Date: May 26, 2022
Venue: Lake N, a small reservoir
Water: 74 degrees, stained
Weather: Cloudy with thunderstorms early, then clearing and windy, high of 80 degrees
Pro: Mike Iaconelli, 49, Pittsgrove, N. J. “Ike” is the only Bassmaster pro to have won at every adult tournament level, including a B.A.S.S. Nation championship (1999), the Bassmaster Classic (2003) and even a Kayak Series tournament (2021), as well as earning an Angler of the Year title (2006). He and his wife Becky operate The Ike Foundation, a nonprofit geared toward getting kids involved in the outdoors.
Boat: Bass Cat Cougar FTD with 250-horsepower Yamaha outboard, Lowrance trolling motor and electronics and twin Power-Pole shallow-water anchors
a scrapper, a street-smart Jersey boy with a fiercely competitive streak who knows that the prize is sweeter when you’ve taken the hard road to claim it. After fishing B.A.S.S. events since 1992, Ike left the Elite Series in 2019 to join a start-up tournament organization. But now he’s back with B.A.S.S. and get this: Although he was eligible to requalify for the Elites by cruising in with a Legends exemption, Ike took the rocky road and clawed his way to Elite eligibility via the super-tough Northern Opens. You’ve got to love a guy who’s that passionate about competitive bass fishing! Now let’s see if Iaconelli can score some bass tonnage on Lake N, a remote reservoir he’s never set eyes on before. If you’ve struggled with putting a postspawn pattern together, we bet
