Mike Iaconelli says he's fishing as well right now as he ever has, and the numbers back up the former Bassmaster Classic champion and Elite Series Angler of the Year's (AOY) claim. In eight events since late June (three Elite Series tournaments, four Northern Strens and an Eastern FLW Series stop), he's made seven Top 10s.
What's he doing right? Well, just about everything. He said it's really a simple matter of being on one of those streaks where he just can't seem to make a wrong move.
"I've been through the ups and downs of this sport many times, and when you're going good everybody wants you to pinpoint the reason for your (previous) failures," he said. "They want to know what's changed.
"Well, there are times when I'm busier (with off-the-water commitments) than other times and times when I've got other things on my mind, but I've really never changed anything since I was fishing club tournaments out of a 12-foot jonboat. Nothing's changed about my style or how I prepare or adapt.
"If I knew the cause for the peaks and valleys, I'd write a book about it and get rich. Then everybody could be a VanDam and just stay in that zone all the time."
A Summer Surge
When the Elite Series season was about three-quarters in the books, Iaconelli wasn't having a great year. The 2006 AOY was 36th in the points – right on the cutoff for 2009 Classic qualification – and had logged three consecutive finishes in the 60s and out of the money.
Then came the tournament at Tennessee's Old Hickory Lake – an event originally scheduled for the Mississippi River in Iowa, but which had to be relocated due to severe flooding in that region. Initially, Ike wasn't thrilled about the move.
"Before this last tournament, that was one of my least-favorite lakes," he said. "We found out we were going to be going there when we were at Kentucky (Lake), and that was a time when I was getting sick of my mediocrity. I had a lot of anxiety.
"But then my uncle (and longtime mentor Don Fort) came down and fished with me during practice, and he helped me kind of get back to fishing the moment. I went down there thinking it was going to be a ledge deal, but then I got a bite up shallow and started listening to the fish. I was able to build on that and leave there with a good finish (9th), and that was the spark that started this thing."
He went on to finish 5th and 3rd in the New York events that closed out the Elite season. The Northern Strens were under way by then, and he posted three 6ths and a win at Kerr Lake to easily cop the points title over runner-up Dave Lefebre. The only recent tournament he didn't excel in was the Eastern Series event at Champlain, where he ended up 90th.
"The best way I can describe it is when you're fishing good, it just continues to breed off itself. You get into a rhythm and you're making smart decisions and just fishing free. It's easy to say that it should be that way all the time, but it's almost a subconscious thing.
"Like at the Potomac Stren (2 weeks ago) – I had nothing going on there. It was probably the most horrible practice I've ever had on the Potomac. But I was able to go out and adapt, find new water every day and make the right decisions and the right changes.
"I had a rod buried at the bottom of my locker and I just got a feeling that I should pull it out, and I caught a 4-pounder right away," he continued. "That's the kind of stuff that happens when things are going good."
Must Stay Active
With everything coming up so rosy, Iaconelli's biggest fear right now is losing his good mojo via an extended layoff from fishing. He'll compete in the Stren Championship next week at Missouri's Table Rock Lake, and then will fish some club tournaments in the vicinity of his New Jersey home.
"I'll be shooting my City Limits (TV) shows, so I'll be able to keep on the water with that, then we have what we call winter leagues around here," he said. "They're just 20- or 30-boat tournaments on local lakes, and I'm going to fish those.
Ike points to his triumph at the Kerr Lake Northern Stren as his biggest highlight of 2009.
"I need to keep the positive feeling going into next year."
The 2009 campaign will begin with the Classic at Louisiana's Red River. He won the BASS Federation Championship there 10 years ago to garner his first Classic berth, so the venue holds a special place in his heart.
"I'm looking forward to it. I plan to spend 5 or 6 days down there a little while before pre-practice gets cut off (in December), and the trip won't be as much about fishing as about re-familiarizing myself with the river. It'll be almost like a homecoming.
"Then I'll go into next year with the same goals I have every year – win the Classic and win the AOY. Those are lofty goals, but I'm not about to go to the Red River thinking about a Top 10 or trying to make sure I get a seat on the state on the last day.
"I'll be trying to find the fish to win."
Notable
> Iaconelli has used a variety of techniques and tactics during his hot streak, but said his go-to bait has been a Tru-Tungsten Reverse Dart worm. "With the tungsten powder built into the tail, it falls backward instead of straight. It's catching a lot of fish for me."
> Even though it was a triple-A event, he said the win at Kerr is the highlight of his year to this point. "Some people might downplay it because it was a Stren, but it's hard to win those tournaments and beat all of those local guys."
