Thank you, Ike

🚨Michael “Ike” Iaconelli Announces his Farewell Season 🚨 

2025 Lake St Clair, Ike wore a retro vest to celebrate his 30 years in professional fishing.

After thirty years of professional fishing, Bassmaster Elite Series angler and Bass Fishing Hall of Famer, Michael “Ike” Iaconelli shares his career will pivot after this season to focus on his platforms outside of national-level competition.

STORY TIME: Ever since I was a young man, I have not only been facinated by fishing, but I would consume any fishing media I could get my hands on. In a time before YouTube and widespread high-speed internet, I would scour the library for books, collect magazines given to me or left behind at the barber shop, pick up the occasional VHS/DVD, and tune into Saturday programing on public broadcast television. In what some may call the 'golden era' of bass fishing, our cable package included ESPN 2.

Flipping through the channels in a late morning in early 2009, I witnessed a competitive bass fishing event on TV for the first time in my life that I could remember. It was a repeat of the Bassmaster Classic from Lake Hartwell, South Carolina. I loved everything about it. Sponsored jerseys, wrapped boats, an elaborate lake, anglers that were locked in, an equipment and gear surplus that would have sank my canoe- this was the sport in the fast lane. There were fishing tackle commercials on a major sports network for crying out loud. I was fascinated. It very much gave NASCAR vibes, even though I have never been the biggest fan of racing.

Photos Courtesy of Bassmaster

There was this man standing in the front of a boat, wearing a black and yellow jersey. He was antsy and moved quickly with a purpose. I had seen him somewhere before. He would wear sunglasses and had a black flat-brimmed hat or a white beanie. He seemed like a cool dude, more relatable than other fishing people I have seen before on TV. This guy was great talking to the camera and seemed like a regular dude, going through the motions of explaining the (then) new Berkley Powerbait Hollowbelly swimbait that was 5". I remember he was throwing it on a spinning rod, talking about how he rigged a line-through swimbait, which was just coming on the scene in the tackle industry. This was to mimic herring and be able to be fished around timber. The image of the largemouth he caught, bait deep in its mouth, will forever be imprinting in my brain. That angler who was on TV at that moment was a catalyst to what would change my life and trajectory as a bass fishing junkie. That man was Michael Iaconelli. 

Day 2 of the Lake St Clair Elite Series event in 2015

When people consider “the greats” in bass fishing, he very much deserves a spot at the table for discussion. Bass fishing does not have anything like the formal ‘triple crown’ in Major League Baseball, but many would recognize him as completing a quadruple crown, having won the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship in 1999 that launched his career, taking the Bassmaster Classic in 2003 on the Louisiana Delta, being named Angler of the Year in 2006, and winning the 2021 Kayak Bassmaster Championship on the Upper Chesapeake Bay. He is the only angler in Bassmaster history to have won at every adult tournament level.

In his career through the Bass Angler Sportsman Society, he has 8 total wins, 70 top ten finishes, 117 in the top twenty, 20 Classic appearances, career earnings of 2.8 million dollars, altogether weighing in 9,509 lbs and 15oz. Through Major League Fishing (formerly known as FLW), he has multiple top ten finishes, including two summit cups wins in 2017 and 2019, along with one appearance at the 2018 Championship where he took second place. Throughout his career, he has earned over three million dollars in tournament winnings.

2014 Delaware River, Iaconelli wins in front of a home crowd. (Photos Courtesy of Bassmaster)

No doubt about it, this man catches fish. His accolades speak for themselves. Beyond competitive fishing, Ike has been incredibly thoughtful with his presence in media and in community efforts. He showed that he had more skills than being just an angler. Rightfully so, Ike earned his spot in the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame class of 2023.

Whether it was in writing, television, creating online content, or being a co-founder to the best bass fishing educational platforms, Bass University, Iaconelli worked relentlessly to be involved in the sport for the love of the game. I remember watching City Limits Fishing on Versus (now NBC Sports), and even making an appearance on the Spike TV late-night show, Manswers (IYKYK). He speaks in detail in his book about taking to media after winning the 2003 Classic and running with it.

He and his wife, Becky, created the Ike Foundation. A non-profit group that has a mission to serve children with fishing equipment, share the outdoors, and support education through a scholarship program. 

I cannot share enough about how much I love his book, Fishing on the Edge: The Michael Iaconelli Story. Every year or so I find myself going through it again. The memoir dives deep into his high-energy "Never Give Up" philosophy, blending raw vulnerability about his life journey and challenges with the gritty reality of what it takes to compete on the national level.

There will never be a personality in Bass master quite like Mike Iaconelli (Photos Courtesy of Bassmaster)

What jumped out to me most in his book was how he overcame social adversity and started hitting his mark even better when he played by his own social expectations. Ike was not out of the box, he was different from the cookie cutter mold of professional bass anglers. Staying authentic to himself, he never wanted to come off as someone that he is not. That is where the boisterous nature of his character and appearance comes from. He mentions writing a follow-up book In the future. Maybe it is something we will see in the up and coming years.

So what does the future hold for Michael Iaconelli? He shares in a recent Instagram post that it is not a retirement, it is a shift in priorities. He still plans on fishing competitively in some manner, but not full time so that he can focus more on expanding his existing platforms, the Ike Live podcast, his YouTube Channel featuring the Going Ike and Ike in The Shop series, and the return of City Limits Fishing. Additionally he will be able to dedicate more on giving back to the youth and future of the sport through the Ike Foundation. Whatever or wherever he finds himself, he has the work ethic that leads to accomplishing his goals.

Allow me to be reel, his commitment to the sport, stewardship to the community, development in fishing media, contribution to bassin culture, and ability to catch fish, played a foundational role to who I am and my development as an angler. I will be straight up, I would not have become who I am if there was no IKE. The first companies I would only use were Rapala, Berkley, and Abu Garcia, because I wanted to be like him. The second time I had the chance to meet him, I remember gifting him a magazine that had a bass fishing article I had written. I wanted to share with him my appreciation for his efforts in fishing media. The look on his face was genuine appreciation.

I think one of the greatest things that can be said about his career was how he showed that it can be possible for a regular guy from New Jersey, who was a fishing department manager at Dicks Sporting Goods, to learn and master the climb from the local level to international fame in fishing. There is a lot to respect in that, as an angler and human.

With that being said, thank you, Ike.