TW_Staff
06-10-2011, 11:24 AM
Mike Iaconelli lost a hard-fought Potomac FLW Tour Open to winner Luke Clausen. Clausen had a hotspot that he milked all 4 days. Ike, on the other hand, fished a more diverse pattern and changed based on tidal stage.
Pattern Notes:
About his pattern, Ike said: "The main deal for me at the Potomac was fishing hard cover on high tide, then going to my grassbeds on the low tide. That was a real key strategy for me and what helped me get to (day 4).
"Basically I'd look at the tide and when that water got to be about 30 minutes before peak high, and up to about 30 minutes after peak high, that's when I'd really focus on those harder targets – boat docks, laydowns and lily pads. I knew a lot of places from over the years that I felt would hold fish after a spawn, so I kind of had a milk run of places to hit. I also tried to throw into some new places during high tide."
He ran his high-tide, hard-target pattern no more than an hour to an hour and a half each day, but each day, he caught at least a few key weigh-fish doing it.
His hard-target baits were a jig and shakey-head.
During low-water mornings, and when the water receded in the afternoons, he's switch to grassbeds. He had four main grassbeds that he rotated through and he noted that each was a mix of milfoil and hydrilla that hadn't matted out yet.
"They were all the same – they were grassbeds bordered by a little bit deeper water. There's so much grass at the Potomac and it all looks identical, but mine had a little trough near it – not even that deep, maybe a foot to a foot and a half deeper. That was the key similarity."
In the grass, he threw three different baits – a vibration jig, a soft stickbait and a crank.
Hard-Cover Gear:
One of Ike's high-tide, hard-cover baits was a black 3/8-ounce Berkley Gripper Ike's Finesse jig, tipped with a black Berkley HAVOC The Deuce twintail grub (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BHDD).
"I'd throw that jig in the pads and thicker cover," he noted.
Jig setup: 7' heavy-action Abu Garcia Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Then, around boat docks, he threw a 1/8-ounce VMC shakey-head (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=VMCDMSK) tipped with a black Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper Jr. He bit a little material off the top of the worm.
Shakey setup: 6'6" medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVS) rod, 20-size Revo Premier spinning reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPS), 10-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Grass Gear:
According to Ike, a 3/8-ounce black/blue Molix The Lover vibration jig caught the bulk of his grass fish. He tipped it with a black HAVOC The Deuce (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BHDD), which he superglued to the hook shank, and fished it through the heart of the vegetation.
He also caught grass fish on an unreleased HAVOC soft stickbait (black/blue-fleck), rigged on a 3/0 offset VMC hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=VMCWGHK). He threw the soft stickbait more along the outside edges of the grassbeds.
He also caught a handful of fish on a Rapala DT Fat Series 1 crank (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RDTF).
The Lover gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 15-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Soft stickbait gear: 7' medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVS), size 30 Revo Premier spinning reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPS), 10-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Crankbait gear: 7' medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 15-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Main factor: "It was what I call playing the tides, or running the tides. Had I committed all day to just sitting in a grassbed and grinding there, I don't think I could have done as well. I think making decisions based on the tides was the biggest key."
Performance edge: "Without a doubt, especially the first 2 days when the wind blew, it was my Power-Poles (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PPPS). Even when the wind didn't blow, I'd be going through a grassbed and when I got a bite, I'd instantly put the Power-Poles down and fan-cast the area where I caught the fish. Nine out of 10 times that would generate another bite."
Notable:
Fifth-place Michael Williamson could not be reached for detailed pattern information, although he announced onstage that he fished a small area all 4 days and threw a 1/4-ounce Buckeye Spot Remover shakey-head (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BSRP) with a watermelon/blue Gary Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BSRP).
TW Staff
Pattern Notes:
About his pattern, Ike said: "The main deal for me at the Potomac was fishing hard cover on high tide, then going to my grassbeds on the low tide. That was a real key strategy for me and what helped me get to (day 4).
"Basically I'd look at the tide and when that water got to be about 30 minutes before peak high, and up to about 30 minutes after peak high, that's when I'd really focus on those harder targets – boat docks, laydowns and lily pads. I knew a lot of places from over the years that I felt would hold fish after a spawn, so I kind of had a milk run of places to hit. I also tried to throw into some new places during high tide."
He ran his high-tide, hard-target pattern no more than an hour to an hour and a half each day, but each day, he caught at least a few key weigh-fish doing it.
His hard-target baits were a jig and shakey-head.
During low-water mornings, and when the water receded in the afternoons, he's switch to grassbeds. He had four main grassbeds that he rotated through and he noted that each was a mix of milfoil and hydrilla that hadn't matted out yet.
"They were all the same – they were grassbeds bordered by a little bit deeper water. There's so much grass at the Potomac and it all looks identical, but mine had a little trough near it – not even that deep, maybe a foot to a foot and a half deeper. That was the key similarity."
In the grass, he threw three different baits – a vibration jig, a soft stickbait and a crank.
Hard-Cover Gear:
One of Ike's high-tide, hard-cover baits was a black 3/8-ounce Berkley Gripper Ike's Finesse jig, tipped with a black Berkley HAVOC The Deuce twintail grub (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BHDD).
"I'd throw that jig in the pads and thicker cover," he noted.
Jig setup: 7' heavy-action Abu Garcia Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Then, around boat docks, he threw a 1/8-ounce VMC shakey-head (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=VMCDMSK) tipped with a black Berkley HAVOC Bottom Hopper Jr. He bit a little material off the top of the worm.
Shakey setup: 6'6" medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVS) rod, 20-size Revo Premier spinning reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPS), 10-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Grass Gear:
According to Ike, a 3/8-ounce black/blue Molix The Lover vibration jig caught the bulk of his grass fish. He tipped it with a black HAVOC The Deuce (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BHDD), which he superglued to the hook shank, and fished it through the heart of the vegetation.
He also caught grass fish on an unreleased HAVOC soft stickbait (black/blue-fleck), rigged on a 3/0 offset VMC hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=VMCWGHK). He threw the soft stickbait more along the outside edges of the grassbeds.
He also caught a handful of fish on a Rapala DT Fat Series 1 crank (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RDTF).
The Lover gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 15-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Soft stickbait gear: 7' medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVS), size 30 Revo Premier spinning reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPS), 10-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Crankbait gear: 7' medium-action Veritas (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGVRC) rod, Revo (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRPR) casting reel, 15-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Main factor: "It was what I call playing the tides, or running the tides. Had I committed all day to just sitting in a grassbed and grinding there, I don't think I could have done as well. I think making decisions based on the tides was the biggest key."
Performance edge: "Without a doubt, especially the first 2 days when the wind blew, it was my Power-Poles (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PPPS). Even when the wind didn't blow, I'd be going through a grassbed and when I got a bite, I'd instantly put the Power-Poles down and fan-cast the area where I caught the fish. Nine out of 10 times that would generate another bite."
Notable:
Fifth-place Michael Williamson could not be reached for detailed pattern information, although he announced onstage that he fished a small area all 4 days and threw a 1/4-ounce Buckeye Spot Remover shakey-head (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BSRP) with a watermelon/blue Gary Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BSRP).
TW Staff