Author: Mike Iaconelli

Ike Targets New York City

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Ike Targets New York City

OK, so hopefully everyone had a chance to watch the first episode of FISH MY CITY WITH MIKE IACONELLI on NAT GEO WILD last night. If you had as much fun watching it as I did making it, you had a ball. Here’s the thing about shows like that–they are real. We don’t fake film footage and we don’t cover over our mistakes or our struggles. We show it all, good and not-so-good. You get to experience fishing just the way it was at the time. The one about New York City fishing was especially fun for me. I grew […]

Rigging a Drop Shot

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Rigging a Drop Shot

I’ve been catching bass on a drop shot rig for years, and until a couple of years ago I always rigged it the same way. I tied a fluorocarbon leader to a braid main line and tied the hook somewhere down the leader. Then, I nose hooked my bait, or maybe hooded it in the middle, and went fishing. It worked. I caught my share but I was dissatisfied with my hooking percentage. I just felt like I could do better. And, at the same time, I was having trouble with line twist. Even my braid started giving me trouble […]

Smallmouth and Scent

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Smallmouth and Scent

All bass use a wide variety of their senses to find their prey, but smallmouth primarily use two — sight and smell. We’re going to save the sight part for another day. Right now I want to talk about scent. I’ll start by telling you that I never fish with a plastic bait that isn’t scented or to which I haven’t added scent. That’s an absolute rule of mine. Never means never, not ever. It wouldn’t make sense. I want the smallies to smell something attractive and I never want them to smell me or anything I might have on […]

Frogs for Late Summer and Fall

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Frogs for Late Summer and Fall

When it comes to bass fishing there’s no better late summer and fall topwater bait than a frog, and there are no better frogs than the Molix Sneaky Frog and the Molix Supernato. The Sneaky Frog is a super good open water or sparse cover lure. It has a kind of elongated body and a center weight. Both of them combined let it walk in a smooth and sexy way, but without much forward movement. It’ll attract bass from deep water as well as shallow water. The center weight is really the thing. Most frogs are weighted in the rear. That […]

Fish My City

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Fish My City

OK, starting in October, Friday the 12th to be exact, my new TV show will debut on Nat Geo WILD. It’s called FISH MY CITY WITH MIKE IACONELLI. And, as its name implies it’ll be all about fishing cities around the country and the world. I’m super excited about it for a couple of reasons. Nat Geo WILD does an extraordinary job putting together TV shows so you know it’ll be a first-class operation all the way. The other reason is that it lets me pursue my passion for fishing in metropolitan areas where the fishing is almost always much […]

Power Fishing with Jerkbaits

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Power Fishing with Jerkbaits

We all know that hard jerkbaits will catch bass when conditions are right. But we also know that they are finesse or light tackle lures in most cases. True, there are a few bigger ones, heavier ones and ones that run deep. However, those baits are the exception rather than the rule. Rapala has corrected that issue with their new RipStop. You’ll remember that the original RipStop was revolutionary in its design. The lip on its tail made a bait that didn’t glide forward on the twitch. It stopped on a dime and, in many cases, actually backed up a […]

Berkley’s Jester is No Joke

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Berkley’s Jester is No Joke

The Berkley Powerbait Jester Craw is not a “me-too” bait, and it doesn’t look like anything else I’ve ever fished. It’s listed at 4 inches but really fishes much bigger than that. The body is ribbed and fat. There are three feet-like looking things on each side of it and it has two big flappers as well as two long, skinny tentacles coming off the back. It’ll be offered in at least eight colors, some of which are striped. And, it’s loaded with scent so it smells to high heavens. If you want to truly appreciate how big, bad and […]

The Molix Lover Double Willow Spinnerbait

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The Molix Lover Double Willow Spinnerbait

Finally! Someone has made a high-quality titanium spinnerbait, and we all know what that means — lots of vicious strikes and a bait that’ll last forever. Here’s the thing: Titanium is a super non-corrosive metal with a natural silver finish, a low density and incredible strength. Basically this means that the wire on our new spinnerbait is thinner and stronger than other metal wires. That gives it increased vibration and makes it darn near indestructible. The vibration thing is really important because it’s not just the flash of the blades that attract bass to a spinnerbait. It’s the flash coupled […]

The VMC Skirted Neko

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The VMC Skirted Neko

The Neko rig has pretty much taken bass fishing by storm, and for good reason. It gives plastic baits a different, more natural look as they fall and as they move along the bottom. I am the biggest ever fan of the Neko rig. I’ve caught bass with it all over the country. But, like everything else in bass fishing I knew it could be made better. And so, with my partners at VMC, we developed a skirted weight that’ll add a different look to your lure, regardless of which one you choose to rig with this bad boy. We […]

The Absence of Color

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The Absence of Color

Have you ever wondered why so many bass fall for a black or black and blue jig? I have, and I think I know why. Black, along with black and blue, is really the absence of color. It’s nothing more than a shape or a silhouette to the fish that’s looking at it. They really don’t see much of anything when it comes to color. At the same time, though, they see everything. The silhouette gives them what they need to aim and to time their attack. I also think that a part of the attraction is that almost every […]