Team Nelson/Nelson Wins IFA Redfish Tour at Delacroix, Louisiana
OutdoorHub 06.20.12
Wes Nelson and Blake Nelson, both of Niceville, Fla., weighed in a two-redfish limit that totaled 15.87 pounds to win the IFA Redfish Tour event at Delacroix, La., on June 16. To win the event, which operated out of Sweetwater Marina, the duo topped a large field of two-angler teams to take home a new, fully-rigged Ranger Banshee Extreme powered by a 60-horsepower, four-stroke Yamaha outboard and 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 valued at $30,000.
The team experienced stronger than expected winds while running 10 miles. Fishing spinner baits and Gulp!, the anglers found protected banks and casted with the wind.
“The wind picked up, pushing the water level up later in the day,” Nelson said. “So we switched from sight-casting to blind-casting, but we got it done.”
The winning team took home an additional $1,000 for the Cabela’s Angler Cash Award.
Second-place finishers, Sean O’Connell, of Mandeville, La., and Bruce Lindheim, of Pensacola, Fla., brought 15.27 pounds to the scales by sight-fishing with spinner baits and soft plastic shrimp. The team ran 15 miles, fishing the Delacroix area.
“We had tough windy conditions with an overcast sky, making it tough to sight-cast,” O’Connell said. “We fished well together and kept each other calm despite the rough conditions.”
Wayne Juneau, of Mandeville, La., and Matt Perez, of Metairie, La., brought in their two-redfish limit for a total weight of 15.08 pounds to take the third-place prize. The anglers blind-casted Berkley Gulp! in nearby Spanish Bay and Little Lake.
Tenth-place finishers, Chad Dufrene and Jay Cedotal, brought in a 9-pound redfish and won the $500 Berkley Gulp! Big Fish Award plus a $250 Cabela’s gift card, courtesy of Berkley.
The IFA Redfish Tour Presented by Cabela’s 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 two-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 two of the IFA’s 12 regular-season events and one regional event are automatically qualified for a no-entry-fee championship event, pitting qualifiers from each of the six divisions for a combined $118,450 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.
In addition to a possible $60,000 in payouts per event (based on a 100-boat field), the first-place prize package for all 12 IFA Redfish Tour regular-season events remains extremely lucrative. In 2012, every regular-season tournament winner is guaranteed – regardless of field size – a fully loaded 2012 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, Gulp!, Gulp! Alive, PENN Reels, Spiderwire, Sebile, Columbia Sportswear, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Power-Pole, Wrap This, Bob’s Machine Shop, Blue Point Fabrication, NBOA Marine Insurance, Loadmaster, Powertex Group, Audubon Aquarium of the America and Sweetwater Marina.
IFA Louisiana Division
Delacroix, La. (Top 10)
- Nelson/Nelson – 15.87 lbs.
- O’Connell/Lindheim – 15.27 lbs.
- Juneau/Perez – 15.08 lbs.
- Scopeletis/Boykin – 15.03 lbs.
- Monsted III/Gelfand – 14.97 lbs.
- McElveen/Folsom – 14.94 lbs.
- Bird/Barbier – 14.75 lbs.
- Eschete/Adams – 14.70 lbs.
- Johnson/Naron – 14.70 lbs.
- Dufrene/Cedotal – 14.52 lbs.
Berkley Gulp! Big Fish Award ($500) + Cabela’s Gift Card ($250):
Dufrene/Cedotal (9.00 lbs.)
Cabela’s Angler Cash Award ($1,000):
Nelson/Nelson
