BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Ryan Rickard has faced stiff competition before, but he’s anticipating a top-tier shootout when the Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter returns to Port Aransas, Texas.

Competition days will be Nov. 7-9 with daily takeoffs from Fisherman’s Wharf at 6:30 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day back at the wharf at 2:45 p.m. With a catch-weigh-release format, each team will be allowed to bring in two fish per day within the 20- to 28-inch Texas slot limit.

The cumulative three-day weights will determine the winning team, and the top prize of $75,000 will be awarded at the end of the competition.

Rickard won the 2021 Redfish Cup Championship — also at Port Aransas — alongside Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Chris Zaldain. This year, he teams with his Power-Pole Redfish Trail Team of the Year partner Patrick Marsonek.

With a second-place finish at the 2022 Redfish Cup Championship, again held at “Port A,” history certainly favors Rickard, but the Brandon, Fla., pro said he’s making no assumptions. If anything, Rickard’s looking forward to the challenge.

“This is the most stacked field we’ve ever seen,” Rickard said. “I know all the guys who are in this event and I know how they like to fish. This will be a very diverse tournament and that should make it very interesting for fans.”

This year’s event features six championship-caliber redfish teams and four hybrid teams, which will pair a redfish pro with an Elite Series angler. Representing the Elite Series are reigning Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour champion Easton Fothergill, Australian pro Carl Jocumsen, Bryant Smith and Tyler Williams.

The playing field is a big one, with tournament waters stretching from Port O’Connor, south to Bird Island in the Laguna Madre. This area includes several major bays, islands, oyster bars, marsh habitat and passes accessing the Gulf of Mexico.

“I think every area and every single style of fishing will come into play,” Rickard said. “The previous two times this event was held at Port Aransas, for the vast majority of time, we all liked to fish those grass flats with potholes and all the bait flow; but you have a lot of different guys this year that fish differently.

“I think that some of the northern areas might come into play, as well as the traditional guys that like to run all the way down south and get into the Laguna Madre.”

Rickard said he expects to find the Texas redfish in late-summer/early-fall transition. With water temperatures cooling, the fish will be leaving the deeper dropoffs where they spend much of the hot summer months in favor of the shallow flats where they can feed more easily.

“Those flats have a mix of pinfish, shrimp, mullet, crabs and pogies,” Rickard said. “There’s also a lot of needlefish, some ballyhoo and flatworms, as well. So, there’s a mixture of things these fish will be keyed in on.”

Rickard’s favorite redfish baits — paddletail jigs and weedless spoons — will be common choices among the field, as these baits allow anglers to cover water with a simple cast-and-wind presentation. Sizes and colors are determined by depth and water clarity, but in any scenario, Rickard suggests enhancing baits with scented gel.

“There will not be a single day where I won’t have the Pro-Cure Inshore Salt Water formula on my baits,” he said. “We’ll also see some topwater baits because, in that transitional time when those fish are pulling up on the flats, they will be looking up a little bit because of those ballyhoo, needlefish and mullet. My partner likes a Z-Man Kicker CrabZ, so we’ll see a lot of different baits play.”

While tidal flushing feels more pronounced near coastal passes, the Texas coast sees relatively small tides. Wind, on the other hand, can play a significant role in daily redfish behavior.

“A lot of us will be fishing grass flats, which will keep the water clean,” Rickard said. “If it’s windy, the water might get a little smoky (with sediment), which I tend to like. It’s clean, but it’s just not clear.

“In areas that don’t have a lot of grass to filter the water, if the wind really kicks up, it might make those areas a lot more murky. That doesn’t necessarily mean the fishing will be bad in those murky areas, but you will need to use some baits with more vibration like spoons, spinnerbaits, lipless baits and bladed jigs so the fish can feel them with their lateral lines.”

As Rickard notes, wind direction can prove just as impactful as its velocity. Tournament waters are flanked by long barrier islands with infrequent inlets, so a strong blow can create a bathtub effect.

“If you have a constant south wind, which is the typical flow of south Texas, and you get a cold front that completely flips (the wind direction), it could blow all the water in or out,” Rickard said. “That could be a really big thing because we could be practicing on a specific wind direction with a specific water level, but we might not have that on tournament day.

“The tides are minimal in this fishery, because the inlets that produce the tides are so few and far between, so it’s almost like a pendulum with the wind. If it blows one direction, it’ll blow it all out; if it blows another direction, it’ll blow it all in.”

While most of the field will likely stick to the interior habitat elements, Rickard said the jetties at Port O’Connor or Port Aransas will likely see some level of attention. As he pointed out, Michael Frenette and Mark Robinson won the 2024 Redfish Cup Championship at Florida’s Apalachicola Bay mostly by fishing the Government Cut jetties.

“You really have to know how to fish the jetties, but that can be where you find some really heavy fish,” Rickard said. “There are only a few passes (within tournament boundaries) where all the fish are coming in and going out, so that could be a big-time play for someone.

“Whether that stays consistent for multiple days, I don’t know. Usually, those jetty fish are the oversized fish, but if someone catches those slot-sized fish at the jetty, the rest of us might be in trouble.”

No question, variables are many and the pressure to perform will be sky high. However, everyone in the field is well acquainted with fierce competition and Rickard said the winning anglers will be the ones that best manage the pressure and execute on their game plan.

“Stay calm and stay focused, because there’s no telling what we’re going to get in terms of conditions,” Rickard said. “If you get off your game plan, you’re gonna start fishing scattered and you’re gonna start fishing really fast. If you get desperate, that’s gonna be a disaster.”

Tournament teams will be seeking high-slot redfish in the 7-plus-pound range. In 2021, Rickard and Zaldain won with a three-day total of 43 pounds, 4 ounces. A year later, Sean O’Connell and Edward Adams took first place with 48-3.

All of the action can be found live on Bassmaster.com as well as on Roku throughout the three-day event.

This event is being hosted by Port Aransas Fisherman’s Wharf.

2025 Redfish Cup Championship Title Sponsor: Yamaha
2025 Redfish Cup Championship Presenting Sponsor: Skeeter Boats