Original Caption: AMATEUR WINNER - Michael Iaconelli, of Runnemede, N.J., displays the plaque and the keys to his new Ranger boat that he was awarded for winning the amateur division of the Bassmaster BP Top 100. Statesville Record and Landmark, May 1994. Staff photo by Bruce Matlock.

In today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo, according to the Bassmaster website, Mike Iaconelli has fished 274 events with their organization.  Through those events, he was won 8 times and had amassed over $2.75 million dollars in winnings.  His first win is listed as the 1999 Vermont Bassmaster Top 150.  

But the “amateur” level stats don’t seem to appear any longer on the site, at least correctly.  If you dig through the archives, you would see that Mike actually won the amateur side of the Bassmaster BP Top 100 held on Lake Norman back in 1994, along with the keys to a $19,000 Ranger boat package.

Today’s historical photo shows a very young Iaconelli proudly holding up those keys, along with his trophy.  The image was featured in the Statesville Record and Landmark back in May, 1994.  Mike was leading the event on the amateur side heading into the final day, and was able to add a 7-13 sack to his total, bringing his winning weight to 24-01.