LIZELLA, Ga. (June 22, 2011) --- Roger Perry Bump, of Jacksonville, Fla., caught a redfish and speckled sea trout that measured a combined 60 inches in length to win the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing event at Panama City Beach, Fla., on June 19. The event, which operated out of Sand Point Park, was the second of three regular-season events for the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour's Florida East Coast Division. Bump, a charter captain in his regular job, is a previous winner of IFA tournaments, having fished the IFA since the trail began.
Fishing in the St.. Johns River area, Bump relied on Berkley Gulp! baits to take home a Hobie Mirage Pro-Angler Kayak valued at $2,499, plus $100 cash for winning the Berkley Gulp! Big Redfish Award, an additional $100 Cabela's gift card from Berkley for using Berkley GULP! to catch his 39 inch Redfish and a new PENN Reel for winning the event and fishing the event with a PENN Reel.
"The current was running out, more than I had expected, so I knew the bite would be early," Bump said. "I caught my fish off rock piles and in deep channel dropoffs in the Wall area of the St. Johns River. I used jigs tipped with a Gulp! Swimming Mullet with the active tail in the deep water for my reds and relied on a Gulp! Ripple Shad, swimming the bait from the surface down to deeper water, for the trout. I was lucky and capitalized on the few opportunities I had."
Second-place finisher, Drew Mixon, of Vero Beach, Fla., measured a 30-inch redfish and a 27.75-inch trout for a total length measurement of 57.75 inches to secure the $1,000 second-place prize, plus the $100 Berkley Gulp! Big Trout Award and $100 Cabela's gift card from Berkley for using Berkley GULP! to catch his Trout.
"This is my first year to fish the IFA and my highest finish yet," said Mixon, a citrus grower by day. "The Gulp! Ghost Shrimp made the day great. I'm not a kayak regular so the day was challenging. But the Gulp! under a popping cork was key. I fished each area thoroughly and enjoyed a trout bite that lasted all morning."
Cameron Schurknight, was the third-place finisher. The Venice, Fla., native is a full-time college student and has two previous IFA wins. His total inches of 53.5 included a 35-inch redfish and an 18.5-inch trout. Included in his winnings was $200 in Hobie Cash for being the hightest finishing fishing out of a Hobie kayak.
Like the boating anglers the day before, Schurknight relied on sight fishing the shallow, clear water. "I looked for tailing and working reds and simply presented a 4-inch Berkley Gulp! Shrimp in front of them. For the trout I turned to deeper dropoffs on the flats, working a Gulp! Jerkbait rigged on a 1/8-ounce jighead. I caught bigger redsfish during the prefish but I'm pleased with the day's work."
Each of the Cabela's IFA Redfish Tour 18 regular-season events will commence on Saturday with the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing contested the following day (Sundays). In its second 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 $2,499, 2nd place prize will be a $1,000 and 3rd place $500 Hobie cash. New for 2011, kayak anglers can take advantage of the Angler's Advantage program. Anglers who participate in the program can pay an additional $25 entry fee, which is paid back at 100 percent to participants, based on place of finish. Lucrative contingency programs added for 2011 include $50 prize to the team claiming the big fish award in an IFA Redfish Tour event if the fish is landed with an EGO Net, $25 prize for both the big redfish and big trout in IFA Kayak Fishing Tour events; a PENN reel for tournament-winning angler who competes with PENN reel.
The IFA Redfish and IFA Kayak Fishing Tours continues to draw redfish anglers from Texas to the Carolinas and beyond, offering anglers 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 money and prize packages, as well as a shot at the coveted Overall Divisional Team of the Year Award for the six regular-season division winners.
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, Gulp!, Gulp! Alive, PENN reels, Yamaha Outboards, Columbia Sportswear, Minn Kota, Humminbird, OPTIMA Batteries, Power-Pole, Wrap This, Blue Point Fabrication, EGO Nets, Spiderwire, Sebile, Bob's Machine Shop, 321fish.com, Kayak Angler Magazine, Loadmaster, NBOA Marina Insurance, Powertex Group, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.
IFA Gulf Coast Division Panama City Beach, Fla. (Top 10)- Roger Perry Bump --- 60.00 inches
- Drew Mixon --- 57.75 inches
- Cameron Schurknight --- 53.50 inches
- Robert Duerscheidt --- 47.88 inches
- Richard Zaremba --- 44.75 inches
- Brian Nelli --- 44.75 inches
- Ben Coker --- 43.25 inches
- Ryan Conner --- 39.75 inches
- Jason Broach --- 39.63 inches
- Rory Gregg --- 39.25inches
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$200 Hobie Top Angler Contingency:
Cameron Schurknight -
$100 Berkley GULP! Big Redfish Award + $100 Cabela's Gift Card from Berkley:
Roger Bump (39.00 inches) -
$100 Berkley GULP! Big Trout Award + $100 Cabela's Gift Card from Berkley:
Drew Mixon (27.75 inches) -
PENN Reel Award:
Roger Bump
