Hackneys Roll Continues With Classic and Shootout Berths

Louisiana pro Greg Hackney has made a name for himself by consistently finishing tournaments in the upper ranks of competitors, so it was no surprise to anyone when he won the points during the Bassmaster Southern Open circuit in November.

(PRWEB) January 13, 2005 -- Louisiana pro Greg Hackney has made a name for himself by consistently finishing tournaments in the upper ranks of competitors, so it was no surprise to anyone when he won the points during the Bassmaster Southern Open circuit in November.

The ranking wasnt worth any money, but it did send him on to the Bassmaster Open Championship held on Monroes Ouachita River on Dec. 2-5.

The stakes at that tournament were high - the top five finishers clinched an early berth at the 2005 Bassmaster Classic. Hackney didnt even break stride, leading two of the four days and finishing in second place to grab that Classic ring.The conditions were awful," he lamented, pointing out that the Ouachita jumped 6 feet between practice and the end of the tournament.It just kept coming up every day," Hackney said.

The two-time Classic angler said he found his fish in a lake about 26 minutes north of the launch on the second day of practice.It seemed like I caught the first of the fish that moved up with the water," Hackney said. They were all suspended in the tree limbs." Although he didnt catch many, the bass were quality fish.

I only practiced two days, and I took the third day off," he said. When I found those fish, I knew where I was going to spend the entire tournament." On the first day of competition, Hackney rocketed to the lake and began hitting flooded trees with his Rattleback jig. I fished the old bank," he said. They were some good fish; there just werent many to be caught."

He scratched out a five-fish limit for 16 pounds, 9 ounces, but said he probably could have done better if he had stayed in the most-productive spot. There were a bunch of other boats in there with me, and I knew if I stayed in one spot, they would know right where I was fishing, so I just blew through there and kept going. There was the potential to catch 20 pounds in there."

Hackney went right back to the same stretch the following day, and just kept banging the same trees. I could tell the second day the bites were disappearing," he said. On the first day, Hackney had 11 bites; on the second his lure only got hit by three keeper fish. But he still didnt have any competition for his productive stretches. There were guys in there, but they were just fishing. They hadnt figured out what was going on," Hackney said. I had everything that had fish to myself."

His second day catch of three keepers garnered him only 9 pounds, 7 ounces, but that was enough to keep him more than 2 pounds in the lead. The field was cut to 10 after Day 2, so his odds of grabbing one of the Classic berths was sharply enhanced. Hackney stayed right with the plan, heading right back to the same stretch of the same lake. He did make a slight change: He added elbow bush to the areas that held fish.

All the fish that had moved on the bank were on those elbow bushes," he said. But they werent on all the bushes, only the ones with leaves still on them." Most of the bushes had lost their leaves, but those that still held onto greenery often held hungry fish. When I first started fishing them, when youd throw into that canopy, the bush would just shake," Hackney said. Those fish were coming after (the jig)."

His bites increased on day three, and he was able to bang out a limit. The size of the fish had fallen, however, and he put only 7 pounds, 13 ounces on the board. That allowed Texas angler Bradley Springer to edge into the lead by 1 pound.

The rising waters finally impacted Hackney on Day 4. When we started, the new bank was right inside the trees," he said. By the end of the tournament, there were places that the water stretched 200 yards to the new bank." These flooded trees were thick, making many of the bass moving up with the water unreachable. You just couldnt maneuver," Hackney said. He still managed four bass, but his total weight only tallied to 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Springer, meanwhile, put an 11-pound, 2-ounce stringer on the scales to widen his lead to just more than 4 pounds.

Hackney, who has won only one Bassmaster event (the Arkansas Central Open in 2002) but has logged three second-place and 15 top-10 finishes, won a 250-horsepower Mercury Opti-Max valued at $15,000. But he also secured his place in the 2005 Pittsburgh Bassmaster Classic - and he weighed in the heaviest stringer during the tournament. That 16-pound, 9-ounce stringer earned him the right to fish the Bassmaster Shootout, where his odds of winning will be one in 13.

Hackney said he was pleased to have locked in the Classic and the Shootout, but added that he wasnt planning to change his fishing style.

Just making the Classic isnt going to keep this thing (Hackneys career) going," he said. I want to keep on keeping on. I still need to earn checks at these tournaments." Of course, Hackneys style isnt conservative to begin with. Im a pretty big gambler anyway," he said. I gambled on these fish, and said this is where Im going to fish the whole tournament."

Hackneys next tournament will be Jan. 19-22 when the FLW Tour stops at Lake Okeechobee. He then begins the 2005 Bassmaster Tour circuit Jan. 27-30 on Floridas Lake Tohopekaliga.

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By Andy Crawford
Louisiana Sportsman magazine

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