Editor's note: Industry veteran Alan McGuckin spent a day in the boat with Mike Iaconelli this week at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic practice. He penned the following story about that day.
If Mike Iaconelli were a trolling motor system here's what the schematic would look like. Imagine a red wire representing heart, and a black wire representing short-tempered intensity. Both connected to a 36-volt battery system full of passion.
Many cheer him. Some don't. But if all the world's bass fishing fans could just ride along in the boat with the 2003 Bassmaster Classic Champion, and 2006 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, they'd certainly grow to understand him.
As Iaconelli practiced for the tough Toyota Texas Bass Classic on Lake Conroe, I had the pleasure of riding with him. For 12 hours. From sunrise, until dark. Notice I said "pleasure."
Heart came in the form of talking about feeling the baby kick the other day in his wife Becky's pregnant belly. Heart came when Iaconelli stopped casting as I talked about a young bass-obsessed cancer-thrashed patient my wife is caring for. Heart came when Iaconelli told me he'd do whatever I needed to make the day productive for my camera and notepad.
Front deck full of 14 rods, three of them spinning outfits. I swear he fished the entire south end of Lake Conroe's 21,000 acres. The trolling motor rarely stowed. Constant motion. Docks, points, rock jetties, flats and even the riprap rock on Conroe's Dam. Just fishing. Grinding for something to feel good about on a stingy Lake Conroe.
And sometimes the black wire revealed itself. "Drives me freakin' nuts. Why are they not living out here on this stuff? This is great, textbook-looking structure, but they're not here. How are they not here!?!?"
Back to the docks. Back to feeling good. A 3-pounder. "This is good. This is real good. But I have to find several short rows of docks where I can get bit. Right now, the bites and productive docks are way too far and few. I've gotta keep searching until I've got several sets of docks I've got confidence in," said the former college honor student.
"Rocks, Texas and Shaky Heads – that's been a historically successful recipe for me," reflected Iaconelli, contemplating yet another possible pattern. He uttered that thought shortly after an attractive woman ran out of one of Conroe's many million-dollar homes and yelled, "You're Mike Iaconelli, you're my husband's absolute favorite pro, he knows everything about you." She snapped a photo of him from her dock, and he thanked her.
Then, 10 hours into a gorgeous but brutally tough fishing day came 36-volts of passion. "My trolling motor batteries are getting weak. I'm going to run a jumper cable to my cranking battery. That way we can fish until dark," said Ike in an optimistic, heartfelt search for more and better. It's at that point that his trademark 'Never Give Up' motto smacked my mind like a sledge, and Iaconelli's wiring schematic all made perfect sense to me.
