Sunday, April 26, 2009
Marshals a hit with Elite anglers
Amateur anglers no longer fish from the back of the pros' boats in the Elite Series tourneys.
MARK TAYLOR The Roanoke Times
Virginia Tech student Charlie Machek (right) helps as pro angler Mike Iaconelli readies for the weigh-in at the Blue Ridge Brawl.
MARK TAYLOR The Roanoke Times
Senior Charlie Machek (right), a member of Virginia Tech's bass-fishing team, spent Saturday with pro angler Mike Iaconelli.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
mark.taylor
@roanoke.com
981-3395
Mark Taylor
Outdoors coverage
- Notebook: Outer Banks beach-driving plan kicks up sand
- Outdoors commentary: Many Sunday hunting cons
- Winter tourneys invite fishermen out in the cold
- Visit our Outdoors page
The Wild Life blog
HUDDLESTON -- Pro angler Mike Iaconelli might not always load his boat with bass, but the energetic angler is never boring.
He celebrates catches with over-the-top enthusiasm, and sometimes reacts to problems with infamous tantrums.
The attitude has helped earn him legions of supporters, one of them Virginia Tech senior Charlie Machek.
"I've always cheered for him, and want him to win," said Machek, a member of Tech's award-winning bass team. "I'm a fan."
Saturday, Machek had a front-row seat to the show.
He had been randomly assigned to ride with Iaconelli as part of a new Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society program that pairs anglers in Elite Series tournaments with public members of BASS.
"He had a tough day," Machek said of Iaconelli, who finished the tournament in 42nd place. "He was cussing the pleasure boaters. He was cussing docks. He was cussing fish.
"But it was fun."
That tournament marshals, as they are called, are enjoying the program is nice bonus for BASS, which established the program in large part because of feedback from pro anglers who were unhappy with the previous system of pairing them with amateur anglers who would compete in a separate contest.
Rules stipulated that pros ran the show, while the amateurs fished from the back of the boat. But having another angler on board could affect the tournament.
Called co-anglers or non-boaters, the back-seat fishermen aren't allowed to share information with a pro. But they can still help.
"If I'm standing up here sight-fishing and not catching them, and the guy behind me starts throwing a jerkbait out into the middle of the cove and starts catching them, what do you think I'm going to do?" said Kevin VanDam, one of the most successful pro anglers in the history of the sport.
VanDam has been doing just fine on his own in this tournament.
Saturday, during which a crowd of 4,600 at Parkway Marina saw the field of 50 cut to 12 anglers who will fish today's final, the 18-year veteran added to his lead.
VanDam's catch of five bass pushed his three-day total to 47 pounds, 15 ounces, and gave him a lead of slightly more than three pounds over Matt Herren of Trusville, Ala.
Sometimes, co-anglers don't help.
Having paid a $750 entry fee and with a new bass boat on the line as the top prize in previous years on the Elite Series, few co-anglers were content to take a casual approach to their days on the water.
"They can get aggressive," said seven-year Elite Series pro Mark Tyler of Vian, Okla. "When you're giving away 30 grand on the amateur side, those guys aren't entering to learn.
"I've gotten so mad at them before that I've been shaking."
Tyler said not having another angler on board allows him to focus only on what he's doing.
"It levels the playing field," he said.
Replacing co-anglers with observers has another benefit, said BASS spokesman Doug Grassian.
"Taking away the co-anglers makes this the only true professional bass fishing league," Grassian said.
FLW Outdoors, the nation's other large bass tournament organization, uses the co-angler system at all of its levels, up to its top Wal-Mart FLW Tour.
BASS still uses the co-angler program in its lower-tier tournaments.
When BASS eliminated co-anglers from the Elite Series before this season, pros rejoiced. But Grassian said there was uncertainty about how well the public would react to the program.
BASS never has trouble finding volunteers to ride with pros at Bassmaster Classics. But would they be willing to pay $100 to ride along during other tournaments?
The answer has been a relief.
"Every tournament, the marshal program has sold out," Grassian said.
One glitch has been that a few registered marshals have bailed out at the last minute, too late to contact someone on the waiting list.
BASS officials, who have had to scramble to try to find marshals in those cases, are looking at ways to address the issue, according to Grassian.
Grassian said feedback from the marshals has been overwhelmingly positive, and Smith Mountain Lake marshals echoed that sentiment.
Machek said he was thrilled to spend three days on his home lake with professional anglers.
"I learned a lot just watching them," he said.
For example, Machek said he learned a lot of techniques for coaxing spawning bass to bite and for finesse fishing.
"And, if it's your home lake, when they leave, you can go fish the spots forever," he said.
Larry Brickey of Greensboro, N.C., also praised the program.
"I got to see a lot of things I've never seen before," said Brickey, a weekend tournament angler who was paired with Aaron Martens, Mark Tucker and Dustin Wilks. "It certainly will help me."
He also was glad he got to see just how hard the pros work.
"The sheer intensity and constant drive these guys have is just incredible."
