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Top Two Teams From IFA Sarasota Event Disqualified For Rules Infractions.


Posted by stardot on Sunday, July 20 @ 09:01:38 MDT

Call it a very expensive mistake, which even still, could have been worse.

At the IFA Sarasota event on July 19th, 2008, the winning team of Scott Peters, Jr. and Mac Gregory weighed in two fish over seven pounds for a 14.33 pound total. Catching their fish on silver spoons, gold spoons, and Berkley Gulp baits, the pair were thrilled to be recognized and awarded the win at Sarasota’s Centennial Park. The victory celebrations were cut short however, when the team realized that they had inadvertently violated IFA’s Rule 7 which states in part:




The consuming or transporting of any alcoholic beverages or drugs (other than prescription or OTC drugs) during official tournament hours, on any tournament angler's boat is prohibited…



Peters and Gregory stepped forward and admitted that they had found a single container of beer in their boat’s cooler under the ice and other drinks. While they did not consume any beer during the event, the infraction is a clear violation of IFA rule 7, and resulted in the team being disqualified.


Then in a shocking turn of events, the second place team who then would have been awarded the win, notified Tournament Director Jerry Stakely that their team had also violated the same rule by having beer in their boat during the event. Mickey Gibbs and Jeremy Heimes, who weighed in 14.22 pounds at the Park, also were not accused of any wrongdoing or cheating, in that it was a case where they just weren’t paying close attention to rule number 7.


“This reminds me of a PGA Golf event where a guy is out there out of sight, with just his caddy. A guy who makes a penalty, and then comes out of the woods and calls it on himself, show true integrity. This is a great example of two things, here. First, it is critical that the teams pay very close attention to the rules and read them and understand them. Every angler signs a statement they have read and that they understand the rules. Every brochure has a copy of the rules, and they are on our web site.”


“Second, it shows true sportsmanship; continued Stakely, “We’ve seen that again and again over the years with a lot of anglers that we admire. All of these guys want to win, and at the end of the day for a team to step up and say ‘Hey, I made a mistake here and want you to know about it’, well that just makes me proud to shake their hands and let them know we’ll welcome them at the next event. It wasn’t an intentional violation, but just a very expensive case of not being careful enough with the rules.”


Official results have not been released yet, but pending adjustments will likely involve some check amounts being increased, and more checks being issued to teams who thought they finished out of the money.


Redfish Country would like to commend these two teams on their honorable actions. That’s the very definition of Honor.



“Doing the right thing, no matter how much it costs you.”

Peters and Gregory stepped forward and admitted that they had found a single container of beer in their boat’s cooler under the ice and other drinks. While they did not consume any beer during the event, the infraction is a clear violation of IFA rule 7, and resulted in the team being disqualified