With his colorful tattoos and booming hip-hop sound track, Mike Iaconelli has turned the world of big-money competitive bass fishing upside down. In <b>Fishing on the Edge</b>, Iaconelli tells his own story&#8211;and it&#8217;s a whopper: a Philly-born, Jersey-bred Yankee who&#8217;s been stealing the spotlight from bass fishing&#8217;s traditionally all-Southern anglers, attracting fans and dominating one of the fastest-growing sports in America.<br><br>How did Mike Iaconelli, a college-educated kid from New Jersey, come blasting into a sport <br>dominated by old-school stars like Gary Klein, Kevin VanDam, and Denny Brauer? How did Mike, aka &#8220;Ike,&#8221; take a secret childhood passion and turn it into a profession, earning million-dollar sponsorships and a storm of media attention, ranging from ESPN&#8217;s SportsCenter to profiles in <i>The New York Times</i> and <i>Esquir</i>e? While Mike has attracted both fans and foes on the tour, <br>his success speaks for itself, especially his victory at the 2003 CITGO Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of competitive fishing.<br><br>Forty-four million Americans fish, but no one does it quite like Mike Iaconelli. In <b>Fishing on the Edge</b>, he lets you in on the secrets to his extraordinary success&#8211;how he developed his &#8220;power&#8221; fishing style, how he attacks the water, positions the boat, and perseveres through those days when the bass just aren&#8217;t biting. With sidebar tips that can be used by any fisherman&#8211;from using spinner baits to picking out the right rod to his no-fail &#8220;secret weapons&#8221;&#8211;this is an intensive, informative, and often raucous journey through the life of a brash young man destined to do for fishing what Tony Hawk did for the X Games: take the sport to a whole new level. At the same time, it&#8217;s the compelling first-person story of a man who prepared carefully every step of the way, kept notes on every fish he ever caught, and executed the perfect plan to get to the top.<br><br>A tale of passion, competition, and extreme personality, <b>Fishing on the Edge</b> is a book for anyone who loves the sport of fishing, wants to turn a hobby into a career, or is simply fascinated by a man&#8217;s unstoppable drive to succeed.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>