Hey you have to give this guy credit, he stood up, took the heat, said he was wrong, why he is wrong and asked forgiveness. I for one will allow him his indiscretion, fogive and move on.

What he did is a lot more than some of the other Pro's that have done things wrong in T and said nothing, nada! Arron Martens for instance winning the T without having a proper state license for one, he ws even ticketed by the DNR and he still kept the win and screwed Tim Horton out of the win. I won't even get into our elected politicians who screw up and then act as if its our fault.

I am not an Ike fan of his actions, I think he has great angling ability and fishing sense, but give credit where credit is deserved. He had the nads to admit his mistake and ask forgiveness.

Here is his PUBLIC apology below:


Ike apologizes 2/28/2006
Ranger Boats announced today that it had dropped its sponsorship of Mike Iaconelli due his actions on day 1 of the Bassmaster Classic (see the statement from Ranger president Randy Hopper below). BASS later issued the following statement from Iaconelli:

"I want to publicly apologize to anyone I have offended by my recent actions during the 2006 Bassmaster Classic. As you know, I am a very passionate person. Sometimes my emotions get the best of me and that is exactly what happened. After finding several of my fish dying, I handled this crisis in the wrong way. I wish I could take back my actions, but I am human and I made a mistake.

"I want to assure everyone that my frustrations and anger were in no way purposely directed toward damaging safety equipment or degrading the American flag. I love this country and I love everything that the flag stands for. I am very patriotic and totally support our troops. No group more than professional anglers should feel as fortunate to live in a country that provides opportunity for so many to chase their dream.

"By quoting the famous American President John F. Kennedy, 'When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters – one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.' In the spirit of this statement, I ask for the forgiveness of my fans, peers, sponsors and all others who may have been offended by my actions.

"This has been an unfortunate incident and I regret what I did. When things like this happen, you have to learn from your mistakes, keep fishing and move forward. This is what I intend to do and hope you will move forward with me."