Entry 212-4

Greg Hackney’s Saltwater Tactics for Catching Bass

Part 4: How I Fished During the Final Day of the Bassmasters Lake Erie Elite Tournament

Question: Greg, what were you thinking as you motored to the starting line on the final day of the tournament?

Hackney: I was really confident. I knew I still had plenty of bass to catch on the two spots I’d been working. If any of the 12 guys got big fish to bite on that last day, they could win the entire tournament. I decided to return to my first two locations I’d fished on the first two days of the tournament and then expand my water coverage and fish two more spots. By 9 am, I had 19 pounds, 15 ounces of smallmouth bass in my live well. I’d lost one 5 pounder that would have helped me move up in the tournament, but I still caught the biggest bass in the tournament that day.

Question: Tell me about catching that 5-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth.

Hackney: I didn’t see this bass on my graph, but I knew where my sweet spot was located in this area. I cast the drop-shot rig to my sweet spot without getting the boat above the place I was fishing. The first cast I made, I lost a 5 pounder. But on the second cast, I hooked that 5-pound, 10-ounce bass. The smallmouth on Lake Erie don’t actually bite, so you don’t get a strong, violent strike that anglers are accustomed to when fishing southern waters for smallmouth. All you feel is weight on the line when the fish takes the bait. When I felt the fish’s weight on the line, I set the hook and then backed-off on my drag. We were fishing in open water, so there wasn’t any structure for the fish to get caught in and no way for the hooks to get hung-up.

Question: Were these smallmouth jumping very much?

Hackney: Oh, yes. Sometimes I’d be fishing in 35 feet of water, and the fish would come straight up from the bottom and jump. I was nose-hooking my worm, so the hook caught the fish solidly on the jaw.

Question: How did you land those heavy smallmouth?

Hackney: As you know, smallmouth bass have very-small mouths. I belly-lifted the first big smallmouth, and then I used the belly-lift technique on the smallmouth I caught after the first one.

Question: When you came in from the last day of fishing, did you think you’d won the tournament?

Hackney: No, I really didn’t. To win, I’d need 21 pounds, and I only had about 20 pounds. So, I’d be a little short of winning. Edwin Evers caught the biggest bag of the tournament that day. He had 23 pounds and 14 ounces on the last day, so he really increased his lead. I was glad to place 5th and take home a good check.

Next: What I’ve Learned

Contents:

• Part 1: How to Learn About a Lake You’ve Never Fished
• Part 2: How I Fished During Day One of the Bassmasters Lake Erie Elite Tournament
• Part 3: How I Fished During Day Three of the Bassmasters Lake Erie Elite Tournament
• Part 4: How I Fished During the Final Day of the Bassmasters Lake Erie Elite Tournament
• Part 5: What I’ve Learned