I can remember like it was just yesterday—45 teams at a Captain's meeting at Mosquito Lagoon Outfitters in Titusville, Florida. The very first IFA Pro Redfish Tournament was underway. That was over five years ago. Grady Warren, tournament director at the time, stood on stage and spoke about the sport of redfishing and where he was going to take it. We were all amused that there was any way redfishing could be as big as B.A.S.S. He went on to talk about tournament fishing, how B.A.S.S. was growing old and the people were screaming for something new and exciting. What could be more exciting, he explained, than stalking those hard-pulling, drag-screaming, rod-bending redfish.

After three years of successful and exciting tournaments, ESPN came knocking. The people of JM & Associates, production group for ESPN and Bassmasters, called Grady and asked if they could come to the IFA Cocodrie, Louisiana event to film and air on ESPN. You can imagine the surprise of the anglers to see Tommy Sanders and Jose Wejebe arriving to host the festivities. It aired as the very first ESPN Redfish Cup. The show was a hit and sparked a lot of interest from viewers. I can still hear Grady telling me, "I told you so..."

JM & Associates began their quest for partnerships. Irwin Jacobs and Ranger Boats were approached to work a deal, but declined. Apparently, WalMart and Ranger Boats were the key sponsors of the FLW B.A.S.S. tour. Triton Boats, Mercury Marine and ESPN are the key sponsors of Bassmasters. JM & Associates were and are responsible for all filming and editing of the Bassmasters events. With all the politics involved, JM found a more willing audience with Triton and Mercury Marine. The ESPN Redfish Cup had officially begun. In response, Grady Warren felt that JM had used the IFA to duplicate their concept and create their own professional tournament.

During the first official Redfish Cup Captain's meeting, for the event in Port Aransas, Texas, Jerry McKinnis with JM & Associates stood on stage and explained how the ESPN Redfish Cup had evolved. My partner for this event happened to be Grady Warren and he was devastated by the announcement. Grady's vision of professional redfishing on a national level had come to fruition; just not with his organization, the IFA.

The IFA continued on and is still going strong to this day. Yamaha and Ranger are their title sponsors. O'Boy Oberto, Mercury Marine, and Triton Boats are the title sponsors for the ESPN Redfish Cup. Both are aired on national television; the Cup with ESPN and the IFA on OLN. After these major sponsors signed on, Grady Warren retired from the IFA and was replaced by Arthur Allison as tournament director.

Six years after it all began, WalMart and FLW are introducing their own professional tournament for the 2005 season. Irwin Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors, said "The WalMart FLW Redfish Series will help to further propel the sport of professional redfish angling into the national spotlight."

Now you can see that the vision Grady Warren had six years ago has become a reality. Where it took professional bass fishing 20 years to evolve, redfishing has seen a six year growth in comparison, with over a 500% increase in tournament purses over this period.

I am proud to be a part of this evolution. With more redfish tournament wins than any other angler to date, and the launch of my own television show on Sunshine Network, "Inshore Fishing Techniques", perhaps we all have the excitement of this sport and these wonderful creatures, the redfish, to thank for this progression.