QUITMAN, TX (May 24, 2015) – Every day an angler ventures on to the water, they have hopes of catching the biggest fish. In a tournament like the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, where the prize is a new Toyota Tundra truck, it’s more than a hope; it’s a goal. To top that off, on Lake Fork, any cast can produce a bona fide giant bass.
Starting the second day of the 2015 event, the anglers all knew that they were heading out on the water with a big number to shoot for. That’s because Jason Christie, from Park Hill, Okla. Set the bar high with a 10-pound, 2-ounce lunker that took the lead for the Tundra truck.
Mike Iaconelli is an angler who has experienced tremendous success throughout the history of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. He has claimed second place and has caught numbers of heavy bass here over the years. Armed with that knowledge, Iaconelli ventured out onto Lake Fork intent on winning a new tundra.
He came close too.
At nearly three o’clock in the afternoon on day two, he made a stop that netted him an 8-pound, 4-ounce giant. “I was running past a spot that I have seen for years on my map, and fished every time I come here; I’ve yet to catch anything on it,” he said. “I stopped on the spot because it kind of fit what I was doing pattern wise and made a cast with a jig; BOOM! That’s when it happened.”
He said that he set the hook and immediately knew that it was a good fish. “It came straight to the surface and jumped; which always makes you gasp,” he said. “I typically feel like I’m holding my breath until a fish like that hits your carpet, and once it does, you tend to breathe a giant sigh of relief.”
The daily big bass; while not enough to overtakes Christie’s in the race for the Toyota Tundra Big Bass of the tournament, it anchored a stellar 31-pound, 4-ounce limit that rocketed him up the leaderboard from his 23rd place position on day one to ninth place with 48 pounds, 4 ounces.
The Pittsgrove, N.J. pro will have another chance to earn that new Tundra tomorrow as he has earned the chance to fish another day. “I just wish that I would have figured this pattern out a day earlier,” he said. “I cost myself the chance to win the event, but I really had a great day, and had a lot of fun doing it.”
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