Entry 217-4

Greg Hackney Finishes in the Top-10 at the Bassmaster Legends Tournament

Part 4: Day Two of the Tournament

Question: What was your game plan on the second day of the tournament?

Hackney: I planned to return to the first hole where I’d caught all my fish on the previous day.  Even though I’d caught a lot of keepers and beat up a lot of fish in that hole, I felt certain I could catch two or three more bass in that area, because I’d left the fish after only fishing there for 3 hours. This spot really appeared to be a place that would replenish itself. Nobody else was fishing this section, so it didn’t get any pressure the rest of the day or during the night. I just believed there would be some more fish that had moved onto that spot.

I was on a big school of isolated bass, or what I call resident bass. This area was holding a big school of fish because when the river started moving, the current going down the river would suck the baitfish out of the vegetation. There were parts of the backwater that were completely dead and had no current in them. Most of the water temperature in that backwater was 92 or 93 degrees. In this particular spot, the water temperature was 88 to 89 degrees, a little bit cooler than any of the other water around it. I actually could see the water moving. I was close enough to the river so that every time a boat came through the lock, I’d see the water move either into the backwater, into the grass or out of the grass.

Even though this was a backwater region, I had moving water to fish, which many times was really hard to find. Now, I didn’t have strong moving water, but it was moving. There weren’t any other competitors fishing this section. There were several competitors in this area during practice, but none of them had caught a bass.

One of the other competitors was Kevin VanDam – my Strike King teammate. I have to admit, when Kevin didn’t catch any bass there and I did, I kind of felt good. Kevin’s one of the best competitors anywhere, and any time you can sneak a spot away from him, you’ve really done something. 

On the second day of the tournament, fishing was a little slower, but I caught seven keepers off the same spot, weighing a total of 14 pounds. I’d done much better than I thought I would, and I only required 3 hours of fishing to catch 14 pounds. So, I left that spot. Even though I didn’t catch the quality of bass I’d caught the first day, I still had a good bag of fish.

Question: What did you do after you caught your fish?

Hackney: I went to check out the hole course. I’d made the top-12 cut, so I’d be able to fish in the six holes reserved for the 12 semifinalists. The B.A.S.S. officials said that we could ride around in the hole course during the tournament, but we couldn’t fish there. We weren’t able to run the trolling motor, but we could run our big engines and study the region where we might be fishing. When I weighed in that day, I was still in second place. I had a good chance to win. I’d made the top-12 cut and would fish for the top-6 spot on the final day.

Next: Day Three of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: The Game Plan
• Part 2: Day Two of Practice
• Part 3: The First Day of Competition
• Part 4: Day Two of the Tournament
• Part 5: Day Three of the Tournament