B.A.I.T. News

POWERS AND WEST WIN BAIT CLASSIC ON CHEROKEE

Cherokee Lake in Morristown, TN hosted BAIT's 10th Classic. It was our biggest turnout to date! 167 boats from seven states registered for the two day event. Our kick-off dinner and registration was held at the VFW Hall in Morristown and all enjoyed the great BBQ dinner. Angler of the Year plaques were handed out to the winners and a tournament rules meeting followed.

Preceding the blast off we enjoyed the singing of our National Anthem by Donna Nickels and a prayer by Joe Lee. Blast off started at 7:15 am. Weigh-in started at 3:00 pm. The weather was foggy, cold and windy. The wind and cold continued for both days.

Ten of the top twelve finishers were local teams. First place winners were Craig Powers and John West of the TN-I division. Their first day's catch of 13.03 lbs added to the second of 14.24 lbs made the highest weight of the tournament of 27.27 lbs. They beat second place by 3.8 lbs. The grand prize was a new NITRO Z-8 boat equipped with a 200 HP MERCURY OPTIMAX and trailer valued at $35,000. Congratulations!!

Second place winners were Doug and David Winchell, also from the TN-I division. Their two day total weighed 23.47 lbs and they took home $10,000 for their efforts!

The rest of the winners were as follows:

Place	Winners	Division	Weight	Winnings
3rd	Brian Holt & Guy Siler	TN-I	22.52 lbs	$4,000
4th	Bryant & Bill Ailor	TN-I	21.45	2,000
5th	Kent Lodari & Steve Miracle	TN-I	20.80	1,500
6th	Ott DeFOE & Jason Nichols	TN-I	20.21	1,000
7th	Chris Baxter & Todd Goade	SC-I	20.15	1,000
8th	Dale Pelfry & Greg Crass	TN-I	19.64	1,000
9th	Joey Nichols & Ed Lewis	GA-III	19.31	1,000
10th	Jamie Saylor & John Justice	TN-I	19.26	1,000

Additional cash prizes went to 11th through 34th place. The 35th place team of Jimmy Hoskins and Randy Ramsey won a KOOLWELL COOLING SYSTEM from the KOOLWELL factory representative.

The Lunker winners on day one were: Largemouth, the team of Bill and Bryant Ailor 5.87lbs and Smallmouth, the team of Rusty Satterfield and Mark Rogers 3.67lbs. The second day Lunker winners were; Largemouth, Darren Adams 4.45lbs and Smallmouth, the team of Joey Nichols and Ed Lewis 4.10lbs. Each Lunker team won $830.

Total cash and prizes paid out was in excess of $77,000. Congratulations to all our winners and many thanks to all our fishermen and women for making this America's Best Team Trail!

Many thanks to Maria Fisher and the Hamblen County Chamber of Commerce for their generous support and Joe and Missy Lee of Sportsmen's Ministries for their food and fellowship.

The 2010 BAIT Classic will be held at Joe Wheeler State Park on Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Alabama on September 24th and 25th.

God Bless and remember to take a kid fishing!