GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – Two of the eight qualifiers for the Bassmaster Classic Bracket would seem to have an advantage in this four-day, match-fishing elimination format. Both Mike Iaconelli and Ish Monroe competed at Pokegama Lake just over a year ago in a Major League Fishing event.
But Monroe begs to differ, saying, “No, there’s no advantage because there are so many fish in the lake.”
That should make for particularly interesting episodes of “Bassmaster LIVE,” which will feature a camera in every angler’s boat as eight men battle for one Bassmaster Classic berth.
“This lake has both smallmouth and largemouth, which is really cool,” said Iaconelli, who won the MLF event last year. “You look at the field and you’ve got guys like Jonathon VanDam, who is a smallmouth guy. And you’ve got guys like Dave Lefebre, who is a largemouth guy. So you’re going to be able to do what you like to do here.”
The field is comprised of the eight Elite Series anglers who just missed the Classic cut based on Angler of the Year points. Here’s a brief rundown the format for the first two days:
- Beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET and ending at 11:30 a.m., Steve Kennedy will face Jacob Powroznik and Kelley Jaye competes against Dave Lefebre.
- From 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. ET, it’s Mike Iaconelli vs. Adrian Avena and Ish Monroe vs. Jonathon VanDam.
- Wednesday the pairings are the same, but the anglers who fished the morning session on Day 1 will fish the afternoon session on Day 2 and vice versa.
- The daily limits are five bass with a 12-inch minimum length limit. The four anglers with heavier two-day, 10-bass limits in each matchup will advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
This is quite a shift from 130,000-acre Mille Lacs Lake’s AOY Championship, which ended Sunday. Pokegama (pronounced “po-KEG-ah-mah”) Lake covers only 6,612 acres, but it has a maximum depth of 121 feet vs.Mille Lacs’ 41 feet.
“It’s got a little bit of everything from a habitat standpoint,” said Iaconelli. “It’s got a lot of shallow water, reeds, rock, boat docks, wood. It’s very diverse.”
The anglers had from daylight until 3 p.m. Monday to practice.
“I talked to Ish and we agreed, it’s not like wildfire, like it was a year ago,” Iaconelli said. “It’s also a different time of year. It was warm when we were here last year. We’re more in a fall pattern now.
“I think a good bag for three hours would be 15 pounds. You’re going to see a lot of 8- and 10-pound bags. The largemouth are more numerous, but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone caught 4-, 5- or 6-pound smallmouth. They’re in here.”
The winners of the two-day matches will advance to the semifinals Thursday. The Classic berth will be determined Friday between the two anglers who advance from the semifinal matches.
All tournament activities will be at the Pokegama Golf Course, 3910 Golf Course Rd, Grand Rapids, Minn.
Bassmaster LIVE, which will air from approximately 8:15 a.m. ET to 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET, will have cameras in each angler’s boat.