October 25, 2006Searching for IkeSmith Mountain Lake is hosting a Northern Open bass tournament this week. The tournament will feature mostly weekend anglers with big dreams, but a few well known pros are here. The list includes Mike "Ike" Iaconelli, who I'd say is the best known young pro bass fisherman in the county. I told Scott Martin, an official with co-host Franklin County, that I was going to do a feature story on Ike after the tournament's second day. He asked if I wanted to hook up with Ike ahead of time. Of course I said yes. Tuesday Martin sent me an e-mail saying I could meet Ike at his rented house at 6:30 p.m. I used Mapquest to find the place, but didn't get directions. I figured my detailed map of the neighborhood (on the lake's Bedford County side), combined with my trusty "Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer" would be fine. I was wrong. I took at least four wrong turns before I finally reached the house, just before 7 p.m. Fortunately Ike and his roommate had just gotten there, too. It turned out his boat broke down. His uncle was driving down from New Jersey with Ike's spare boat -- wouldn't it be nice to have a spare boat? -- and Ike had to get all his gear out of his main ride so he could put it in the other boat. He didn't stop what he was doing. But after he made a dent, he took a break for about an hour to talk with me. Yeah, he's savvy about the media. But there comes a time when you just can't fake that stuff. After the interview I thanked him, wished him luck and stumbled through the complete blackness to reach my truck. That's one thing about those older neighborhoods out there at the lake -- they are seriously dark. Living in the city, I take streetlights for granted. When I reached the first intersection I took a right to reach the main road out -- but hit a dead end. I went the other way, took a turn, and reached another dead end. After studying the map I tried again, and ended up back at the first dead end. At this point I was looking at my truck's compass and the map. I knew I had to go Northwest. I finally figured it out and headed up the road -- and there was Ike's truck and boat. I had gone, literally, nowhere. Five minutes later I finally got out of the neighborhood. I had been pretty stressed when I was late getting to the interview. But at that point, all I could do was laugh. |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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