Teammates Tony Jackson and Kelly Causey weighed in a two-redfish limit that totaled 14.58 pounds to win the IFA Redfish Tour event at Gulf Shores, Ala., on October 16. To win the event, the final regular-season tournament for the IFA's Gulf Coast Division which operated out of LuLu's at Home Port Marina, Jackson and Causey bested a competitive field to take home a new Ranger Banshee Extreme valued at $30,000.
With the win, Jackson and Causey captured the 2010 IFA Florida East Coast Team of the Year Award. The team will compete against the other five division-winning teams for the Cabela's Overall Divisional Team of Year Award at the 2010 IFA Redfish Tour Championship on November 5-6 at Orange Beach, Ala.
Fishing close to the take-off site, Jackson and Causey used Berkley Gulp! baits and other lures to boat 11 fish during competition, including the team's 7.46-pound kicker.
"We had a plan where we would try to quickly catch two keepers close and then if we couldn't find the ones we wanted then we were going to run," Jackson said. "Then the first thing we had a 4 pounder and then we caught a 23-inch fish. "
Second-place finishers, Hall Baricklow, of Pensacola, Fla., and Drew Lenn, of Cantonment, Fla., brought 12.61 pounds to the scales at Gulf Shores, collecting $1,398 in second-place winnings. In their second year of tournament fishing as a team, the pair relied on spinnerbaits to boat 25 fish during competition.
The third-place team of Jim Jimenez and Curtis Gilbert, both nearby residents of the Gulf Shores area, weighed in 12.03 pounds at the event, winning $1,385 in prize money. Targeting submerged structure areas about 30 miles from the tournament take-off site, the team jigs and jerk shad-style baits to secure their catch.
"We probably lost 40 jigs heads (fishing around heavy structure)," Jimenez said. "But the fish were down there in the rocks and the concrete.
Fourth-place finishers Shane and Preston Pescay captured the Rapala Big Fish Award, worth $500, for the team's 7.57-pound redfish, the largest weighed in at the competition.
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, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, LuLu's at Home Port Marina and the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission.
IFA Gulf Shores Division Gulf Shores, Ala. (Top 10)
1. Jackson/Causey - 14.58 lbs.
2. Barricklow/Lenn - 12.61 lbs.
3. Jimenez/Gilbert - 12.03 lbs.
4. Pescay/Pescay - 11.91 lbs.
5. White/White - 11.87 lbs.
6. Dufrene/Cedotal - 11.73 lbs.
7. Ritter/Abruscato - 11.14 lbs.
8. Nelson/Nelson - 10.89 lbs.
9. Carter/Pridgen - 10.61 lbs.
10. Maxwell/Maxwell - 10.27 lbs.
Rapala Big Fish ($500): Pescay/Pescay (7.57 lbs.)
Cabela's Angler Cash ($1,000): Jackson/Causey
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