Most of the world's legendary largemouth bass fisherman are from the South, not South Jersey by way of South Philly.
That's what makes Mike "Ike" Iaconelli's induction into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame later this year unique. The Salem County resident was born in Philadelphia and grew up a few miles away in Runnemede, Camden County, a middle-class suburb where kids fish mostly in a tidal creek by the New Jersey Turnpike.
Iaconelli, 50, was attending the 2023 Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., last week when one of bass fishing's forefathers, Bill Dance, broke the good news to him. Iaconelli will be honored at a ceremony in Springfield, Mo., in September.
