MLF Summit cup Championship

[jbsoonerfan]

I won't spoil it since I am sure some people have not watched it yet, but this was one of the better events in my opinion. Not sure why Ike acts like such an idiot, but he almost makes it unwatchable for me. Every fish he catches is a GIANT. Twice he said "It's 5 pounds" one of them was 3.1 and the other was 2.14. Makes him look like a fool. He's a GREAT angler but acts like someone who has never caught a fish. On the other hand, Mark Davis acts like he is about to fall asleep all the time LOL

[WRB]

You either love Ike's antics or don't, I am in the don't like Ike's behavior group.

Too bad, Ike's is a excellent bass angler and he knows it, his screaming sets him apart he is taking full advantage of his act. What a role model! Got to wonder what the film crew and weigh master is thinking as this crazy person is running around the boat and yelling or hugging them.

Tom

[Hower08]

I agree it was a good tourney. And Ike. Can't stand the guy. My seven year old is better composed with big fish than ike is. As good a fisherman he is I just can't stand him. When he almost fell in that was my favorite thing I seen him do the entire show!

And the weighmaster probably wants him to fall overboard at full speed or take a crankbait to the lips

[jbsoonerfan]

Lol, and he acted like his back was broke. Dude is a tool. I also like how he was "fatigued" and couldn't make a good cast. GREAT angler, just a weird dude.

[Hower08]

Yeah the back thing really stuck out to me. Especially since I'm literally stuck right now with a broken back and a bunch of other stuff from a work accident at the beginning on February. With 5 broken vertebrae 5 screws and 2 rods in my back now I just laughed at him flopping around like a carp I just shot with the ole ams bowfishing rig 

And yeah being fatigued. He wouldn't be wore out after a few hours if he would settle the hell down a bit

[Oregon Native]

My ol Grandma would say ....If you can't say something nice....

Well.....my lips are closed.

Tight Lines all

[Gundog]

I'm trying to train my DVR to go to "mute" when ever Ike catches a fish. So far no luck. 

[WRB]

2 hours ago, Gundog said:

I'm trying to train my DVR to go to "mute" when ever Ike catches a fish. So far no luck. 

It works manually.

[Heartland]

I don't blame Ike entirely for his behavior, BASS has let it exist.   Most other professional sports would have fined and suspended him into non-relevance.   He is the personification of the old axiom that any press is better than none.   

[Rpratt]

Just glad that the Championship round was pretty decent. The other rounds were a tad brutal with all the smaller fish being caught. 

[Hower08]

No one has a problem with him getting excited. It's the way he acts. He screams like he just got his **** bit off. 

 

      Trust me I get as jacked up as anyone when I put a big fish in the boat, but this dude needs to chill a bit. And it has gotten worse over the years. Watch some of his videos from when he was doing city limits fishing and even before that or now. I'm convinced he has ramped it up on purpose. Love him or hate him no one can argue the fact that he is a very good fisherman though

[jbsoonerfan]

He makes himself look ignorant, and clearly he is not. Just say, "This is a good fish" and leave it at that. He screams "HUGE FISH, FIVE POUNDER, FIVE POUNDER!!!!!!" and it's 2 lbs. That is what gets on my nerves. His excitement doesn't bother me as much as his exaggeration does.

[12poundbass]

What I find amusing is all of you complain about Ike. Guess what? he’s a marketing major. He’s done something that no angler ever has in the history of bass fishing, he’s possibly brought more to bass fishing than any other angler and the best yet you all are talking about him! He’s laughing all the way to the BANK! 

 

Mission accomplished in my book. ?

[Heartland]

32 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

What I find amusing is all of you complain about Ike. Guess what? he’s a marketing major. He’s done something that no angler ever has in the history of bass fishing, he’s possibly brought more to bass fishing than any other angler and the best yet you all are talking about him! He’s laughing all the way to the BANK! 

 

Mission accomplished in my book. ?

Are you serious?

[OCdockskipper]

23 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

What I find amusing is all of you complain about Ike...He’s laughing all the way to the BANK! 

 

Mission accomplished in my book. ?

It depends on what that mission is.

 

I think you will notice that nearly everyone of us who dislikes Ikes antics also compliment him on his skills and how well he teaches.  We aren't "haters", we respect what he has accomplished and how he deals with others in a 1 on 1 situation (especially kids).

 

However, those positives do not erase the negative.  Standing there screaming at the top of ones lungs is not passion, it is a scream for attention (pun intended).  Time after time declaring "its a giant!!" when he knows it will be a 1 lb, 8 oz fish is not over exuberance, it is a scream for attention.  It is to the point that it turns some people off from the products he endorses, not the mission his sponsors hope to accomplish.

 

Like a gorgeous woman who is immersed in drama, Ike is high maintenance.  

[A-Jay]

12 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

My point being is all of you are talking about him which draws attention. Love it or hate it in this day and age no attention is bad attention. I don’t agree with this adage but that’s how things are. He’s found a ‘gig’ (for lack of a better term) to help him survive in this game. In this cut throat game you need to find something in order to draw in money sponsorship wise. Gerald Swindle wears bright colors, has a comedy acts, and can be loud too. Skeet Reese wears bright colors, has his giant truck. Kevin Short said he chose pink for his colors because their loud and everyone knew who he was. 

 

These guys realized Chances are you aren’t going to survive on winnings alone and to draw sponsors you need a ‘gig’. Love it or hate it, it’s pretty smart marketing.  

All solid points and I can see where this approach can help pay the mortgage.

 However, depending on the 'gig', it seems a lot like selling your soul.

But hey,  it's worked very well for The Geico Lizard, The AFLAC Duck & Ronald McDonald.

A-Jay

[Heartland]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

Yup

I would suggest you spend a little while watching some of his childish meltdowns, breaking rods and throwing reels in the water.  Listen to the way his peers speak about him, and the way they react to his WWF like antics.   Personally I think he is a classless buffoon and brings discredit to this hobby/sport.   Personally I find it hard to believe any reputable company would want him to represent them.   I know I for one will never even think about using anything he endorses.  

 

At East Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee, Fla., last month, Iaconelli, 34, of Runnemede, N.J., was disqualified after the first day of competition in the annual Bassmaster Classic, a kind of world championship of bass fishing. Unlike the 2004 Bassmaster Classic, from which he was DQ’d for fishing outside prescribed waters, this time it was more serious.

The volatile Yankee, known for his exuberance and yelling outbursts whenever he catches a fish (especially if he spots a camera boat nearby), did the unthinkable. He had a whopping temper tantrum as shoreline and boating onlookers watched. Upon opening the lid on his aerated livewell box and seeing some bass floating belly up, he instantly knew when he returned to the weigh center he would be penalized for each dead fish, possibly dropping him far in the standings. This is, after all, a sport that sometimes is decided by mere ounces.

The sight of the dead bass caused him to lose his cool.

In the words of Bass Angler Sportsman Society tournament director Trip Weldon, “On Day 1 of the CITGO Bassmaster Classic, Michael Iaconelli violated Rule Number 5, the sportsmanship code, after he deliberately destroyed a piece of safety equipment, specifically a running light, and he also used extensive profanities. His catch was disqualified for the day.”

What Weldon didn’t mention is that the bass boat’s destroyed rear running light, a short aluminum pole with a small light fixture on top, also contained an American flag.

 

ESPN, the owner of the BASS tournament organization, verified it.

“Iaconelli did destroy a running light with an American flag on it,” a spokesman said.

That started a firestorm of protests. Not only isn’t it good for the image makers at ESPN and BASS when one of the fishing stars has a “hissie fit,” as they say down South, it’s especially bad form to show disrespect to the American flag. Iaconelli soon was in trouble.

The Ranger Boat Company of Flippin, Ark., which sponsored Iaconelli by providing him with a boat that costs more than some people’s vacation homes, immediately “withdrew sponsorship and affiliation of BASS angler Mike Iaconelli for his recent conduct during the 2006 BASS Classic.” Despite recognizing his accomplishments as an angler, Ranger Boat president Randy Hopper said Iaconelli’s conduct “did not represent the deep-seated values on which our company was built and continues to operate.”

Potomac River fishing guide Andy Andrzejewski, who witnessed some of Iaconelli’s temper during ESPN’s coverage, sent an angry letter to the parent company of BASS. Andrzejewski has special feelings concerning the American flag. He was a member of an elite U.S. Marine Corps drill team some years ago. Mess with the flag and you’re messing with the Marines, he figures.

Now there’s pressure on Iaconelli’s other tournament sponsors, including the Berkley division of Pure Fishing headquartered in Spirit Lake, Iowa, and the Mann’s Bait Company of Eufaula, Ala.

Said one fanatic bass fisherman: “If they don’t send this wild man packing, I’ll never buy another Berkley or Mann’s product as long as I live.”

Iaconelli, incidentally, offered an apology of sorts for his temper tantrum, saying the sight of the dead bass set him off. He also said he would have his attorney look into the disqualification, meaning he obviously didn’t agree with Weldon’s decision.

 

[Heartland]

7 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I’ve spent plenty of time over the years watching him and several others doing things I’m sure they’ve regretted. I’m well aware of the livewell incident and to be honest if I was in contention to win $300k and my livewell quit I’d be ticked too! I might not do what he did but I probably wouldn’t handle it too well. 

 

I don’t know too many anglers who talk negatively about him. He has his peers on his show all the time, they aren’t paid so I’d say it’s pretty safe to assume they don’t think too negatively about him. 

 

Let’s take a minute and go over the things Ike does that’s positive. He has his charity that buys rods and reels for kids to get them outdoors and into fishing, something that most probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to do otherwise. He is a co-founder (I believe) of Bass University. He always takes the time for the kids at all the events, he’s always there until the last kid/fan is gone. 

 

So you see, he isn’t all that bad. He’s made mistakes and I’d guess regrets. So have I. His act rubs some people the wrong way and I get that and I respect that. 

Well, I think we will probably just have to agree to disagree on this topic my friend.  He is not the person that I would want representing anything I was trying to promote.  I do applaud his efforts with the kids, but his other antics diminish it to the point that I find it nearly worthless.  Which message is he actually sending?

[OCdockskipper]

As an extreme example, if Mother Teresa had committed a murder, she would not have been let off the hook based on the good works she had done previously.

 

The good things Ike has done do not create the situation where the negatives are excused.

[Hyrule Bass]

sheesh people, i dont think anything he has done while on the water warrants him to being labeled as having possibly sold his soul or being likened to a murderer. those two things are a bit extreme, dont you think?

[jtharris3]

What I don’t like is the “holier than thou's” who are all too eager to jump on someone. Let Ike be Ike. If we all conform to how others “think” we should act this would be a crappy world to live in. JMHO #ImOffendedFreeZone

[jbsoonerfan]

1 minute ago, jtharris3 said:

What I don’t like is the “holier than thou's” who are all too eager to jump on someone. Let Ike be Ike. If we all conform to how others “think” we should act this would be a crappy world to live in. JMHO #ImOffendedFreeZone

Big difference in getting pumped when you catch an actual 5 lber and getting pumped and acting like it's a 5 lber when it's clearly a 2 lber. I don't mind a good bat flip when a guy hits a bomb. But don't bat flip when you pop out to shallow centerfield. I'm not holier than thou at all, just commenting on how his antics are old and worn out. I'm not offended at all, he acts like an idiot, just pointing it out. 

[MaineBassMan]

Hmm, I don't care about Ike, it was a good day lots of nice bass caught and in my great State. No it's time for me to go fishing!