Team Barton/Barton claims Texas Division Championship with eighth-place finish in region’s final regular-season event of 2009
 
LIZELLA, Ga. (September 18, 2009) – Brett Phillips and Mike Patterson, both of Rockport, Texas, weighed in a two-redfish limited that totaled 14.85 pounds to win the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour event at Port Aransas, Texas, on September 12. To win the one-day event, which launched from Port Aransas City Marina, Phillips and Patterson bested a field of other two-angler teams en route to claiming the final regular-season event in the Texas Division.

No strangers to the area by virtue of their work as charter guides, the pair targeted an area that had been a hotspot for customers in recent weeks. Despite not having any customers during the week preceding the tournament, the pair did not return to the tournament waters or the area to practice.
 
“We just left it alone,” said Phillips, who has been fishing the IFA Redfish Tour for seven years. “We caught maybe 10 or 12 fish out there, just using Rapala Skitter Walk topwaters. The ones with the blue bodies and the silver bottoms really produced for us.”
 
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 second-place team of David Pena and Hector Galvan, both of Corpus Christi, Texas, brought 14.73 pounds to the scales at Port Aransas, anchored by a 7.54-pound kicker redfish. Fishing in their first-ever IFA Redfish Tour tournament, the longtime fishing partners boated five fish on the day – all caught on Berkley Gulp! shrimp.
 
“We threw everything we had at them,” Pena said. “We’ve been fishing a lot lately and had a game plan that we wanted to stick to. It worked but we didn’t think 14 pounds would be enough with all the fish we had been catching. We thought we needed at least 15 pounds and expected to catch that.”
 
The third-place team of Eddie Curry and Skipper Mock weighed in a two-fish limit that tipped the scales at 14.33 pounds.
 
While Phillips and Patterson took home the tournament win and the $1,500 Rapala Big Fish Award for their 8.15-pound redfish, they weren’t the only winners at Port Aransas. The team of Charlie and Jack Barton finished in eighth place at Port Aransas, securing enough points to claim the 2009 IFA Redfish Tour Texas Division Team of the Year title. By winning this highly contested title, the team is automatically qualified to compete for the Cabela’s Overall Divisional Team of the Year Award at November’s IFA Redfish Tour Championship in Orange Beach, Ala. In addition, Allen Kalisky and Billy Blackwood parlayed a ninth-place finish into the $1,000 Ranger Cup Award as the high-finishing Ranger Cup-qualified team in the field as well as a $100 SolarBat prize.
 
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.
 
Added this year as an incentive for the very active anglers capitalizing on the opportunities to fish close to home for big money and valuable prizes, teams fishing at least six tournaments in any combination of divisions are automatically eligible to compete for the IFA Redfish Tour “Ultra 6” award. The award consists of a $5,000 cash prize, presented to the highest-finishing eligible team at the IFA Redfish Tour championship tournament.
 
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, Hobie Fishing, 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, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and Port Aransas Chamber or Commerce and Port Aransas City Marina.
 
IFA Texas Division
Port Aransas, Texas (Top 10)
1.     Phillips/Patterson – 14.85 lbs.

2.     Pena/Galvan – 14.73 lbs.

3.     Curry/Mock – 14.33 lbs.

4.     Clark/Tauzin – 14.29 lbs.

5.     Ledwick/White – 13.99 lbs.

6.     Foster/Perry – 13.51 lbs.

7.     Lara/Perez – 13.16 lbs.

8.     Barton/Barton – 12.97 lbs.

9.     Kalisky/Blackwood – 12.61 lbs.

10. Pinter/Howell – 12.34 lbs.
 
Ranger Cup Award ($1,000): Kalisky/Blackwood
Rapala Big Fish ($1,500): Phillips/Patterson – 8.15 lbs.
SolarBat Prize ($100): Kalisky/Blackwood
 
IFA Redfish Tour Texas Division – 2009 Final Point Standings
1.     Barton/Barton – Texas Division Team of the Year
2.     Shaw/VanDemark
3.     Hatten/Sills