Fishing in a grassy area they discovered a year ago, Ritter and Abruscato round-tripped over 55 miles for the winning fish. Using spinners sweetened with Berkley PowerBait, and jigs with Gulp!, the pair boated more than 40 redfish including many oversized fish. A pair of 8-plus-pounders anchored their winning catch.

"We had to work against the wind to get into the back of these pockets where the fish were, and when we did, the fish would spook out. So we had to sit down and wait for them to come back to us. We blind-casted while we waited but sight-fished once the fish came back," said Ritter.

With the win-their second in the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour-the pair won another 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.

Ritter and Abruscato also won a $2,000 Ranger Cup award for winning the tourney in a Ranger boat and being Ranger Cup qualified.

Competing with the benefit of four days of practice, Turner and Reznicek Jr. travelled nearly 90 miles to reach their winning fish. Using Gulp! baits fished on sandy bottoms, the pair boated approximately 15 redfish in the area, including a pair of 7-plus-pound redfish - one each for the pair and caught at the same time - which anchored their winning weight.

In their third year of fishing the IFA Redfish Tour, Turner and Reznicek Jr. added 200 points to their IFA Texas Division point total, taking first place in the standings after two events. In 2008, the team finished third in the division's overall point standings.

Fishing on Knight's birthday, the team celebrated the occasion by competing in their third IFA Redfish Tour event. Entering the tournament following a limited amount of pre-fishing time, the team motored nearly 30 miles, catching 10 redfish from a small school using Berkley Gulp! Jerk Shads and a Spook Jr. A 7.22-pound kicker redfish anchored the pair's winning weight, cementing the win and garnering the pair the Rapala Big Fish Award, which includes a $500 cash prize and a $1,000 VIP gift certificate.

"The winning fish was caught on a black-and-silver Spook Jr. top-water bait. I threw it in there and it took three casts," Karaly said. "The first time he rolled on it, so I knew he was there. The second time he followed it about five feet and then knocked it out of the water; then it did a couple of back flips and landed and he wouldn't come after it again.

This one day event includes a Capt Meeting on July 3rd at 6:30pm at Laishley Park. The tournament begins at Safelight on Saturday from the Laishley Park Marina Basin. Weigh In opens at 1:30pm and all boats must return by 3:30pm.

The weigh in will be conducted under the Laishley Park Pavillion in front of the Fouth Fest Crowd.

The R,W,& B Tournament entry fee is $400 for a 2 angler team. The prizes will be determined by the weight of 2 redfish. First Place is $6,000 cash based on fifty participating teams. A total of $17,000 will be awarded in prize money. Anglers may use their bait of choice and wading is allowed.

Anglers launched from Delta Marine in Empire. The weather could not have been better for the 30 boat field! Light winds and bright sun made for an outstanding day for fishing the marsh. Anglers found plenty of fat redfish roaming the flats. A special thanks goes out to the owners and staff of Delta Marine for taking care of us and making us feel welcome!

The winning weight was caught by the team of Blake Champion and Mike Lambert with 16.23 lbs. earned $1,200 for their catch. Champion/Lambert had located two different schools of slot redfish near Delacroix, LA.

The team sorted through 35 fish between two different locations to reach their winning weight. The teams sponsors include Frontline Plus, Rejuvenade (which Champion stated really helped during the climbing temperatures of the day to keep their catch alive), Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, and Bayou Buck Lures.

In 2nd place was the team of Chris Kennedy and Steven Hooter (Team Cajun Color) and winning $760 for their efforts. Kennedy/Hooter also fished the Delacroix area targeting schooling redfish. “It was a great day of fishing!” stated Kennedy. Using Bayou Buck Spinner baits the team culled through several fish to reach their weight of to 15.99 lbs.

Rounding out the top 5 were 3rd place Jay Cedetal and T-Paul Dufrene (15.70 lbs., $470), 4th place,Todd Semar and James Pichoff (15.54 lbs., $315), 5th place Daren Angelo and Mitch Jurisch (15.47 lbs.,$255) and Big Fish honors got to Gary Rettig and Mike Anderson (9.05 lbs.,$280).

The GCAA is growing! Each event we have seen an increase in participation. We would like to thank all the anglers that have come out to support us and our goal to have a competitive tournament based on sportsmanship and fun.

Come join us at our next event in Empire, LA at Delta Marine on July 11th. We will be giving away another Carrot Stix Rod as a door prize along with many others.

The Gulf Coast Anglers Association is a brand new redfish tournament organization catering to anglers who want to experience a friendly competitive environment. Dwayne Mills (tournament director) is dedicated to the anglers’ desire to have a tournament organization that will showcase its anglers and provide a family atmosphere for all levels of anglers.

See www.gulfcoastanglersassociation.com for more details.

Here is a detailed list of the tournament results:

Place	Team	Fish	Points	Weight	Money Won	Big Fish
1	Blake Champion/Mike Lambert	2	200	16.23	$1200	8.14
2	Chris Kennedy/Steven Hooter	2	199	15.99	$760	8.07
3	Jay Cedotal/T-Paul Dufrene	2	198	15.70	$470	8.43
4	Todd Semar/James Pichoff	2	197	15.54	$315	8.08
5	Darren Angelo/Mitch Jurisch	2	196	15.47	$255	7.96
6	Gary Wilson/Gus Wilson	2	195	14.97	$150	7.66
7	Chris Schieble/Mike Bushman	2	194	14.85	 	7.50
8	Scott Ritter	2	193	14.60	 	7.71
9	Rocky Thickstun	2	192	14.15	 	7.20
10	Tommy Burke	2	191	14.07	 	7.65
11	Bill Landry/Chuck Moresi	2	190	13.86	 	7.17
12	Paul Smith/Mike Daves	2	189	13.81	 	7.04
13	Gary Rettig/Mike Anderson	2	188	13.56	$280	9.05
14	Barnie White/Steve White	2	187	13.39	 	8.53
15	Richard Rutland/Derick Rogers	2	186	12.80	 	6.69
16	Brandon Treadaway/Kevin Bergeron	2	185	12.48	 	6.75
17	Louis Houvenaeghel/Dale Angelo	2	184	12.32	 	5.92
18	Jason Miller/Barry Beech	2	183	12.29	 	7.45
19	Pat Reichley/Micky Glover	2	182	11.66	 	6.67
20	Larry Kirby/Renee Kirby	2	181	11.58	 	6.50
21	Jed Sellers/Andrew Annison	2	180	10.93	 	5.98
22	Erik Nelson/Brian Pugh	2	179	10.38	 	5.89
23	Blake Hoyt/Eddie Hoyt	2	178	9.62	 	5.34
24	Ronnie Daniels/Timmy Thrash	2	177	9.04	 	4.94
25	Ryan Pruett/Sean O'Connell	1	176	8.96	 	8.96
26	Jason McCrossen/Ricky Cantin	1	175	7.49	 	7.49
27	Tim Craft/Tim Craft	0	100	0.00	 	 
27	Lance Downey/Jason Manuel	0	100	0.00	 	 
27	Chad Adcox/Brian Fornea	0	100	0.00	 	 
27	Ray Reiser/Dwayne Mills	0	100	0.00	 	

Unfortunately, Rocks are pretty much trumping everything after two days of the second Redfish Cup event of the season.

Sonny Granger and Jake Matney posted an 18.16-pound stringer to move from second into first with a two-day total 35.44 pounds. The pair have been tight-lipped about what they were doing, only referring to a long trip to Sabine Marsh along the Texas/Louisiana border.

With only five teams left the information was a little more forthcoming.

Of those teams, only one is not concentrating on rock jetties. That is second-place team Ben Alderman and Ronnie Pitts. They added a 15.41 stringer to their 18.56 Day One weight for 33.96 total.

Erik Rue and Larry Puckett are third with 33.30 pounds, Chris Wittman and Tom Winrow are fourth with 32.57 and Rick Murphy and Geoff Page round out the five with 32 pounds even.

All the weights will be zeroed for Sunday’s final and the team that brings in the two largest fish will win the $40,000 top prize.

Odds are those redfish could come from around rocks. Interestingly, the five teams are for the most part fishing different jetty systems. Granger and Matney are sharing a jetty system with Murphy and Page at Sabine Pass. But Rue and Puckett are boating even deeper into Louisiana all the way into the jetties of Lake Calcaiseau. While Winrow and Wittman are sticking close to home fishing the jetties of Galveston Bay.

What started out looking like a potential battle of grass versus rocks, has turned into an almost nothing but rocks and a referendum on which jetty might be the best.

The only thing the grass has on its side is the event’s largest stringer, an 18.55-pound weight that Alderman and Pitts caught on Day One.

They caught those fish in a relative short amount of time, spending the rest of the day taking it easy on the way home. Day Two was much slower. Catching fish wasn’t the problem, but the 9-pounders of the day before became mostly 6-pounders on Day Two. It took the team three hours to peel out two 7-pound class fish and insure a spot in the final.

If that is the case on the final day, 15 pounds won’t be enough. All the teams with the exception of Alderman and Pitts weighed in a minimum of 16.58 pounds.

But rock jetties have pretty much been the constant factor in this event. After Day One it took almost 15 pounds to make the top 25. After Day Two that average fell to under 11 pounds.

There is a lot of local pressure on those jetties,’’ said Robert Scherer, who won here in 2007. He expected the weights to drop and hoped it would open the door for him and partner Blaine Friermood to move into the final. The pair did weigh 16.06 pounds and moved from 25th place to 9th place.

“I’m still not convinced those jetties will hold up after all the pressure that has been put on them and even more that will surely come on pretty Sunday afternoon where everyone in Houston will be wanting to go fishing.”

Day Two Results from Kemah, Texas

1 Sonny Granger - Jake Matney 17.28 18.16 35.44

2 Ben Alderman - Ronnie Pitts 18.55 15.41 33.96

3 Erik Rue - Larry Puckett 16.67 16.63 33.30

4 Chris Wittman - Tom Winrow 15.22 17.35 32.57

5 Rick Murphy - Geoffrey Page 15.42 16.58 32.00

6 Mike Frenette - Michael Frenette 16.90 14.73 31.63

7 Ryan Sweezy - Randy Weaver 14.46 16.74 31.20

8 Kris Walter - Randy Hendrick 15.64 14.94 30.58

9 Robert Scherer - Blaine Friermood 14.20 16.06 30.26

10 Trey Newton - Al Keller 16.00 13.45 29.45

11 Roland Martin - Steve Loyd 14.61 14.71 29.32

12 Sam Bertha Jr - Gary McKenzie 14.93 14.30 29.23

13 Jim Franklin - Mat Haag 16.89 12.20 29.09

14 Bo Johnson - Mike Del Duca 16.21 12.59 28.80

15 Dwayne Eschete - Mark Sepe 14.42 14.21 28.63

16 Jarrett Lombard - Leland Symonds 13.44 15.17 28.61

17 Bryan Watts - Greg Watts 15.52 12.40 27.92

18 Kevin Broussard - Cajun Phil Broussard 16.79 10.68 27.47

19 Chuck Howard - CJ Howard 15.60 11.73 27.33

20 Paul Jueckstock - Manny Perez 16.42 10.80 27.22

21 Jason Keating - Keith McBride 16.48 10.66 27.14

22 Greg DeVault - Bill DeVault 11.93 15.19 27.12

23 Andrew Bostick - John Landry 12.17 14.78 26.95

24 Jimmy Lloyd - Terry Thomas 14.05 12.56 26.61

25 Terry Seagraves - Sam Swett 14.01 12.55 26.56

26 Tim Young - Jason Catchings 14.44 11.62 26.06

27 Tadd Van Demark - Kevin Shaw 13.32 12.47 25.79

28 Chris Cenci - Tommy Derringer 11.78 13.85 25.63

29 Mike Friday - Danny Latham 15.88 9.72 25.60

30 Ray Van Horn - C.A. Richardson 16.52 8.89 25.41

31 David Christian - Charlie Paradoski 12.16 13.21 25.37

32 Ron Hueston - Chris Hueston 14.96 10.20 25.16

33 Cody Chivas - Kyle Chivas 13.13 11.97 25.10

34 Chuck Uzzle - Ozzie Lesinger 14.33 10.54 24.87

35 Charlie Thomason - Shane Pescay 10.78 13.59 24.37

36 Bill Pittman - Scott O'Brien 11.14 12.50 23.64

37 Heath Seckel - Brian Ulch 10.21 13.86 24.07

38 Alex Suescun - Mike Laramy 14.01 9.45 23.46

39 Ken Chambers - John Merriwether 11.27 11.67 22.94

40 Eric Taylor - Eric Holstman 13.65 9.28 22.93

41 Travis Holeman - Bryan Holeman 7.13 15.24 22.37

42 Jeff Pope - Brandon Buckner 7.39 14.72 22.11

43 John Ochs - David Crews 13.20 7.30 20.50

44 Blair Wiggins - Travis Tanner 12.60 6.71 19.31

45 John Henninger - Warren Girle 12.50 3.38 15.88

46 Richard Freund - Ralph Frazier 0.00 15.62 15.62

47 Nick Georgeopoulos - Shannon Haskell 11.06 4.06 15.12

48 Scott Ritter - Robert 'Bobby' Abruscato 9.85 4.80 14.65

49 Joe Crosby - Rick Steckelberg 7.05 7.50 14.55

50 Jon Loring Jr. - Ray Malone 13.95 0.00 13.95

51 Jason Hughey - Matt Ingram 12.79 0.00 12.79

52 Chief Tauzin - Clark Jordan 11.64 0.00 11.64

53 Joey Sostheim - Pete Turner 0.00 9.63 9.63

54 Paul Chavis - Blaine Peterson 6.75 0.00 6.75

55 Jim Prado - Steve Auld 0.00 3.01 3.01 56 Bill Faulkner - Kevin Mihailoff 0.00 0.00 0.00

“We stuck with the same game plan as yesterday,” Lessinger said. “On the first drift we didn’t see a single fish. I told Jeff that we needed to have a little faith and do it again. On our second drift we started seeing fish and that was the tournament.”

The decision to stick around proved to be the right one as Lessinger and Totten walked away with their first Redfish Cup victory. The next biggest bag of Day Three weighed in at 10 pounds even and belonged to Joe Crosby and Rick Steckelberg, good enough for second place.

Third place belonged to Richard Freund and Derek Carlson, with a final-day weight of 9.60 pounds. Travis and Cajun Phil Broussard stayed in fourth after putting up a two-fish limit that hit the scales at 9.39 pounds. Rounding out the top five teams fishing the final day were brothers Chris and Ron Hueston, who only managed one redfish at 3.10 pounds.

All five teams began the final day with their previous weights zeroed, which meant that everyone started on an even playing field. Lessinger and Totten had wire-to-wire victory in their sights, and despite the slow start to the day, once things heated up, they started pulling in the redfish at a remarkable rate for Punta Gorda.

“Jeff caught the first fish, a little 19-incher, but it got us started,” Lessinger said. “Then he hooks another fish around 6 pounds, followed by a 4-pounder, which left us at around 10 pounds. He followed up this little flurry by boating a 6.5-pounder, putting us over 12 pounds and in good shape.”

Even with a decent weight in the livewell, the duo knew that the competition could catch a 13-pound bag, so they had to keep trying to upgrade from the 6-pounder that was in the well. Each team was allowed to keep two fish that measured between 18 and 27 inches. Lessinger and Totten had one fish that was just inside the slot and the smaller 6-pounder, they wanted to cull one more time.

“As we were drifting we saw a group of about 30 to 40 fish and they started swimming away,” Totten said. “I made a wild cast in front of them and one turned on it. When it did that, the whole school started to turn. The fish was following it, a common occurrence all weekend, so I just stopped the bait and he ate it.”

The fish turned out to be just a hair shy of the 27-inch mark, a 7-plus pounder that cemented the victory for the two Florida guides.

The key all week was sight fishing with either a Berkley Gulp! Shrimp or a Gulp! Jerk Shad fished on a 1/8-ounce Mission Fishin’ weedless jighead. Lessinger and Totten fished near turtle grass in around 16-18 inches of water on a giant flat to boat the majority of their fish.

The second-place team of Crosby and Steckelberg, the only anglers in the competition from the state of Georgia, were the first team to weigh-in on Day Three, creating some drama in the hot seat as team after team failed to knock them off.

“Dude, we were about to die,” Crosby said. “Our emotions went from excitement to excruciating as the teams weighed in. Plain and simple, that weigh-in was exciting. That’s why we are here, that’s why we were sitting in that boat. If only we could have sat there a smidge longer.”

Steckelberg echoed his partners enthusiasm, “If they could make a pill that bottled up that feeling, they would be a millionaire.”

The pair fished a similar area and a similar pattern to the top team, focusing on South Pine Island near areas of sand with grass on top. On the first two days of competition, they utilized an Exude Dart rigged on a 1/8- or 3/16-ounce Swarming Hornet saltwater jighead. A switch on the final day to a Johnson spoon proved to be the ticket with more wind and cloud cover.

“The bite today came as you ripped the bait through the grass,” Steckelberg said. “They were really popping it.”

The next event in the Redfish Cup season takes place in Kemah, Texas, on May 29th-31st. For full coverage, photographs and standings from all the Redfish Cup events, visit RedfishCup.com. Television coverage from the first event in Punta Gorda, Fla., kicks off July 4th at 8:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2. For complete coverage please visit ESPNOutdoors.com.

The two events, which combined will leave fishermen almost $100,000.00 richer, marks the first time in a long time that teams from the IFA could conceivably fish the same area on consecutive Saturdays.

The Lafitte event, scheduled to launch at Seaway Marina will take place on April 25th, 2009.

The following Saturday, the IFA Gulf Division will fish their 2nd season event, with Division leaders Scott Ritter and Bobby Abruscato looking to build on their points lead.

That event will launch at Bay Marina on May 2nd, 2009.

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.

The IFA recently announced an addition to their program called the Ultra 6, where teams who fish 6 events in 2009 qualify for a special $5,000.00 shoot-out at the Championship.

NEW ORLEANS – On April 22, the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) will close at Bayou La Loutre near Hopedale in St. Bernard Parish, La. Inbound or outbound vessel traffic will no longer be able to safely travel through the area at the closure site. As the MRGO closure project nears completion, submerged rocks near the water’s surface make the channel hazardous for all navigation. Boaters are urged to use caution in the area around the rock closure structure and to use alternative routes for marine transit around the area.

Construction work at the closure site is progressing according to schedule. A rock closure structure is being built across the MRGO channel approximately 1,500 feet southeast of Bayou La Loutre. Construction plans include the placement of approximately 433,500 tons of stone materials to build a structure with a 12-foot top crown, a 450-foot bottom width, and top height of +8 feet NAVD 88. Channel bank tie-ins are 50 feet wide extending approximately 150-feet onto the south bank and 250-feet onto the north bank. Stone materials for the project are being obtained from a quarry in Arkansas and from a section of the south channel jetty in Breton Sound. Construction of the closure is scheduled to be completed in July.

The federal government is funding the construction costs, with the state government providing lands, easements and rights of way. After construction is completed, the state will assume long-term operation and maintenance responsibilities for the closure structure.

Future work in the area will include coastal wetlands restoration projects. The Corps is working closely with federal and state partners to produce a supplement to the MRGO closure plan that will address ecosystem restoration in areas affected by the MRGO channel. Potential plan features may include marsh creation, shoreline protection, barrier island rebuilding, and freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River.

For additional information on the MRGO, visit http://mrgo.usace.army.mil.

All team registration will be transferred to the May 2nd tournament date.

Registered teams that are unable to make the new date or need to change team composition must contact the CCA Louisiana office no later than 5p.m. on April 24th.

Tournament registration will remain open until May 1st.

Pre-tournament check in will be held at The Dock, from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Friday, May 1st followed by the captain’s meeting at 7 p.m.

Presented by Louisiana Fish Fry and Cabela’s

The Dock, 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell

2007 was the largest field in redfish tournament history

2008 was the 2nd largest field in redfish tournament history

2009…new details, new host facility and hopefully a new record

Teams of 1, 2 or 3 fish for 2 heavy redfish between 16” and 27” (live weigh in). Fish entered will be tagged by CCA Louisiana & the Aquarium of the Americas and released in the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary.

$300 per team if registered by April 10th, 2009.

CASH paid, 1st thru 25th place

*Payout
1st $12,000 
2nd $5,000 
3rd $4,000 
4th $3,000 
5th $2,000 
6th $1,000 
7th $900 
8th $800 
9th $750 
10th $700 
11th $600 
12th $550 
13th $525 
14th $500 
15th $450 
16th $400 
17th $375 
18th $350 
19th $325 
20th $300 
21st $300 
22nd $300 
23rd $300 
24th $300 
25th $300 

For more information and to register, visit CCALouisiana.com or call 225-952-9200.