Ten years? Time does fly by quickly

2/19/2009 9:36:49 AM

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Ten years? Time does fly by quickly

It's been 10 years since BASS staged the Bassmaster Classic in Louisiana, holding its first championship in the Pelican State down in New Orleans on the Mississippi River Delta in the first of three tournaments on that vast expanse of freshwater marsh.

Davy Hite claimed that title with 55 pounds 10 ounces, with Denny Brauer second with about 45 pounds. That came just a year after Brauer's Classic win on High Rock Lake in North Carolina.

"It has gone by fast," Brauer said. "Very fast. It doesn't seem that long ago."

The rest of the top five in that shootout included Larry Nixon, Gary Klein and Ron Shuffield. Nixon and Shuffield are now fishing on the FLW Tour and Klein is back in this year's Classic on the Red River. The '99 Classic must have been a good learning experience for the sixth-place angler - a young gun named Mike Iaconelli - because he won the title in 2003 on the Delta in the last championship held there.

Classic anglers had their "Elite Night" banquet Wednesday evening and everyone was dressed to the nines in ties and jackets, looking spiffy with their spouses and girlfriends all decked out in their finest. It will be back into fishing apparel today for media day, the final big event before Friday morning's launch.

"I'm ready," Brauer said, smiling confidently.