Anglers take home more than $28,000 in winnings
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. –Nathan Kicklighter, of Melrose, Florida, and Nick Allen, of Gainesville, Florida, weighed a two-fish limit that totaled 13.94 pounds to win the final regular-season event for the Florida West Division of the IFA Redfish Tour presented by Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s on August 24, at Steinhatchee, Florida. The team won a fully rigged Ranger RB190 boat prize package powered by a 90-horsepower, four-stroke Mercury outboard.
The team prepared for the tournament by pre-fishing the area all week.
“We caught good fish every day,” said Allen. “We found our fish the first thing in the morning and had our limit by 9:00 a.m. We also caught a dozen oversized as well.”
Running south for 30 miles from takeoff, the anglers boated their winning limit with Berkley Gulp! and gold spoons. Their 7.62-pound redfish was the heaviest of the tournament and won the $500 Berkley Big Redfish award, along with $250 in Berkley products. In total the team walked away with $28,650 in winnings.
Second-place finishers Karl Butigian and Brandon Murphy, both of Port Charlotte, Florida, weighed 13.52 pounds to win a total of $3,792. The team fished both north and south of the takeoff and experienced a tough day on the water due to being unfamiliar with the area.
Despite their inexperience around Steinhatchee, the duo did get on some quality fish and enjoyed their day on the water.
“The redfish were with the jacks,” said Butigian. “So we just looked for jacks and fished them. We fished clean and caught a lot of fish. We couldn’t be happier being our first time here.”
The team boated their limit on Berkley Gulp! shrimp and gold spoons.
Third-place finishers Cody Chivas and Ernie Rubio weighed 13.46 pounds to take home $3,643, which included $1,455 in Anglers Advantage cash.
The next stop for the IFA Redfish Tour is set for Venice, Louisiana, October 18-19 for the 2019 championship event. Teams that compete in at least two regular-season events will be qualified for the 2019 IFA Redfish Tour Championship.
IFA events are made possible through the sponsorship and continued support of these well-respected brands: Hobie Fishing, Ranger Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Mercury Marine, Garmin, Berkley Gulp!, Berkley Gulp! Alive!, PENN Reels, Spiderwire, Navionics, Power-Pole, Valley Fashions, T-H Marine, ATLAS, G-Juice, and Powertex Group.
For more information or to become a member of the IFA, visit www.ifatours.com.
IFA Redfish Tour – Florida West Division
Steinhatchee, Florida (Top 10)
- Nick Allen/Nate Kicklighter – 13.94 .lbs
- Karl Butigian/Brandon Murphy – 13.52 .lbs
- Cody Chivas/Ernie Rubio – 13.46 .lbs
- Shane Reed/Brian Brumuller – 12.71 .lbs
- Jeff Taylor/Rick Pena – 12.61 .lbs
- Sam Roberts/Chase Daniel – 12.44 .lbs
- Ashley Mock/Matt Wiles – 11.69 .lbs
- Steve Johnson/Todd Drew – 11.66 .lbs
- Rob Ferris/Donnie Johnson – 11.53 .lbs
- Robbie Hunziker/Tadd VanDemark – 11.48 .lbs
