Ike Mostly Idled For Steel City Pre-Practice

Photo: BassFan Mike Iaconelli hasn't ruled out a long run up the Allegheny.

Back when he fished the Pittsburgh Classic in 2005, he might have won except for a relatively disastrous day 2 when he lost back-to-back 2-pounders, then fried his engine intake in skinny water way up the Yok.

He ended day 2 in 2nd despite the difficulties, and went on to finish 5th, but in hindsight, it was a Classic he largely let slip away.

He'll face a different Three Rivers this time around though. Some of that could be due to Mother Nature. She's dumping a world of rain in the Allegheny mountains and foothills, which will find its way to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later.

More important, though, is Ike's key water from 2005 has been deemed off-limits by FLW Outdoors, and much of Kevin VanDam's winning water from the downtown area is also off-limits.

So he'll arrive in Steel City tomorrow without much idea of how his practice – or tournament – will play out. But because of a lengthy pre-practice, he at least knows each of the pools intimately.

City Limits and Off-Limits

For the past 2 years Ike has hosted a TV show called City Limits Fishing, where he travels to various urban fisheries and is tasked with catching a limit of fish in a given amount of time. So he's no stranger to urban fishing. In fact, it's one of his passions.

But he won't be doing any fishing in the immediate shadow of downtown Pittsburgh where the Three Rivers meet.

"As far as the off-limits, definitely it's unfortunate," he said. "I wish we had access to some of those areas, but you know, everybody's in the same boat. It's not like I'm the only one who can't fish those areas. I'd have liked the ability to fish up the Mon, and some of the bridges and stuff downtown, but we're all in the same boat and I'm not letting that discourage me."

As previously reported on BassFan (click here for a map), the Mon is off-limits from the mouth of the Yok up, as is most of the Yok itself.

However, according to Ike, a large area of the Pittsburgh Pool is also off-limits.

"They're using three bridges to mark off the downtown stuff that's off-limits – the bridge above the south-side boat ramp on the Mon side, the second bridge up the Allegheny, and the first bridge down the Ohio," he said. "That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at a map, a lot of that's the main area where guys caught them (at the Classic).

"It's almost like a triangle when you connect the off-limits bridges," he added. "I'm just guessing, but I think that puts about 3 miles of key water in the Pittsburgh pool off-limits. Again, we still have a lot of water to fish, but that just happens to be some of the best."

He's not sure why that downtown area is off-limits, but thinks it's a combination of release-area concerns and a no-wake-zone. When the Classic rolled through town, the area was a no-wake zone on holidays and weekends, he said, but now it's a no-wake starting Fridays at 3:00 and running through the weekend.

That leaves a lot of gray area and potential for controversy – especially because anglers would face a new no-wake zone (and 20- to 30-minute idle) starting at about check-in time on Friday.

Scouting Trip

Given the restricted productive water, and the 4-day practice, Ike expects the fish to be hammered before the event even starts.

With that in mind, he spent 6 days at the Three Rivers prior to cutoff, but fished very little. He drove each pool that he could possibly fish, ran and timed each lock, and got a general feel for where he could go to catch fish (and avoid crowds if need be).

He's a little concerned about a long run up the Allegheny, since the locks are a gamble, but he does see the upper reaches as a "realistic" run, although definitely not guaranteed.

"I wanted to see every possible pool and I spent a full day in each one," he said. "I spent a lot of time idling and just looking at the surroundings – the water, grass, what the water clarity was like, where I was seeing the most bait, and things like that.

"I didn't want to spend a lot of time fishing because I didn't want to get too discouraged, which would be real easy to do. I talked to some guys who pre-practiced and they're discouraged now. But I'm confident, and that's always a big factor in being able to win a tournament."

Notable

> Ike qualified for the Cup through the Stren Championship last fall.

> He's one of the hottest pros in the sport right now, with seven Bassmaster Elite Series Top 10s over the past 13 months.

> This marks his second Cup qualification, although it'll be his first time fishing one. He qualified for the 2001 Cup (formerly FLW Tour Championship), which was canceled due to 9-11.