Capt. Ryan Rickard, winner of the first Redfish Cup, is back for his fourth helping.
“The only four-timer. I’m pretty blessed to be in that position,” Rickard said. “This is the first time I’ll be able to fish with my actual saltwater partner instead of a bass guy.”
Elite pro Chris Zaldain and Rickard won the 2021 event in Port Aransas, Texas, and they almost repeated there, finishing second to Ed Adams and Sean O’Connell. Last year, Rickard and Elite Justin Atkins were seventh at Georgetown, S.C.
This year, Rickard teams with Pat Marsonek after a spectacular year together.
“Pat and I have had such a phenomenal year,” he said. “Matter of fact, supposedly, we had the best redfishing year in the entire history of redfishing. We have four wins this year, with two majors and two team of the years.”
That double qualified them to this event. Famously, Rickard had 17 runner-up finishes before breaking through with his first win in the Bassmaster event, which just may have opened the floodgates of success.
“It’s just really taken off since,” he said. “I hope that’s what it is. I always hear when you get that first one under your belt, it kind of starts rolling.”
Rickard’s second-place finishes are now up to 26, but a handful of wins have given him a winning mindset, where before he had doubts.
“You internalize it. Is it ever going to happen?” he said. “I fish the same way, practice the same way, it’s just one of those things.”
Rickard has his eyes on becoming the first two-time Redfish Cup champion, and he said his partner is a hammer and “just the right fit.” Marsonek feels the same about Rickard.
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner,” Marsonek said. “It doesn’t matter what state we’re in, he finds them.”
“I’m super excited,” Rickard said. “The practice has not been great, but it sounds like everybody has been struggling a little bit with quality, not necessarily quantity.”
Emcee Dave Mercer will have another “over” to have fun with on stage. Marsonek stands 6-foot-5, giving him further vision to pinpoint targets.
“I’m not a small guy, but he makes me feel small,” Rickard said. “He’s a big’un. His hands are about three times the size of mine.”
It’s yet to be seen if they can do big things in this Redfish Cup.
