2008 Redfish Cup Championship Taken By Finley/Wood

After securing a two‐fish limit during both days of competition weighing a combined 27 .08 pounds, the team of Glenn Finley and Dodd Wood captured the 2008 IFA Redfish Tour Championship on Saturday in Panama City Beach, Fla. Faced with clear‐water fishing conditions unlike those in their native South Carolina, the two targeted deeper water during the two‐day championship event.

After weighing in one of the tournament’s largest fish on day one (a 7.43‐pound redfish), the team edged out the second‐place team of Jay Cedotal and Chad Dufrene, who finished with 26.92 pounds. Cedotal and Dufrene, who had the highest finish of the six regular‐season division winners, captured the Team of the Year Award.

“This is our first time fishing Panama City Beach. We came in the Sunday before the tournament started to pre‐fish and we caught only a handful,” Finley said. “We have a bass fishing background and really had to go back to that to help us find the fish. We had to fish deeper water.”

With the win, the Finley and Wood team were awarded a new Ranger 173 Ghost powered by a 115‐horsepower, four‐stroke Yamaha outboard, equipped with a Power Pole shallow‐water anchor, Minn Kota trolling motor and Humminbird electronics. The prize boat is valued at $34,000.

Rounding out the Top 3 finishing teams, the team of Pete Dixon and Ron Hobbs finished with 26.90 pounds over two days, putting them .02 pounds behind second‐place finishers Cedotal and Dufrene. Dixon and Hobbs, natives of Jacksonville, Fla., stayed close during the tournament, but were unable to break the seven‐pound barrier during the two‐day event.

More than 250 anglers from six different divisions and from across the Gulf and Atlantic coasts competed for the 2008 IFA Redfish Tour Championship. These two‐angler teams qualified for the no‐entry‐fee IFA Redfish Tour Championship by fishing a minimum of three IFA Redfish Tour events during 2008.

A Premier Sporting Tour For All Types of Anglers

The IFA Redfish Tour continues to draw redfish anglers from across the southeast, 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, the events 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.

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans safely tagged and released 281 redfish of the 283 caught during the event. The results of the tagging will aid in conservation efforts for redfish in the future, helping to ensure healthy redfish populations and a successful recreational fishing industry in the Panama City Beach area.

“Once again, Panama City Beach provided the ideal backdrop for the IFA Redfish Tour Championship,” said the IFA Redfish Tour’s Bart Schad. “With our conservation efforts in place, our goal is for our events to not only provide a competitive outlet

for serious anglers but also to leave the tournament site and fishing waters in better shape than they were when we arrived. I know we have succeeded.”

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