Team Craven/Sheldon Wins IFA Redfish Tour Event at Georgetown, South Carolina
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Danny Sheldon, of Newberry, Florida, and Kyle Craven, of Macclenny, Florida weighed a two-fish limit that totaled 8.57 pounds to win the first regular-season event for the Atlantic Division of the IFA Redfish Tour presented by Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s on April 27 at Georgetown, South Carolina. The team won a fully rigged Ranger RB190 boat prize package powered by a 90-horsepower, four-stroke Mercury outboard.
The team has shown tremendous consistency by winning back-to-back IFA Redfish Tour events. In addition to the Georgetown event, Sheldon and Craven took first place at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on April 13. The anglers have been good friends for 15 years and hunt and fish for fun together but had previously fished competitively with other team members. With Craven’s former partner deciding to hang it up and Sheldon’s partner welcoming a new baby to the family, the two joined together and have dominated each event they have entered.
“We spend a lot of time together,” said Sheldon. “Kyle is a really good angler and he loves it like I do. We make a good team.”
With no opportunity to pre-fish, the team relied on Craven’s past experience fishing Georgetown. Their day began with boat trouble, but some duct tape and tie wraps saved the day. With a shaky motor at best, the anglers continued on but without much confidence in making a long run.
“We were concerned about how for to run with a motor that wasn’t 100 percent,” said Sheldon. “We stopped short of where we were going to fish at spot that Kyle had actually never fished before. It ended up being a good area so we stayed there all day. We probably caught 25 fish.”
The anglers sight-fished to groups in the morning and switched to throwing popping corks in the afternoon when the wind picked up. Their go-to bait was a Berkley Gulp! shrimp.
“There are so many different variables and so many good anglers that you have to have a lot of things go your way just to win one,” said Sheldon. “To win two events back-to-back is surreal. We both have a lot of experience and we both love it and work hard, so it’s real rewarding to have this happen and we are grateful for it.”
The team added another prize boat to their collection along with $2,100 in Anglers Advantage cash for a total of $29,535 in winnings. For both events, the team has taken home more than $58,000 in winnings.
Second-place finishers Stan Allen, of Tybee, Georgia, and Geoffrey Payne, of Andrews, South Carolina, weighed a total of 7.80 pounds. The team ran to fish the Charleston area with Berkley Gulp! and spoons. In total, Allen and Payne took home $3,585 in winnings.
Andre Demoux and Daniel Hill weighed 7.76 pounds to take third place and $2,296 in winnings. Reed Simmons and Jack Sisson failed to boat a second fish, but their 4.63-pound redfish won the $500 Berkley Gulp! Big Redfish along with $250 in Berkley products for catching the heaviest redfish on Berkley Gulp! baits.
The next stop for the IFA Redfish Tour is set for Crystal River, Florida, on May 18. 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 – Atlantic Division
Georgetown, S.C. (Top 10)
- Kyle Craven/Danny Sheldon – 8.57 .lbs
- Stan Allen/Geoffrey Payne – 7.80 .lbs
- Andre DeMoux/Daniel Hill – 7.76 .lbs
- Hank Edwards/Ian Mathews – 7.76 .lbs
- John Livingston/Jordan Brock – 7.44 .lbs
- Michael Rouhselang/Shane Day – 7.39 .lbs
- Glenn Finley/Dodd Wood – 7.34 .lbs
- Roger Harrelson/Jonathan Harrelson – 7.07 .lbs
- Derek Taylor/Brian Goude – 6.97 .lbs
- Chuck Lather/Casey O’Connell – 6.77 .lbs
