05-31-2009, 11:11 AM
LIZELLA, GEORGIA - Bruce Lindheim of Pensacola, Florida., teamed with first-time partner Fred Myers of Panama City, Florida, caught a two-redfish limit that weighed 17.60 pounds and won the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour event at Lafitte, Louisiana, on Saturday. To win the one-day event, which operated out of Lafitte C-Way Marina, Lindheim and Myers bested a field of other two-angler teams to win the event by more than one pound, taking the early points lead in the IFA Redfish Tour's Louisiana Division.
Battling stained water conditions and fishing for finicky redfish with Johnson Spoons as well as black-and-red Johnson Silver Minnows, Lindheim and Myers caught 20 redfish - including an 8.85-pound redfish that won the Rapala Big Fish Award - on their way to a first-place finish.
"We fished Monday and Thursday and it was different each time," said Myers, a three-year veteran of the IFA Redfish Tour, who partnered with Lindheim for the first time at Lafitte. "The wind was blowing early in the week from the north; and later in the week it switched to the south-southwest. The water started getting muddy; it was a lot clearer on Monday and we had no clouds so we could see the water pretty well."
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.
Second-place finishers Jay Cedotal of Baton Rouge, La., and Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., weighed in two fish that totaled 16.25 pounds, buoyed by a 8.45-pound kicker fish - the third-largest fish of the tournament. The third-place team of Michael McElveen of Baton Rouge and Robert Folson of Prairieville, La., sight-fished their way to a two-fish limit of 16.37 pounds
"We pre-fished for a couple of weeks; conditions during practice and the tournament were very different," McElveen said. "We did a lot of sight fishing today, ran 120 miles, fishing soft plastics. We caught 15 to 18 fish and had a lot of fun. We've been doing this together since the IFA Redfish Tour first came to Louisiana."
As the high-finishing Ranger Cup team competing in the tournament, Lindheim and Myers took home the $2,000 Ranger Cup money as well as the Rapala Big Fish Award, a $1,500 prize package that includes cash and a Rapala VIP gift card. The 19th-place team of Tom and Karrie Shockley took home the $100 Solar Bat prize.
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. Teams fishing at least six tournaments in any combination of divisions are also automatically eligible to compete for the IFA Redfish Tour "Ultra 6" award, 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, and Lafitte C-Way Marina.
IFA Louisiana Division
Lafitte Results (Top 10)<br />
1. Lindheim/Myers - 17.60 lbs.
2. Cedotal/Dufrene - 16.52 lbs.
3. McElveen/Folsom - 16.37 lbs.
4. Chagnard/Adams - 15.89 lbs.
5. Juneau/Buras - 15.82 lbs.
6. Landry/Moresi - 15.75 lbs.
7. Pescay/Pescay - 15.71 lbs.
8. O'Conner/Logan - 15.54 lbs.
9. (tie) Straub/Gros; Reiser/Landry - 15.38 lbs.
Ranger Cup Award ($2,000): Lindheim/Myers<br />
Solar Bat ($100): Shockley/Shockley<br />
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Lindheim/Myers - 8.85 lbs.
Media Contact<br />
Josh Ward, Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766 or Josh@blueheroncomm.com
Battling stained water conditions and fishing for finicky redfish with Johnson Spoons as well as black-and-red Johnson Silver Minnows, Lindheim and Myers caught 20 redfish - including an 8.85-pound redfish that won the Rapala Big Fish Award - on their way to a first-place finish.
"We fished Monday and Thursday and it was different each time," said Myers, a three-year veteran of the IFA Redfish Tour, who partnered with Lindheim for the first time at Lafitte. "The wind was blowing early in the week from the north; and later in the week it switched to the south-southwest. The water started getting muddy; it was a lot clearer on Monday and we had no clouds so we could see the water pretty well."
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.
Second-place finishers Jay Cedotal of Baton Rouge, La., and Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., weighed in two fish that totaled 16.25 pounds, buoyed by a 8.45-pound kicker fish - the third-largest fish of the tournament. The third-place team of Michael McElveen of Baton Rouge and Robert Folson of Prairieville, La., sight-fished their way to a two-fish limit of 16.37 pounds
"We pre-fished for a couple of weeks; conditions during practice and the tournament were very different," McElveen said. "We did a lot of sight fishing today, ran 120 miles, fishing soft plastics. We caught 15 to 18 fish and had a lot of fun. We've been doing this together since the IFA Redfish Tour first came to Louisiana."
As the high-finishing Ranger Cup team competing in the tournament, Lindheim and Myers took home the $2,000 Ranger Cup money as well as the Rapala Big Fish Award, a $1,500 prize package that includes cash and a Rapala VIP gift card. The 19th-place team of Tom and Karrie Shockley took home the $100 Solar Bat prize.
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. Teams fishing at least six tournaments in any combination of divisions are also automatically eligible to compete for the IFA Redfish Tour "Ultra 6" award, 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, and Lafitte C-Way Marina.
IFA Louisiana Division
Lafitte Results (Top 10)<br />
1. Lindheim/Myers - 17.60 lbs.
2. Cedotal/Dufrene - 16.52 lbs.
3. McElveen/Folsom - 16.37 lbs.
4. Chagnard/Adams - 15.89 lbs.
5. Juneau/Buras - 15.82 lbs.
6. Landry/Moresi - 15.75 lbs.
7. Pescay/Pescay - 15.71 lbs.
8. O'Conner/Logan - 15.54 lbs.
9. (tie) Straub/Gros; Reiser/Landry - 15.38 lbs.
Ranger Cup Award ($2,000): Lindheim/Myers<br />
Solar Bat ($100): Shockley/Shockley<br />
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Lindheim/Myers - 8.85 lbs.
Media Contact<br />
Josh Ward, Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766 or Josh@blueheroncomm.com