Breakin’ through
Iaconelli tops final-round limit fest at Potomac; Hackney, Namiki still locked up for AOY
LA PLATA, Md. – They caught them again on the Potomac River. All 10 pros and even eight out of 10 co-anglers landed five-bass limits in Friday’s action at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open. When the dust settled at this afternoon’s weigh-in, it was a pro from Runnemede, N.J., named Michael Iaconelli who stood atop the limit heap with a weight of 21 pounds. Perhaps you’ve heard of him.
If you haven’t, either you live under a rock or simply don’t watch enough bass fishing on TV. Or breakdancing, for that matter.
Whatever the case, Iaconelli – known for his flamboyant style of fishing on the water as well as his unique ability to marry the `80s street-dancing craze with modern pro bass fishing – spoke loudest with his rod and reel today at the Potomac. He topped the rest of the Pro Division by almost 4 pounds, which he hinted could be an insurmountable lead with a shortened weekend day of fishing in tomorrow’s second half of the finals.
“What an amazing day. It was one of those days where everything just went perfectly,” he said. “I love this place.”
Iaconelli continued his run-and-gun strategy on the tidal waters of the Potomac Friday, saying he caught the bulk of his fish on a watermelon-and-black-flake Berkley Sinking Minnow. However, he did alter tactics in a crucial way in the morning.
“The first two days, I didn’t go to my best spot right away,” he said. “Today, I made a strategic decision to go to my best grass bed first thing, and I caught a 4-pounder right off the bat. That cemented my decision to stay put and catch as much as I could.”
Saying he was gunning for a 30-pound sack, Iaconelli culled through a whole lot of fish to fill out his stringer with nice 4-pounders. Some anglers might worry about burning out their good fish with another day of competition left, but there was method to his madness.
“The saddest thing is that I culled through about 17 pounds of fish to get that,” he said. “But I felt it was important to catch as much as I could, so I’m really happy right now. It’s going to get a lot tougher tomorrow. It’s a shorter day, and there will be a lot of boats and a lot of tournaments going on here.”
And while Iaconelli has never even made the cut before on the FLW Tour, the former Classic winner has amassed an impressive record on the BASS circuit in recent years. He figures it’s about time to start bringing the Iaconelli Show to the entire bass tournament world.
“To come back here (to the Potomac) as a pro and have a shot at winning an FLW Tour event, it’s awesome,” he said. “I’m looking to have that breakthrough tournament here. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be happy until I catch 25 or 30 pounds tomorrow. Realistically, I think a 14- or 15-pound bag will be really good.”
Wendlandt getting serious
You’ve got to hand it to Clark Wendlandt. When he makes a comeback, he makes a big one.
The accomplished pro from Cedar Park, Texas, with a rare disappointing season on his hands notched the second-heaviest limit in Friday’s competition – in his last FLW Tour event of the year – and has the best chance to overtake the leader tomorrow. His 17 pounds, 4 ounces has him within spitting distance of the fourth FLW title of his career.
The fishing here is suited to Wendlandt’s style. Everything is being caught shallow in the grass, and with the sun high and hot Friday, you can bet his X-Ray vision was on full bore. As long as he can keep rhythm with the tides, Wendlandt feels confident about his chances this week, which is a long time coming for him.
“When you get on a bad start, I think the pressure just starts to build and it gets harder,” he said about his slump. “I’m just going to keep fishing hard and see what happens.”
Newby, Yamamoto, Williams clumped at three, four, five
Sam Newby, Gary Yamamoto and day-one leader Jerry Williams followed up the two leading bags with a trio of their own that all looked very similar.
Newby, of Pocola, Okla., caught 14 pounds, 14 ounces and placed third. He returned to the secluded honey hole that has treated him well all week and caught about a dozen keepers swimming a jig. He was happy with his execution Friday, but said the sunshine may have decreased his bass bite.
“I caught about what I could catch,” he said. “With a little bit of cloud cover, I think I could smash a big bag tomorrow. But I’m going to catch what I can catch. I can’t control the weather.”
Just behind him in fourth place was Yamamoto, the pro from Mineola, Texas. His limit weighed 14 pounds, 13 ounces.
The story of Yamamoto’s day, however, surrounded his fishing partner. Pat Wilson won the Co-angler Division, aided strictly by the fact that Yamamoto actually stopped fishing – in the heat of a $200,000 tournament – to help his co-angler catch a 6-pounder and then fill out his limit.
“There was only one 6-pounder there, I guess,” Yamamoto laughed. “I already had eight keepers, and that was a pretty good day. When he caught that 6-pounder, he only had three keepers, so we went to help him out.”
Williams, of Conway, Ark., slid into the fifth spot, 1 ounce behind Yamamoto, with a limit weighing 14-12.
“I probably caught 20 or 25 bass. When the tide changed and the water left, I caught seven fish off of one spot,” he said. “Everybody’s right there. This is just an awesome fishery.”
Namiki, Hackney still battling for Angler of the Year
While Toshinari Namiki and Greg Hackney weren’t exactly thrilled with their respective ninth- and 10th-place performances Friday, the good news is that the fun continues in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race. At least, it’s fun for us fans.
Namiki, of Tokyo, notched a limit weighing 12 pounds for ninth place, and Hackney, of Gonzales, La., weighed in 10-10 for 10th.
Separated by a single position, that means AOY all boils down to tomorrow. Hackney has a seven-point lead on Namiki, so he has the edge. However, excepting a 25-pound catch from Namiki today, the Tokyo pro couldn’t have asked for a better outcome, at least on Hackney’s end of it. With Hackney in 10th place, a exceptional sack of fish from Namiki Saturday could push him into the title.
Still, both of them were less than enthusiastic about their fishing Friday.
“My best spot didn’t work out today,” Namiki said. “I think I’m burning them out trying to catch a big limit today. I should have fished smarter.”
“You know, I just didn’t fish very well today,” Hackney said. “I’m fishing really well, fishing really close, but there’s going to be some bad video footage from me today. I’m going to pull my pants up tomorrow, and I’m going to fish them a little harder than I did today. It would really be an honor (to win AOY) because it’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros heading into Saturday’s final-round action at the Potomac River:
6th: George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark., 13-4
7th: Carl Svebek III of Siloam Springs, Ark., 12-10
8th: Brent Chapman of Lake Quivera, Kan., 12-2
9th: Namiki, 12-0
10th: Hackney, 10-10
Final round Saturday
Day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open at the Potomac River begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from Smallwood State Park in Marbury, Md., at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and the $200,000 Pro Division winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.