PRO BASS ANGLING Proven hot spots not always tried and true

Classic provides lessons from the best in bass fishing
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
It was educational and enlightening to see how 61 fishermen dealt with the challenges of the Citgo Bassmasters Classic earlier this month in New Orleans.
Some of the pros made excellent decisions. Others are probably still kicking themselves for their poor choices.
Winner Michael Iaconelli made his best decision during the six-day pre-fishing period in June, when he abandoned a couple of proven spots to explore the Venice area for the first time. Rather than seek information from others, Iaconelli learned the area on his own, which is how he stumbled on his winning hotspot.
His best move
Perhaps his best move, though, was not getting upset when his motor conked out while running to his spot on the second morning. In second place after the first day, Iaconelli was 30 minutes into his two-hour run when a burned-out switch made his outboard go from full throttle to idle.
Rather than panic, he got on his cell phone and called a Yamaha service technician, who helped him diagnose and correct the problem. Iaconelli got to his spot 40 minutes later than the previous day, but he managed to catch a nice stringer and take the lead.
Iaconelli, 31, admitted that in his younger, hot-headed days, he probably would have freaked out and his tournament would have been over.
"My first reaction was 'Why? Why is this happening now?"" Iaconelli said. "After you fish for a couple of years on the circuit, you learn to keep your nerve. I stayed calm. When I got to my spot I said, 'You've got 40 minutes less to fish. Let's make it happen.""
Pressure hurt
Fishing pressure can hurt a good spot. Iaconelli was fortunate that he had his spot all to himself. Davy Hite, who won the 1999 Classic in New Orleans, was a victim of his previous success.
Hite was fishing near the spot where he won the Classic and was in second place heading into the final day. When he got to his area the final morning -- now a popular spot since his Classic win -- several local anglers had already caught fish there. Hite ended up with just three fish weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces, to fall to 10th place.
Alton Jones went in the opposite direction. Jones was 17th the first day, 14th after two days and jumped into seventh the final day with the biggest stringer of the day at 12-2.
"These fish had so much area to scatter in, you just couldn't get to them," said Jones, who was hampered by high water the first two days. "The water came down six inches (the final day) and that made all the difference in the world. The first two days, the fish were in 10-foot-tall cane. (The final day) they were on the outside of the cane and I was only a long pitch away from them."