B.A.I.T. News

Greetings From Italy!

Saturday April 23, 2011 turned out to be a beautiful day on Lake Richard B. Russell. Eleven boats showed up to compete for B.A.I.T. GA-I's sixth tournament of the season. Among the 11 boats were two very special guests that showed up to fish with us; Luca Quintavalla from Italy and Mark Curry with Tracker Marine. Sunny DeFOE, President of B.A.I.T., and Bud DeFOE, founder of B.A.I.T., took time to fish the GA-I Division tournament and meet with Mark and Luca.

Luca Quintavalla is a Professional Angler and guide from Italy. He has many sponsors just like many professional anglers here in the U.S. Mark Curry is a regional sales representative for Tracker Marine.

I took time to ask a few questions about how fishing is different over there across seas. Luca told me that in Italy there are many small lakes and because of this they receive a lot of fishing pressure. He says there are many big bass despite the fishing pressure. However there are many restrictions in Italy on the small lakes. Many lakes have speed limit restrictions, idle zones and horsepower limitations in certain areas. Because of this Luca Quintavalla has one of the most decked out Tracker Pro Team 185's (aluminum boat). He says it is the best for all around fishing because of the restrictions. Since the lakes are relatively small there are no launch ramps. If you want to go fishing you have to put in on the dirt. Despite the limited access there are still many tournaments. The B.A.S.S. Federation also hosts tournaments and the winner gets a trip to the Bass Masters Classic. Mark and Luca are working hard to have ramps built so more tournaments can be hosted. They are also working on trying to get a Pro-am circuit started.

I asked Luca, "How did you find out about B.A.I.T. and what made you want to come fish with us?" Luca told me that he found the B.A.I.T. website on the internet and was very impressed with what he saw and that it was convenient for the time that he was going to be here. After the tournament was over they thanked me and was very impressed at how great an organization B.A.I.T. was and that the GA-I Directors, Cason Mabry and Jason Burroughs, done a great job.

B.A.I.T. is very honored to have Luca Quintavalla and Mark Curry come fish with us. We want to thank them and hope they will come back and fish with us again. You can check Luca Quintavalla out on Facebook and also at www.lucaquintavalla.com. This is the kind of things that makes B.A.I.T. "America's Best Team Trail!" May God Bless and remember to take a kid fishing!