Friday, March 5, 2010
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LIZELLA, Ga. (March 4, 2010) - Sam Bertha Jr., of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Gary McKenzie, of Bartow, Fla., weighed in a two-redfish limit that totaled 14.42 pounds to win the IFA Redfish Tour event at Jacksonville, Fla., on February 27. To win the event, the regular-season opener for 2010 which launched from Sister's Creek Marina, Bertha Jr. and McKenzie bested a field of 78 two-angler teams to secure in first-place winnings as well as an early points lead in the IFA Florida East Coast Division.
The pair, fishing their fourth season together on the IFA Redfish Tour, targeted fish south of the launch area near St. Augustine, Fla. With only one day of practice prior to the event, Bertha Jr. and McKenzie concentrated their efforts on a 500-yard-long stretch of bank that resulted in their three catches for the day - all caught on a jig tipped with Bass Assassin Twin-Tailed Shad. Their 14.42-pound creel gave the team a .38-pound advantage over the second-place team of John Eggers and Brett Cannon.
"We had to go down a little in line size as well as bait size," Bertha Jr. said. "And we just had to tease them into biting."
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.
Eggers and Cannon, both of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., brought the second-largest redfish of the tournament to the scales on tournament day with the 7.76-pound kicker fish anchoring their 14.04-pound total weight. To pocket their $3,256 in second-place winnings, the team fished within four miles of the launch point, Eggers and Cannon used jerk baits in the morning and crank baits in the afternoon to boat a total of 10 fish, including a borderline slot fish estimated to weigh more than eight pounds but was released as the team opted not to take a chance on the fish measuring over the limit.
The third-place team of John Ibarreche Jr. and Jeffrey David, both of Jacksonville, weighed in a two-fish limit that tipped the scales at 13.83 pounds in their first IFA Redfish Tour events, concentrating their efforts near Mules Cove. Using jigs tipped with plastic tails, the team waded through plenty of flounder on their way to catching six fish on the day.
The fifth-place team of Jeff Holland and Tim Tharp won the $1,500 Rapala Big Fish Award for their 7.88-pound redfish, the largest weighed in the during the Jacksonville event. Bertha Jr. and McKenzie won the new Cabela's Angler Cash Award, paying a $1,000 Cabela's gift card, as the highest-finishing qualified team, as well as $1,114 from the Cabela's Angler Advantage program.
Each of the Cabela's IFA Redfish Tour 18 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 and Sister's Creek Marina.
IFA Florida East Coast Division
Jacksonville, Fla. (Top 10)
1. Bertha Jr./McKenzie - 14.42 lbs.
2. Eggers/Cannon - 14.04 lbs
3. Ibarreche Jr./Davis - 13.83 lbs.
4. Beach/Nelson - 13.66 lbs.
5. Holland/Tharp - 13.42 lbs.
6. Fields/Crumpton - 13.28 lbs.
7. Miniard/Gainey - 13.06 lbs.
8. O'Brien/Dehlinger - 13.06 lbs.
9. Szczepanik/Schillo - 12.57 lbs.
10. Price/Fagermist - 12.40 lbs.
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Holland/Tharp - 7.88 lbs.
Cabela's Angler Cash ($1,000): Bertha/McKenzie
The pair, fishing their fourth season together on the IFA Redfish Tour, targeted fish south of the launch area near St. Augustine, Fla. With only one day of practice prior to the event, Bertha Jr. and McKenzie concentrated their efforts on a 500-yard-long stretch of bank that resulted in their three catches for the day - all caught on a jig tipped with Bass Assassin Twin-Tailed Shad. Their 14.42-pound creel gave the team a .38-pound advantage over the second-place team of John Eggers and Brett Cannon.
"We had to go down a little in line size as well as bait size," Bertha Jr. said. "And we just had to tease them into biting."
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.
Eggers and Cannon, both of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., brought the second-largest redfish of the tournament to the scales on tournament day with the 7.76-pound kicker fish anchoring their 14.04-pound total weight. To pocket their $3,256 in second-place winnings, the team fished within four miles of the launch point, Eggers and Cannon used jerk baits in the morning and crank baits in the afternoon to boat a total of 10 fish, including a borderline slot fish estimated to weigh more than eight pounds but was released as the team opted not to take a chance on the fish measuring over the limit.
The third-place team of John Ibarreche Jr. and Jeffrey David, both of Jacksonville, weighed in a two-fish limit that tipped the scales at 13.83 pounds in their first IFA Redfish Tour events, concentrating their efforts near Mules Cove. Using jigs tipped with plastic tails, the team waded through plenty of flounder on their way to catching six fish on the day.
The fifth-place team of Jeff Holland and Tim Tharp won the $1,500 Rapala Big Fish Award for their 7.88-pound redfish, the largest weighed in the during the Jacksonville event. Bertha Jr. and McKenzie won the new Cabela's Angler Cash Award, paying a $1,000 Cabela's gift card, as the highest-finishing qualified team, as well as $1,114 from the Cabela's Angler Advantage program.
Each of the Cabela's IFA Redfish Tour 18 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 and Sister's Creek Marina.
IFA Florida East Coast Division
Jacksonville, Fla. (Top 10)
1. Bertha Jr./McKenzie - 14.42 lbs.
2. Eggers/Cannon - 14.04 lbs
3. Ibarreche Jr./Davis - 13.83 lbs.
4. Beach/Nelson - 13.66 lbs.
5. Holland/Tharp - 13.42 lbs.
6. Fields/Crumpton - 13.28 lbs.
7. Miniard/Gainey - 13.06 lbs.
8. O'Brien/Dehlinger - 13.06 lbs.
9. Szczepanik/Schillo - 12.57 lbs.
10. Price/Fagermist - 12.40 lbs.
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Holland/Tharp - 7.88 lbs.
Cabela's Angler Cash ($1,000): Bertha/McKenzie
Contact:
Josh Ward, Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766 or Josh@blueheroncomm.com
Josh Ward, Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766 or Josh@blueheroncomm.com
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