Thanks to a generous donation from Team Toyota’s Mike Iaconelli and The Ike Foundation, Santa’s sleigh showed up with several hundred extra trout at Veterans Park Pond in Tulsa’s southern suburbs on Thursday, December 15th.
Turnpike traffic rushed by to the south, and the glow of fast food chain neon signs could be seen to the north, as dozens of rainbow trout entered the highly accessible waters as part of The Ike Foundation’s “Stock a Lake” campaign that aims to improve fishing for children in urban areas like Tulsa.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation actually stocks select waters across the state with trout once waters are cool enough for their survival.
However, Iaconelli’s generosity added significantly more fish to the popular urban angling destination located just 12 miles south of Tulsa’s 19,000 seat BOK Center where “Ike” weighed-in during the 2013 and 2016 Bassmaster Classics.
“The goal of The Ike Foundation is to get more kids fishing, and Tulsa is a great example of an urban place where some kids will never experience fishing if we don’t work to create improved opportunities,” says a passionate Iaconelli.
“The other great thing about Tulsa is that it ties into my fishing history. From tournaments I fished with B. A. S. S., some of my sponsors being located there, and some of the Bassmaster Classics that I fished in the past. The opportunity for The Ike Foundation to get kids into fishing in Tulsa feels like everything has come full circle. More kids casting, more kids fishing, more kids in the outdoors. That’s our number one goal at The Ike Foundation,” he concludes.
Goal met, Mr. Iaconelli.
The Tulsa community is grateful for Ike’s admirable generosity and heartfelt passion for making fishing more accessible to the youth of the community with the help of a Santa’s sleigh-like trout stocking truck you helped add dozens more cold-water salmonids to.
