When I began fishing professionally, I didn’t realize it would take me to Taiwan, Japan, Italy, France, London, South America and other amazing destinations. Most trips come about at the request of sponsors who want me to do promotional work in their countries.
Becky and I recently returned from our second trip to Spain, courtesy of Molix, a bait company that has supported me for almost 20 years. As with my other travels, I’m always blown away at how universal the sport of bass fishing is.
I typically do meet-and-greet appearances at tackle stores and marinas. One such get-together in Spain took place at the Predator Store.
Most of the fishing stores I’ve visited outside of the U.S. sell tackle for a wide variety of species. The Predator Store is all about bass fishing with a little crossover for pike and walleye.
I walked in the door and was amazed to see some of the best fishing equipment from the U.S., China, Italy and elsewhere. I was humbled by how many anglers showed up to talk with me and get an autograph.
They all had a story to tell. One angler talked about watching a Bassmaster Classic at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake. Another angler told me that my “Never Give Up” motto inspired a friend who had cancer.
Bass fishing is an international thing. It crosses borders, countries and languages.
The tournament
Several big international bass tournaments take place in Europe every year. Most of them happen in the spring and summer and conflict with my Bassmaster schedule. I had a chance to compete in one of these events while in Spain.
The team tournament drew 150 boats and 300 bass fanatics from, literally, all over the world. Most were from Spain and Portugal. But France, Italy, Germany and other countries were represented.
I loved the diversity of bass boats. Some of them were fully tricked-out 20- to 22-foot rigs, which are commonplace in the U.S. The next tier down were 18- to 20-foot rigs that didn’t have as many electronics.
There were two more steps down from that. I got a kick out of seeing heavily modified 14-foot johnboats side by side with the most advanced bass boats available.
We are spoiled in the U.S. Not only with our boats, but with an abundance of capable launching ramps and parking lots to accommodate them. When many of our reservoirs were constructed in the 30s and 40s, they were designed with power generation and recreation in mind.
The power generating reservoirs built in Europe during the 40s and 50s did not consider recreation. Their boat ramps and parking facilities are some of the toughest I’ve ever seen. But they managed to make it work.
A bass is a bass is a bass
I partnered with Javi Ballesteros from Madrid, another Molix sponsored angler. He didn’t have much knowledge about Alcántara Lake in Cáceres, Spain, the site of our tournament.
We had one practice day to put our heads together and figure things out on a body of water 3,000 miles from my home in America. Thankfully, a bass is a bass is a bass wherever it swims.
Before I even got into the boat, Alcántara Lake remined me of rocky, desert U.S. impoundments like Lake Mead. I immediately began thinking of baits and patterns I’d had success with at Mead in the fall.
When I got on the water, all the different types of rock reminded me of Table Rock Lake. There were flat sheet rocks, boulders and places that transitioned from rocks to gravel. I patterned the rocks there just as I do at Table Rock.
The rules were much like those in U.S. tournaments, including a five-fish limit. We caught 18 pounds on day one of the two-day event. I was on cloud nine that we did so well against many capable bass anglers who often fish Alcántara.
Power generation dropped the water level quite a bit the second day. That confused us for a while. We eventually made some good adjustments but sacked only 12 pounds. That dropped us to 10th place.
After the tournament, a ceremony awarded prizes to the top 10 anglers. If you make the top 10, they call it a podium finish.
The other side of the trip
Visiting Spain also gave Becky and I a great chance to escape reality for a while. We found time to make our first venture to Portugal.
There’s something magical about immersing yourself into another culture and enjoying their food and drink. I’m also a huge history nerd. We crossed a 1,000-year-old bridge built by the Romans. The hotel we stayed at had been a cathedral built in the 1300s.
We met so many new, great people from different parts of the word. We left with new friendships and new fans. It made for a dynamite trip.
You can learn more about how I fish for bass wherever I happen to be at www.mikeiaconelli.com or www.youtube.com/c/goingike.
