So Close, Yet So Far...

Mike Iaconelli started the final day of the BASS event on Lake Murray a few weeks ago in second place. He weighed in a big bag of fish, and it looked like he might win. A tie with Davy Hite, and a tiebreaker rule of heaviest single day weight put him in second, and final charge by Casey Ashley moved Ike down to 3rd.

Now it's 3 weeks later, tournament day one's 17lbs. 7oz. put Mike in 3rd place, behind Vic Vatalaro and Larry Nixon. The 20lb. bags dried up on day 2, most notably for Larry Nixon, who was unable to make the cut to the top 20, after a phenomenal first day. Mike's 16lb. 2oz. day, moved him into second, only behind Booby Lane, who sacked 18.5lbs. on day 2. With the third biggest bag, 18lbs., Mike took the lead on day 3, over Bobby Lane, who brought 14lbs. 6oz. to the scales. A solid 16.5lb final day, and an overall consistent tournament performance certainly had Mike confident of his chances of winning the FLW Tour Open, and securing another FLW win on the Potomac. Like at Lake Murray, with the win in the crosshairs, a late charge, this time by Chevy Ranger pro Luke Clausen, would keep Mike out of the winner's circle. Clausen landed a monster 19lb. 4oz. bag on the final day, the biggest limit since the two 20lb. bags on day 1.