, Fla., weighed in a two-fish limit that tipped the scales at 13.60 pounds. The pair experienced much better fishing conditions during the tournament than they did in practice, boating an estimated dozen quality fish during the event. Running approximately 30 miles each way to locate their redfish, the team was assessed a fish-care penalty at weigh in, costing them a second-place finish.
The seventh-place team of Bob Looper and Rick Walters pocketed the $1,000 Ranger Cup Award as the highest-finishing Ranger Cup-qualified team in the tournament. For their 7.68-pound kicker redfish, McGuire and Chivas won the $1,500 Rapala Big Fish Award.
The final regular-season event of the IFA Redfish Tour's Florida West Coast Division also brought an end to the highly contested race for the division's Team of the Year Award. The Rapala-sponsored team of Geoff Page and Rick Murphy edged out second-place finishers Looper and Walters, to claim the coveted award and qualifying the pair to compete for the Cabela's Overall Divisional Team of the Year Award at November's IFA Redfish Tour Championship in Orange Beach, Ala.
The IFA Redfish Tour continues to draw redfish anglers from Texas to the Carolinas and beyond, offering two-angler teams the opportunity to compete in six different divisions, each offering a three-event regular season. With low entry fees for the one-day, regular-season tournaments allow anglers to fish close to home and minimize expenses, while still being a part of a premier inshore, catch-and-release redfish tournament organization. Teams fishing any three of the IFA's 18 regular-season events are automatically qualified for a no-entry-fee championship event, pitting qualifiers from each of the six divisions for a combined $77,000 in payouts and prize packages, as well as a shot at the coveted Cabela's Overall Divisional Team of the Year Award for the six regular-season division winners.
Added this year as an incentive for the very active anglers capitalizing on the opportunities to fish close to home for big money and valuable prizes, teams fishing at least six tournaments in any combination of divisions are automatically eligible to compete for the IFA Redfish Tour "Ultra 6" award. The award consists of a $5,000 cash prize, presented to the highest-finishing eligible team at the IFA Redfish Tour championship tournament.
This year, in addition to $47,000 in payouts per event (based on a 100-boat field), the first-place prize package for all 18 IFA Redfish Tour regular-season events has been increased. In 2009, every regular-season tournament winner is guaranteed - regardless of field size - a fully loaded 2009 Ranger Banshee Extreme. The boat is powered by a 60-horsepower, four-stroke Yamaha outboard and is equipped with a Bob's four-inch Ultra Light Jackplate, Power-Pole shallow water anchor, Minn Kota trolling motor, Humminbird electronics, Blue Point Fabrication metal work and Loadmaster trailer. The entire first-place prize package is valued at $30,000.
For more information on the IFA Redfish Tour, to become a member of the IFA or to become a part of the fastest-growing inshore fishing tournament series in the United States, go online to redfishtour.com.
IFA Redfish Tour events are made possible through the sponsorship and continued support of the fishing industry's most respected brands: Ranger Boats, Cabela's, Yamaha Outboards, Rapala, Trigger X, Sufix, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Power-Pole, Wrap This, CW Crab, Charter Lakes Marine Insurance, Solar Bat, Gemini Custom Apparel, Navionics, Bob's Machine Shop, Blue Point Fabrication, Terminator, VMC Hooks, Loadmaster Trailers, Powertex Group, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Little Harbor and Pirate's Pointe Resort.
IFA Florida West Coast Division
Ruskin, Fla. (Top 10)
1. McGuire/Chivas - 14.73 lbs.
2. Potts/Magnano - 13.69 lbs.
3. Gibbs/Heimes - 13.60 lbs.
4. Page/Murphy - 12.74 lbs.
5. Goodwin/Cook - 12.73 lbs.
6. Jackson/Causey - 12.47 lbs.
7. Looper/Walters - 11.93 lbs.
8. Witt/Delagaria - 11.89 lbs.
9. Cruz/Cruz - 11.80 lbs.
10. Oliverio/Gatlin - 10.63 lbs.
Ranger Cup Award ($1,000): Looper/Walters
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): McGuire/Chivas - 7.68 lbs.
IFA Redfish Tour Florida West Coast Division Final Point Standings
1. Page/Murphy - Florida West Coast Division Team of the Year
2. Looper/Walters
3. Gibbs/Heimes
Media Contact
Josh Ward, Blue Heron Communications, (800) 654-3766 or Josh@blueheroncomm.com
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