MOUNTAIN HOME, AR - John Oliverio, of Brandon, Florida, weighed a three-day total of 38.52 pounds of redfish to win the Lucas Oil IFA Pro-Am Redfish Challenge at Jacksonville, Florida, on July 27. The high-stakes event, presented by Cabela's, featured many of the sport's biggest names and will air nationally on NBC Sports Network, Pursuit Channel, the Texas Channel and Fox Sports Net Southwest later this year.
The pro-am format continues to be a hit with anglers accustomed to fishing traditional team events. For his efforts on the pro side, Oliverio won $27,250 in cash while Dewey Holloway, of Fort White, Florida, took home the $4,000 co-angler first-place prize with a 36.24-pound three-day total.
As the president of JL Marine Systems and the creative force behind the Power-Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Oliverio has a history with the IFA Redfish Tour. Before the Power-Pole was a household name, Oliverio showed off his new anchor to IFA anglers.
Having fished the IFA Redfish Tour for 13 years, Oliverio knows a thing or two about catching redfish. The angler leaned on his past experience to blow past the competition.
"I've been fishing Jacksonville for probably better than ten years, maybe fifteen years, " said Oliverio. "The area I fished is my area basically. I've been patterning that area since I started fishing Jacksonville. "
By timing his pre-fishing outing two weeks before the tournament date, the angler ensured he would be fishing in similar tide conditions during the competition.
"I like to go a month and two weeks before, " said Oliverio. "Every two weeks the tides duplicate themselves. In Jacksonville, if you pre-fish the week before, it's kind of useless because by the time the tournament starts it's different. When I looked at the tides for this tournament, it was the perfect tides for my spots. "
Concentrating on the Fernandina area, the angler fished Berkley Gulp! shrimp on a jighead underneath a popping cork in the same locations each day but caught his daily limits in separate spots.
"The first day we caught our fish on the incoming tide and at 8:00 we had thirteen pounds, " said Oliverio. "I didn't even want to fish any of my other spots. Then the tide went real low, and I knew that day would probably be the only day I could fish my low water spot. So I went there and in about ten minutes we upgraded both of the fish. We went from thirteen to put fifteen and a half in the boat. "
Oliverio took off on day two with a 2.28-pound lead. Partnered with co-angler Dewey Holloway, the pair brought in 12.98 pounds to retain the lead for both anglers in their respective categories.
On day three of the tournament, the anglers were paired again due to their first-place status. Going out with a commanding 7.66-pound lead for the pro category, the anglers brought in a 10.20-pound limit, giving Oliverio an overall tournament lead of 11.10 pounds.
A familiar name on the IFA Redfish Tour leaderboard, Eddie Adams, of Metairie, Louisiana, weighed a three-day total of 27.42 to take second place and $8,100 in winnings. The angler reported tough fishing conditions while he concentrated in the Sister Creek area with Berkley Gulp! and top-water baits.
Pro-angler, John Ochs, of Englewood, Florida, rounded out the top three for the pro-anglers with 25.49 pounds and took home $4,000 in winnings.
Second-place co-angler Kelly Causey, of Lizella, Georgia, finished the event with 28.48 pounds and took home $2,000. Rusty Jewett, of Clearwater, Florida, only brought in one fish on day two. However, three of his four fished weighed during competition were over seven pounds. The combined weight was enough to push him into third place, which paid the angler $1,200.
Eddie Adams leads the Lucas Oil IFA Pro-Am Redfish Challenge Pro-Angler of the Year standings with 399 points. Jay Withers is in a close second with 392 points, while Blake Smith follows with 388.
Dewey Holloway leads the standing for the Co-Angler of the Year award with 396 points. Kelley Causey follows two points behind and Rennie Clark just one more point behind with 393 points.
The Pro- and Co-Angler of the Year awards will be determined at the final Lucas Oil IFA Pro-Am Redfish Challenge event at Slidell, Louisiana, on Sept. 12-14 Winners of the IFA Pro-Am Redfish Challenge Angler of the Year awards will receive Lucas Oil rings and paid entry fees to each of next year's IFA Pro-Am events.
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.ifatours.com.
Lucas Oil IFA Pro-Am Redfish Challenge Jacksonville, Fla., July 25-27, 2014
Pro Top-10 Finishers
1. John Oliverio - 38.52 lbs. - $27,250
2. Eddie Adams - 27.42 lbs. - $8,100
3. John Ochs - 25.49 lbs. - $4,0000
4. Jay Withers - 24.75 lbs. - $3,000
5. Fred Walker - 24.31 lbs. - $2,900
6. Greg DeVault - 21.33 lbs. - $2,800
7. Fred Myers - 21.47 lbs. - $2,700
8. Clark Jordan - 20.75 lbs. - $2,600
9. Blake Smith - 20.12 lbs. - $2,500
10. John Henninger - 19.11 lbs. - $2,500
Co-Angler Top-10 Finishers
1. Dewey Holloway - 36.24 lbs. - $4,546
2. Kelly Causey - 28.48 lbs. - $2,266
3. Rusty Jewett - 25.12 lbs. - $1,452
4. Blake Payne - 22.98 lbs. - $1,000
5. Rennie Clark - 22.26 lbs. - $1,082
6. Jim Devine - 21.98 lbs. - $1,004
7. Richard Martiniuk - 21.68 lbs. - $750
8. Kurt Shader - 21.08 lbs. - $700
9. Paul Klingel - 18.93 lbs. - $600
10. Drew Arndt - 18.70 lbs. - $500
Media Contact:
Greg Duncan
Blue Heron Communications
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Greg@blueheroncomm.com
