Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, October 10, 2025
- Details
By Al McGuckin
Mike Iaconelli
Team Toyota’s Mike Iaconelli began his competitive fishing career in the early 1990s on the Delaware River where catching a 9-pound limit made you look like a superstar.
So, the recent stinginess “Ike” and other pros encountered at Lay Lake, and what is sure to be a brutally tough Sabine River at the upcoming Elite Series event in Orange, Texas, are the sort of tests he’s been preparing for and passing most of his fishing life.
“We’ve been on the Sabine during the spawn, and a 12-pound limit was great. How tough is that place going to be when we get there next week in the heat of early summer?” ponders Iaconelli.
The Sabine is sure to be the toughest test of the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season, and Iaconelli says the same three lures that carried him through Lay Lake to sit 7th in the Angler of the Year standings will also be in play at the Sabine.
- Details
By Louie Stout
Todd Vydick with his big smallmouth
Todd Vydick’s primary hope was to improve his personal best when he hired Cody Johnson to guide him for big smallmouth in the Traverse City, Mich. area.
“My biggest bass up to that point was 6.1 pounds,” said Vydick of Hartland, Mich. “I try to improve my personal best every time I fish with Todd.”
Well, mission accomplished – and in spades. Vydick not only bettered his biggest when he landed a 9.3-pound smallmouth, but also came up about a half pound shy of tying the Michigan record.
They fished into the evening last Monday when they encountered a school of smallmouth holding on a small grass patch in about 20 feet of water.
The Brighton, Mich. guide said he spotted the school along a drop-off on his Humminbird Side Imaging unit. He doesn’t have forward-facing sonar.
That’s where the behemoth bass ate Todd’s ¼-ounce, green pumpkin Strike King coffee tube. He knew it was big, but had no idea it was that big.
- Details
Z-man Report
Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson
All three days of the 2023 Bassmaster Classic, Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson stuck to his confidence bait, catching every one of his tournament-winning smallmouth bass on one of two Z-Man baits—a 4-inch smelt-pattern Scented Jerk ShadZ and a similar, though slightly smaller StreakZ™ 3.75. It’s a statement that not only begs questions, but also implies greatness.
“Z-Man’s Scented Jerk ShadZ is one of those rare bass baits that look pretty unassuming tied to your line,” observes Gustafson, who’s won numerous major bass derbies with the same jig and softbait setup. “But put it in the water and it absolutely springs to life, does things few other baits can do; operates on those super subtle levels of body and tail movement, so critical to triggering sight-feeding bass.
Composed of ElaZtech® superplastics, Z-Man’s Scented Jerk ShadZ harbors legit bass catching sorcery—a rare combination of softness, buoyancy, movement and improbable toughness. Specific to Gussy’s Classic gameplan, the bait offers an almost supernatural talent for hovering horizontally in the water column, just barely pulsing its tail like a shad or shiner in full-on chill mode.