ESPN Federation Nation

Michael Iaconelli fished his first three years as a bass tournament angler not from a sleek, high performance bass rig, but from a simple johnboat. That was, at least, until he won a real boat in the co-angler division of a BASS event.

The story of how Iaconelli quickly rose through the ranks of the sport traces back to his days as a member of the BASS Federation Nation, a fact that he takes great pride in.

Iaconelli, the newly crowned Bassmaster Angler of the Year and the 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion, joined southern New Jersey's Top Rod Bass Casters in 1991, one year out of high school.

"When I joined the club, it was the first time I saw the competitive side mixed with the hobby side," he recalls. "I knew what I wanted to do, but I realized it required taking small steps to get to the top."

And that literally meant starting from the ground up as a member of the BASS Federation Nation. After winning the boat, Iaconelli continued fishing as a co-angler in BASS tour events while climbing to the top of the Federation Nation. In 1997, at the age of 25, he won the BASS Federation Nation Championship, amateur bass fishing's biggest event. Two years later, he won his first of what now include five major BASS events, including the 2003 Classic. He's since qualified seven times for the Classic and will compete at the championship set for February at Alabama's Lay Lake.

"If you look at what I did like a timeline, I had a very systematic approach," he says. "And that is what the Federation Nation is all about. It gives you a taste of what competitive fishing is all about before you get totally committed financially with it as a full-time career."

"Federation Nation-level tournaments are more than about catching fish," he continues. "If a guy is really serious, they can teach you about the business-side of professional angling. And that is, making sound decisions, developing communication skills, and learning about money management and time management. I learned about all those things through the Federation Nation in just three years. And if you again look at it like a timeline, you can see that every year, I did a little bit better."

Looking back, its obvious Iaconelli has no regrets about choosing the Federation Nation to lay the groundwork for his current successes. He is quick to point out that there is another, quicker inroad, although it can be akin to day trading in the stock market. Quick success, in other words, can lead to complete failure.

"There are only a handful of the guys on the pro tour now that could have made it through the entry level and gone directly into the pros. There is nothing better than experience."

The list of other Federation Nation members now in the pro ranks underscores his testimony. That list includes the likes of Davy Hite and Denny Brauer, both past Classic winners with more than $1 million in BASS earnings.

He adds, "For the amount of money and time it takes, taking the Federation Nation route one step at a time is best over the long run. Look at me: I went from fishing out of a johnboat as a hobby to competing for my livelihood from a bass boat. And I did it all through the Federation Nation."

Iaconelli also points out there are more to belonging to the Federation Nation than the competitions.

"The competition is only one part of it. The beauty of it all is it comes all in one package. There's the volunteer and activist side of it with the youth, conservation and community outreach projects. And the bottom line is it's about making you become a better bass angler by gaining knowledge from other anglers."

The skills and knowledge angle is at the heart of the program, according to Iaconelli.

"At its core the Federation Nation is all about learning. And you can't do enough of that in bass fishing. Mechanically you can max out. But you can't learn enough about the mental and technical side of it without constantly being in touch with other anglers and how they are finding an edge to catch more fish."

"Not everybody wants to be a pro," he continues. "And the Federation Nation gives you that wealth of knowledge by sharing ideas and knowledge with other anglers."

The Federation Nation also presented Iaconelli with the opportunity to put his skills to the test and ultimately reach a childhood goal of winning the Classic.

"It was a dream to win the Classic," he says. "And there's no other way, financially or otherwise that I could have done this and achieve what I have so far without having the opportunities presented by belonging to the Federation Nation."

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