Since his previous tournament on the Mississippi River, Jacopo was forced to attend to problems with his boat’s motor. The problems he faced did not allow him to fish that event in the way he normally would have. He showed up at the St. Lawrence River however with the certainty his motor would not inconvenience him, courtesy of…

Jacopo had a good feeling when he arrived for the last stop of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals 2023. It was because he had finished well in previous seasons and also because the great Mississippi River gave him confidence. The pieces signalling a good event were in place. Even before the official start of practice, Jacopo made a choice…

HENRICO, Va. James river, June 26, 2023, MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League
We finally have a chance to tell the story of a tournament gone well. We cheer for Jacopo, his wife Federica and their dog Yago. We do it to lift their spirits. But in a way, we all needed this one.I can assure you that Jacopo is not your run of the mill “good angler.” After spending many days by his side on the water (and also at some important tournaments), I am 100% certain that he has all of the qualities it takes to be “the best,” or at least to be ranked among the best.I am so confident in my opinion that while commenting on his recent run of disappointing results, I could only say “It’s just a matter of time. When you work as hard as he does and commit yourself to the maximum degree, you…

We return to the Potomac, a great and important river that runs between southern and northern states, a line dividing the country during the Civil War. It is also the stage on which Jacopo’s most extraordinary victory to date took place on the professional circuit. That victory certainly provided psychological pressure that was the source of a few errors at his most recent stop on the river. And yet, the few days he spent on the water were not without opportunity, as the river provided bites. Jacopo caught limits of 18 lbs and 17 lbs in the first two days of official practice. The third day did not go quite as well, but it proved useful nonetheless in providing information relevant to the tournament. The famous grassy area that in 2021 permitted him to beat his adversaries was not in the same shape as it had been two …

Only a few days after the cursed tournament on Lake of the Ozarks, Jacopo found himself back in Alabama for the MLF Toyota Series (Southern division) tournament on Lake Eufaula. Tired from the previous, stressful event, Jacopo has only two official practice days and does his best to use them well. In the case of Eufala, he has experience on the lake, having fished it in 2021. He knew that brush piles would be hot spots, as well as ledges and also grass mats. And this time there was another factor – the shad spawn, which could possibly unleash huge bites from big bass. Jacopo used practic eto discern which of these patterns would produce the best keepers. Punching the grass mats doe snot produce results, prhaps because the lake was a bit low. Ledge fishing requires a very precise and time-intensive approach, and since Jacopo has little…

For the fourth event in the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Jacopo faced an immense, unfamilir lake for the umpteenth time this season. Lake of the Ozarks is very beautiful from an aesthetic point of view. Its rocky shores are covered in plants and its rolling hills descend sweetly toward the water. But it is also a difficult lake to fish in a tournament. It has a population of Spotted Bass, many of which tend smaller sizes; it also has numerous Largemouth Bass, but they too are typically of a short to medium length. The obvious exception: large, spawning females. Yet again, they made the difference in this tournament. Let’s find out how…. The tournament coincided with a full moon, a sure sign that the spawn would be in full swing. A cold front distracted the bass from their coupling rituals, so much so that during practice Jacopo found …

We’ll tell this story in the first person. It’s because what happened in the MLF Toyota Series on Lake Chickamuaga was incredible, and it’s best to have Jacopo explain it in his own words….. “I had already been on this lake in 2019 when I fished a Bassmaster Open. I didn’t have a great tournament, finishing 75th out of 200 competitors. It wasn’t a bad finish – just not great. I showed up again with confidence in the fact that in the past few years of profesisonal fishing I have improved in my approach to American tournaments. The general behavior of the fish at this time of the year is not however easy to decipher. The bass population is divided between pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. The cards on the table are also mixed in another way, as the weather delivered cold fronts with abundant rain that certainly affected the…

For the third stop of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Jacopo had to again figure out a lake that was new to him. An angler will always encounter challenges when fishing against the best pros, and perhaps more so on a fishery like Eufala. It’s a lake that by its very nature does not offer many alternatives and concentrates anglers in similar spots. Let’s see how Jacopo approached that challenge…

It’s always a bit strange for someone born in Florence, Italy, like Jacopo, to return to the vicinity of the picturesque town of Florence in Alabama. Although in reality, this Phoenix Bass Fishing League (MLF) circuit tournament started from Iuka in Mississippi and took place on a dam on the Tennessee River… But Jacopo achieved the historic participation in the Classic precisely in these waters, and it is therefore logical to remember it with some emotion. Anyway, going back to the race, Jacopo told us that during the practice, he had selected three main spots with different features that had given him good results. He began the tournament with this strategy. The first spot he fished was the most promising one, located near the Pickwick Dam, close to a lock. Here, thanks to the movement of the water, shoals of forage fish were chased by decent largemouth specimens. But when he arrived at the spot, he found several boats participating in another tournament concurrently with Jacopo’s. He tried to find a space to fish, but he had to move a little and search for interesting fish with Livescope. Fortunately, he found several fish, and in less than…

For the fourth time, Jacopo finds himself facing the deepest waters of Alabama while fishing in the dam on the Sipsey Fork tributary of the Black Warrior River, known as Lewis Smith Lake. The maximum depth is 264 feet and the fish species suitable for tournaments consist of Largemouth black bass and Spotted bass. Despite the lake’s main features (deep waters and rocky walls), Smallmouth is not present. While the activity of Largemouth is still low due to seasonal conditions, Spotted bass is now available and ready to…

Once again Jacopo jumps into a lake in which he has never fished before: It’s the J. Strom Thurmond Dam on the Savannah River called also Clarks Hill lake. For the second stage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals therefore Jacopo invents a tournament strategy based only on the official practice. Again, he found himself faced with changing weather conditions which in practice had presented the lake with muddy water, to be fished mainly throwing a Chatterbait (with excellent results), but which in the competition made him find clearer water, not so suitable for that technique that Jacopo…

After a journey of 1480 miles, round trip, Jacopo returns to Guntersville Lake for the second event in his annual schedule. While it could be called his “home lake” due to his chosen place of residence in America, it is also true that, being a huge lake, he has never really been able to explore it thoroughly. He often says that he has been able to fish it very little, especially at the beginning of the season. So much so that for this Toyota Series event of MLF, Jacopo arrives having only tried it out for two days. Four were the techniques that mainly caught good fish: Umbrella rig (with only three hooks) for offshore weeds; Heavy lipless (up to 1/2 oz.) bright red color; soft swimbait, and the inevitable Chatterbait from 3/4 to 3/8 oz. All approaches for fast reaction fishing. And as often happens…