With three solid top 10 finishes, the team of Capt. Chris Kohnert and Steve Cowart clinched the IFA Redfish Tour's Texas Division on Saturday, June 10th. With finishes including 8th at Galveston on March 25th, 5th at Port Aransas on April 29th, and 2nd at Port O'Connor on June 10th, the pair racked up 588 points, outdistancing 2nd place team of Kevin Shaw and Paul Braly at 581 points. The team receives a set of entry fees for a division in 2007, and is the first team of six to qualify for the Six Divisional Fish-off at the IFA 2006 Championship this November.

The winner of that head-to-head competition will receive cash incentives and a check for $5,000.00 from Cabela's, and the prestigious IFA Cabela's Team of the Year Trophies.

Valley native and local fishing guide Chris Kohnert, from South Padre Island and Steve Cowart, a businessman from Fairoaks Ranch near San Antonio, are fishing their rookie season with the IFA. "We decided to jump in and planned to fish at least 3 seasons, and the IFA has been nothing but great to us. No matter what happens, we plan to fish every IFA event that comes to our region." said Kohnert.

"The IFA showed us such respect, and this is our freshman year, so we won't forget that. We rounded up some sponsors, got a little backing, and of course we are looking to partner with a sponsor who we can really promote in the next couple of seasons."

Kohnert's website, located at www.spi4fish.com has contact information.