Mike Iaconelli never runs short on emotions – his reactions to various occurrences run from one extreme to the other, as do the feelings he elicits from other people. It's no real surprise that he didn't know exactly how to feel after clinching his first Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) title.



"I'm honored, I'm proud and I'm shocked, all rolled up into one," said the controversial New Jerseyite who began the year by being penalized a day's weight at the Bassmaster Classic due to a tirade over dead fish in his livewell. "I'm really mostly in shock.

"It's hard to believe. I'm really proud of it because I worked so hard. I dug in and worked my way through all of the adversity and I kept my head up."

The title was officially bestowed on him after today's weigh-in at the Table Rock Bassmaster Elite Series. He finished with 3-01 more than Alabama's Steve Kennedy, whom he led by 45 points coming into the event.

Michigan's Kevin VanDam was also in contention coming into today, but caught just two fish for 3-11 and finished 13th. Because he didn't crack the Top 12, there was no way he could make up his 124-point deficit.

Night of Little Sleep

Iaconelli said he woke up at 1:30 this morning and never went back to sleep.

"I just started going over scenarios in my mind of what I would do if the wind blew, what I'd do if it was calm or what I'd do if my deep fish didn't bite," he said. "I played them over and over, trying to prepare for today."

He caught his first keeper at 8:30, and that relieved some of his edginess. He went on to boat two more – one at about 11:00 and the other at around 1:30.

"One of the things I thought about when I was awake last night was a new jig prototype I've been working on with Berkley. It's a 3/4-ounce football-style, and I'd had a dozen of them shipped to me.

"I decided I was going to tie one on first thing this morning, and I ended up catching two of my fish on that jig."

Time to Celebrate

Iaconelli said winning the AOY means more to him than his 2003 Classic victory.

"The main reason is because this isn't based on just one event, but on performance over the course of 11 tournaments," he said. "If you surveyed all of the anglers, I think about 99% would agree that this is more important."

He said he'd start the celebration by calling his daughters, and then his mother back in New Jersey.

"My uncle's here with me, and after that we'll go out and get a good dinner. We'll have some fun tonight, that's for sure."

Notable

> Iaconelli confirmed that his controversial fish from day 2 was indeed short and not dead, as had been initially reported. "It measured on my board, but when I got it up here to the scales it wouldn't go. I didn't pop the air bladder, and I probably should have."

> He finished 8th in the 2005 AOY race and 3rd in '04.