The brother team of Charlie Barton, of Port Lavaca, Texas, and Jack Barton, of Port Isabelle, Texas, weighed in a two-redfish limited that totaled 14.67 pounds to win the IFA Redfish Tour event at Port Lavaca on April 17. To win the event, the regular-season opener for the IFA's Texas Division which launched out of Lighthouse Beach Park, Barton and Barton bested a large contingent of two-angler teams to take home a $30,000 Ranger Banshee Extreme plus an additional $3,280 in cash and prizes to go along with an early points lead in the Texas Division.
Within 20 minutes of takeoff, the brothers boated their biggest fish of the competition - a 9.21-pound kicker that brought the team the Rapala Big Fish Award worth $500 cash - but had trouble finding a consistent big bite the remainder of the day using popping corks and scented plastic baits. During the competition, the team reported catching five-pound redfish most of the day.
"It seemed like we caught a redfish every 20 or 30 minutes," Charlie Barton said. "But we just didn't believe that we had a chance of winning this with our second fish being just five pounds."
With the win, the pair won a 2010 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.
Fishing in their first-ever IFA Redfish Tour competition, Matt Glaze and Michael Brzozowski, both of Victoria, Texas, brought two redfish to scales weighing 14.06 pounds to win second place, taking the second-place tiebreaker over third-place finishers Clint Anderson and Sonny Leal.
Using popping corks rigged with Berkley Gulp! baits, the pair used experience gained during their abbreviated pre-tournament fishing to locate their fish.
The third-place team of Anderson and Leal, both of Port Lavaca, stuck to areas near their home waters, catching a mixture of both undersized and oversized fish. In all, the group reported catching 30 fish during competition using a jerk shad. The pair used a jerk shad to land their total weight, which was assessed an eight-ounce fish-care penalty.
"We had some small fish but some big fish, too," said Anderson. "We caught a bunch of fish that were just too big."
Each of the Cabela's IFA Redfish Tour regular-season events will commence on Saturday with the newly formed IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing contested the following day (Sundays). In its inaugural season, the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Presented by Hobie will feature 18 regular-season, catch-photograph-release events across six different division (mirroring the IFA Redfish Tour format, location and scheduling) as well as extremely lucrative payouts and expanded fishing opportunities for non-motorized fishing crafts.
The redfish/trout tournament will pay twenty places (based on a 100 boat field) plus Big Redfish, Big Trout and Junior Angler Awards. The winner will take home a Hobie Mirage Pro-Angler valued at $2399, 2nd place prize will be a Hobie Mirage Outback, valued at $1,749 and 3rd place a Hobie Quest, valued at $949.
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. Low entry fees for the one-day, regular-season tournaments allows 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 $78,200 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.
New for 2010, IFA Redfish Tour anglers will be able to increase their winnings with the Cabela's Angler Cash award and the Angler's Advantage Award. The Angler's Advantage Award allows anglers to add $100 to their already-low entry fee for the chance at increased winnings. The optional program pays out 100 percent to those participating teams. The Cabela's Angler Cash award gives a $1,000 gift card to any team that wins a regular-season tournament while competing with a Cabela's patch on their clothing (both people must have the patch on). For the no-entry-fee IFA Redfish Tour Championship, the qualified, winning team will receive a $2,500 Cabela's gift card. If the winners of an IFA Redfish Tour event are a registered and qualified Ranger Cup compliant team, then they will receive $2,000 (you must sign up every year).
Added in 2009 and continuing in 2010, teams fishing at least six tournaments in any combination of divisions are automatically eligible to compete for the IFA Redfish Tour "Ultra 6 Team of the Year" award. The award consists of a $5,000 cash prize, presented to the highest-finishing eligible team at the IFA Redfish Tour championship tournament.
In addition to a possible $60,000 in payouts per event (based on a 100-boat field), the first-place prize package for all 18 IFA Redfish Tour regular-season events remains extremely lucrative. In 2010, every regular-season tournament winner is guaranteed - regardless of field size - a fully loaded 2010 Ranger Banshee Extreme. The boat is powered by a 60-horsepower, four-stroke Yamaha outboard and is equipped with a Power-Pole shallow water anchor, Minn Kota trolling motor, Humminbird electronics, Blue Point Fabrication metal work, Bob's four-inch Ultra Light Jackplate and a Loadmaster trailer. The entire first-place prize package is valued at $30,000.
For more information or to become a member of the IFA, the fastest-growing inshore fishing tournament series in the United States, go online to www.redfishtour.com or www.ifakayakfishingtour.com. To discover more about kayaking and Hobie Fishing go to www.hobiefishing.com.
IFA events are made possible through the sponsorship and continued support of the fishing industry's most respected brands: Ranger Boats, Hobie Fishing, Cabela's, Yamaha Outboards, Rapala, Trigger X, Sufix, Columbia Sportswear, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Power-Pole, Wrap This, CW Crab, Charter Lakes Marine Insurance, Solar Bat, Navionics, Blue Point Fabrication, EGO Nets, Bob's Machine Shop, 321fish.com, Kayak Anlger Magazine, Terminator, VMC Hooks, Loadmaster, Powertex Group and Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.
IFA Texas Division
Port Lavaca, Texas (Top 10)
1. Barton/Barton - 14.67 lbs.
2. Anderson/Leal - 14.06 lbs.
3. Glaze/Brzozowski - 14.06 lbs.
4. Pinter/Howell - 13.94 lbs.
5. Kocian/Kocian - 13.49 lbs.
6. Ramaro/Ramaro - 12.59 lbs.
7. Mock/Curry - 12.10 lbs.
8. Farmer/Reed - 12.03 lbs.
9. Hurt/Green - 11.79 lbs.
10. Starr/Kohert - 11.66 lbs.
Rapala Big Fish ($500): Barton/Barton (9.21 lbs.)
Cabela's Angler Cash ($1,000): Barton/Barton
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