B.A.I.T. News

On Tuesday and Wednesday, two days before the Classic was to begin, the gas prices went sky high. We had anglers from Alabama calling to tell us that there was a limitation of 10 gallons of gas per individual. We knew the numbers would be down this season due to the economy, but even with this, we had 75 boats to make the Classic to beautiful Columbus, Ms.

14.47 lb. of fish was brought in on the 1st day by the winners, Mike Langford and Tommy Barton, and on the 2nd day they brought in 10.03 lb with the winning total of 24.50 lb. According to them, they caught their fish on a nitro frog. They won a 2009 210 Super Pro Craft Boat, with 200 Optimax Mercury Outboard Engine worth $35,000.00. Trailing not far behind, was Denny Walden and Ivan Shelton, with 23.76 lb. of fish, coming in second, and winning $8,000.00. Jerry Gilliam and Nick Harmon, won $4,000.0, coming in third place with 22.22 lb. of fish. Ott DeFOE, who fished by himself, had 22.10 lb. of fish and took home $2,000.00. In fifth place, Danny Leibecki and Daniel Moody, with 21.05, won $1,000.00. They have been Classic Winners in the Past and have been very consistent every year they have fished with B.A.I.T. and to prove this point, they won $1,000.00 for big lunker the first day of the tournament. There were no small mouth caught ( these waters are not well known for small mouth), so B.A.I.T. paid 2 places for large mouth for both days. Danny and Daniel won both places the first day with a 5.45 lb. and a 4.77 lb. large mouth. And, get this, John Russell and Jessee Bankston, won $500 for a 5.55 lb large mouth on the 2nd day and Brent Austin and Isbell Justin, also won $500 on the second day with a 5.07 lb large mouth and all of the lunker winners are from the AL III Division. Good job guys. Go to trail standings on the front page to view all the Classic results. There were 16 places paid total.

Everybody seemed to have a great time, we, the staff of B.A.I.T did and want to express to the City of Columbus, MS., we appreciate the hospitality that we and the anglers received.

We look forward to the 2009 Season. We will be holding the 2009 Classic on the Cherokee Lake, in Morristown Tn. So start making your plans, anglers, for the whole family. Cherokee Lake is located not far from the Great Smoky Mountains. Your family can enjoy Pigeon Forge, Tn. where Dollywood is located, and Gatlinburg, Tn. Happy Fishing to all the divisions of B.A.I.T. for the 2009 Season, and don't forget our motto,

"Take a kid fishing".