05-31-2009, 11:11 AM
LIZELLA, GEORGIA - Ron Hueston of Naples, Florida, and Chris Hueston of Miami, Florida, caught a two-redfish limit that weighed 15.54 pounds to win the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour event at Punta Gorda on Saturday. To win the one-day event, which operated out of Laishley Marina, Hueston and Hueston bested 125 other two-angler teams take to the early points lead in the Florida West Coast Division.
Following a captain's meeting at Hooters of Port Charlotte on Friday, Saturday brought near-perfect weather and water conditions to the Punta Gorda area where many teams reported large numbers of over-slot fish being caught. The Rapala-sponsored team of Hueston and Hueston, drawing on Ron's 20 years of experience fishing the area, left a large group of over-slot fish for a new area before boating their eventual tournament-winning catch. Their two-fish sack was anchored by a 7.83-pounder, the largest fish of the tournament, earning them a $1,500 Rapala prize package.
"You just have to gamble sometimes," Ron Hueston said. "You really need patience to fish this area.
"This is a great accomplishment for me to finally win one of these tournaments. I love fishing these events; I can do this without taking a lot of money out of my pocket. It's a great deal."
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.
The Rapala-sponsored second-place team of Geoff Page from Venice, Fla., and Rick Murphy from Homestead, Fla., used Rapala Trigger X to secure their 14.16-pound limit early in the day. Ozzie Fischer and Ozzie Lessinger finished third with 13.88 pounds.
As the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participants, sixth-place finishers John Oliverio and Wayne Gatlin, sponsored by Oliverio's company, Power-Pole, won the $1,000 Ranger Cup award. Tony Katsaralas and Dave Turgeon took home the Solar Bat prize, worth $100.
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.
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 and Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.
IFA Florida West Coast Division
Punta Gorda Results (Top 10)<br />
1. Hueston/Hueston - 15.54 lbs.
2. Page/Murphy - 14.16 lbs.
3. Fischer/Lessinger - 13.88 lbs.
4. Ocha/Crews - 13.83 lbs.
5. Arsenault/Wonderlin - 13.58 lbs.
6. Oliverio/Gatlin - 12.95 lbs.
7. Justus/Nazzario - 12.47 lbs.
8. Cruz/Cruz - 12.40 lbs.
9. Jones/Gornto - 12.22 lbs.
10. Lambert/Mahan - 12.19 lbs.
Ranger Cup Award ($1,000): Oliverio/Gatlin<br />
Solar Bat ($100): Katsaralas/Turgeon<br />
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Hueston/Hueston - 7.83 lbs.
Media Contact<br />
Josh Ward Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766, Josh@blueheroncomm.com
Following a captain's meeting at Hooters of Port Charlotte on Friday, Saturday brought near-perfect weather and water conditions to the Punta Gorda area where many teams reported large numbers of over-slot fish being caught. The Rapala-sponsored team of Hueston and Hueston, drawing on Ron's 20 years of experience fishing the area, left a large group of over-slot fish for a new area before boating their eventual tournament-winning catch. Their two-fish sack was anchored by a 7.83-pounder, the largest fish of the tournament, earning them a $1,500 Rapala prize package.
"You just have to gamble sometimes," Ron Hueston said. "You really need patience to fish this area.
"This is a great accomplishment for me to finally win one of these tournaments. I love fishing these events; I can do this without taking a lot of money out of my pocket. It's a great deal."
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.
The Rapala-sponsored second-place team of Geoff Page from Venice, Fla., and Rick Murphy from Homestead, Fla., used Rapala Trigger X to secure their 14.16-pound limit early in the day. Ozzie Fischer and Ozzie Lessinger finished third with 13.88 pounds.
As the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participants, sixth-place finishers John Oliverio and Wayne Gatlin, sponsored by Oliverio's company, Power-Pole, won the $1,000 Ranger Cup award. Tony Katsaralas and Dave Turgeon took home the Solar Bat prize, worth $100.
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.
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 and Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.
IFA Florida West Coast Division
Punta Gorda Results (Top 10)<br />
1. Hueston/Hueston - 15.54 lbs.
2. Page/Murphy - 14.16 lbs.
3. Fischer/Lessinger - 13.88 lbs.
4. Ocha/Crews - 13.83 lbs.
5. Arsenault/Wonderlin - 13.58 lbs.
6. Oliverio/Gatlin - 12.95 lbs.
7. Justus/Nazzario - 12.47 lbs.
8. Cruz/Cruz - 12.40 lbs.
9. Jones/Gornto - 12.22 lbs.
10. Lambert/Mahan - 12.19 lbs.
Ranger Cup Award ($1,000): Oliverio/Gatlin<br />
Solar Bat ($100): Katsaralas/Turgeon<br />
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Hueston/Hueston - 7.83 lbs.
Media Contact<br />
Josh Ward Blue Heron Communications (800) 654-3766, Josh@blueheroncomm.com