It was back In 2004. I will never

forget participating in my first redfish tournament

and my initial expectations of doing well. After

fishing several Gulf Coast Troutmaster events,

here was a tournament in which I thought I

could excel. How hard could it be to catch

two big old rubberlips? The tournament was

in Aransas Pass, an area I had never fished

before, but had read plenty about. All we had to

do was drift Estes Flats or Redfish Bay and we

would catch two fish, and if lucky we would win.

At the captain’s meeting the night before the

tournament, I decided to buy a couple of raffle

tickets and when the last prize came up, I found

myself winning a brand new trolling motor. As

I picked the motor up, the tournament director

said, “It sure is bad luck to win this, you probably

won’t catch anything tomorrow.” Sure enough,

all we went home with that weekend with was an

empty gas tank, a new trolling motor and plenty

of bruises to our egos.

That tournament

was the first Inshore

Fishing Association

(IFA) Redfish Tour

(www.redfishtour.

com) event in Texas.

In 2004, there were

3 events called the

Texas Draw and the IFA was really the only

game in town for the new (at least to Texas)

style redfish tournaments. The only other big

tournament was the Redfish Cup which

was full up and had people on a waiting

list. In just over 3 years, things have

changed, but the IFA Redfish Tour

remains as one of the top tours in

which anglers can participate.

The IFA Redfish Tour was the

pioneer in the development and

promotion of professional redfish

tournaments. Brand new in 2000,

the IFA Redfish Tour started in

Florida and expanded across to Louisiana

and eventually to Texas in 2004. The IFA has

continued to evolve to find their niche in the

redfish tournament market. An impressive

array of sponsors support the Redfish Tour and

allows the tour to offer numerous contingency

prizes from Ranger Boats, Cabela’s, Minn Kota,

Humminbird, Loadmaster trailers, Solar Bat

Glasses and Keelshield. The Redfish Tour is the

only large scale tournament that offers teams a

genuine shot at a national championship at an

affordable price.

The Tour has setup the most unique and

angler friendly tournament and championship

format available. There are 6 divisions in the

IFA Redfish Tour Series. The divisions cover

the south and southeast gulf coasts. There is a

Florida East and West, Georgia, South Carolina,

Louisiana and Texas Division. Each division

has 3 one-day tournaments that culminate in

a year-end two day championship that allows

competition between all of the divisions. Each

division has a divisional team of the year for

teams fishing all three events in one division.

The divisional teams of the year compete in

the national championship for overall team

of the year and they receive free entry into a

2008 tournament. The tournaments also have

national television coverage.

The entry fee for the tournaments is $400

with a first prize of a Ranger Banshee boat

rigged with a 40 HP Yamaha 4 Stroke and other

tournament extras valued at $20,000. The IFA

Redfish Tour Championship has a first place

prize of a Ranger 173 Ghost rigged with a 115

Yamaha 4 stroke at a total value of $34,000. No

other redfish tournament in Texas offers as rich

a first prize for such a modest entry fee.

Any team that fishes three events is eligible

to fish the IFA Redfish Tour Championship. So

if you are like me and had to work the weekend

of the first Texas IFA tournament, you are not

eligible for the Divisional Team of the Year. But,

but can run to Louisiana and fish a “makeup”

tournament in that division and still qualify for

the championship. There is no better tour for

teams looking to represent their sponsors and

have a realistic shot at winning the Redfish

Tour Championship for maximum sponsor

exposure. And did I mention the best thing,

not only will fishing three events get you into

IFA championship trophies on display.

�� Texas Saltwater Fishing August 2007 www.TSFMAG.com Just Keep Five