While not quite as dramatic as Dave Lefebre’s last-second 3 1/2-pounder in the morning session, Mike Iaconelli added some late heroics in the afternoon matchups. Adrian Avena had closed to within a pound of Iaconelli, when Ike hooked up with a 2-11 that allowed him to cull up 1 1/2 pounds.
“To get that fish on something you hadn’t fished all day at the very end, that’s important,” Iaconelli said. “That’s important in more ways than one.”
Iaconelli started flipping pencil reeds when he caught the fish with about five minutes left.
So as we head into Day 2, here are the totals: Iaconelli has 10-0 to Avena’s 7-12, and in the other bracket Ish Monroe has 12-15 to Jonathon VanDam’s 3-8.
Remember, the weights will carryover to Wednesday. The winner in each matchup will be the best two-day weight. So nobody is out of it, although VanDam has a steep hill to climb.