Four Seminars This Winter
Ike, Gluszek Look To Fill Educational Void

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Mike Iaconelli said he learned a great deal as a student at the Bassmaster University and also enjoyed serving as an instructor, and he hopes The Bass University seminar series will provide that same opportunity for other anglers.

Much of what Mike Iaconelli knows about finesse-fishing he learned from Guido and Dion Hibdon. Jigs? Gary Klein provided the foundation for his acumen with that bait.

Back in the early 1990s, Ike was like a lot of other aspiring professional anglers – he was ravenous for the knowledge that would allow him to fish for a living. One of the ways he went about acquiring it was by attending Bassmaster University seminars in Harrisburg, Pa. and listening to the pros discuss the techniques and tactics that had taken them to the top of the game.

"I went in with blank notebooks and wrote everything down, and I still have all of those notes to this day," he said. "A lot of that stuff helped shape the way I fish today."

A little more than a decade later, he was a Bassmaster Classic champion and was back in the University classroom as an instructor. He said he derived as much reward from that role as when he was on the other side of the lectern.

It all came to an end in 2006, however, when BASS discontinued the University program. Nothing has since cropped up to fill the void on a nationwide basis that was created when those in-depth, multi-day seminars with the top pros went by the wayside, but he and fellow New Jersey pro Pete Gluszek will take a crack at it this winter, with the help of other Elite Series and FLW Tour competitors.

"It's going to be cutting-edge stuff – it's not going to be about learning to tie knots or Texas-rig a worm," Iaconelli said. "We'll have six of the top pros at each seminar, and it'll be the guys who are doing the things that win tournaments."

The Specifics

The program that Iaconelli and Gluszek have come up with is called The Bass University. They've teamed up with Bassin' magazine and will conduct four seminars during the upcoming off-season, each in a different region of the country.

Seminars are scheduled to take place in Philadelphia (Dec. 5-6), Sacramento (Jan. 9-10), Nashville (Jan. 23-24) and Dallas (Feb. 6-7). Specific locations in those cities haven't been finalized, but Iaconelli said the plan is to utilize the conference rooms at large hotels.

For $225 (discounts are available for those age 16-and-under and members of The Bass Federation or the BASS Federation Nation), participants will receive approximately 16 hours worth of classroom instruction, along with an opportunity for continued discussion on the evening of the first day. They'll also get course literature and a tackle pack, a 1-year subscription to Bassin' and a T-shirt.

Iaconelli and Gluszek will be at each seminar. The roster of additional instructors is still being finalized, but they've gotten firm commitments from Gerald Swindle and Ish Monroe, and each event will feature one or two of the top local sticks.

"We'll have guys from both (pro) circuits and we're trying to get the ones who are really at the top of their game," Iaconelli said. "They're the ones using the cutting-edge techniques, and that's what these seminars are all about."

Photo: FLW Outdoors Pete Gluszek said the time he spent as an instructor in the Bassmaster University program improved his own fishing by forcing him to analyze why he made particular decisions and why they did or didn't work.

Gluszek never attended a Bassmaster University seminar as a student, but his initial Classic appearance in 1997 afforded him the opportunity to serve as an instructor. He said he's commiserated with former students numerous times over the past few years about the demise of the series.

"From the students' perspective, they miss it," he said. "Everywhere I've gone around the country, people are like, 'What happened?' The kind of advanced teaching that was available at those doesn't really exist."

Rick Clunn runs a highly regarded school each off-season, but it's limited to one session in a single location (last year it was held at Byron Velvick's resort on Lake Amistad in Texas). Otherwise, about all that's available for those seeking to learn from the pros are the short seminars at outdoor expos.

"When you're doing the outdoor shows, the group consists of everything from beginners to people with nothing better to do for an hour to hard-core tournament anglers," Gluszek said. "The Bass University will be the real deal – everybody there will be passionate about the sport and they'll know what a dropshot is and how to set up a Carolina rig.

"The University student will be someone who's much more educated in the sport, and for them, the pros aren't going to be talking about the ABCs – they'll get into the Ds, the Es and the Fs. They'll be talking about pattern fishing and how to generate a strike under certain conditions."

He said that type of interaction with true students of the game expands the pros' understanding of what they're doing, as well.

"Serving as an instructor made me a better angler. There were times when I didn't really stop to think about why I made certain decisions or threw certain baits until I was forced to talk about them in a seminar."

Notable

> Advance registration for this winter's seminars can be submitted online at The Bass University website. To access the registration page, click here. Prospective students can also get more information by calling (856) 521-0046.

> Iaconelli said much of the tackle that the pros discuss at the seminars will be available for purchase on-site.