Entry 263-2

Greg Hackney on His 2008 Bass Fishing and Strike King’s New Lures

Part 2: I’m Looking Forward to Monkeying Around

Question: Greg, what new lure from Strike King excites you the most?

Hackney: I like the new Space Monkey, which has a unique action that no other creature bait has. It’s the only creature bait on the market that actually looks like it’s swimming around by itself and not being towed by a piece of line. Because of the action, the space monkey is the most natural-looking creature bait in the fish and tackle industry this year.

Question: What kind of action does the Space Monkey have?

Hackney: The bait looks like a live salamander or frog or other underwater creature. The Space Monkey looks alive, and it’s the first lure I’ve seen that appears to be propelling itself. I don’t have to put much action on the Space Monkey with my rod tip or line because the action is built into the lure. When you wind it, it gives all the action you need. It has two rage legs on it that are different from the appendages you see on the Rage Craw. I think it has more-natural swimming action than even the Rage Craw. The Rage Craw is my second-favorite bait on the market this year.

Question: How are you fishing the Space Monkey?

Hackney: I’m a target-oriented fisherman. I like to cast to a target where I think a bass is holding to try to make that bass bite my lure. I like grass, wood and boat docks. I love to flip. I can put the Space Monkey on my 7-foot 11-inch Quantum rod, and it gives me another lure to fish besides my jig and my tooth. The Space Monkey is not just a flipping bait. It works extremely well on a Carolina rig because you barely have to move the bait to get the appendages flapping. So, you can drag it on the bottom, and it will float up and look like it’s swimming.

Question: Greg, aren’t you using the Space Monkey as a swim bait?

Hackney: That’s a secret I didn’t want to give out. I rig it on a lighter flip sinker like a 1/8-ounce, cast it out and wind it like I do a spinner bait or a buzzbait. Now, you’ve got a soft-plastic lure that works like a top-water lure or a slightly-subsurface lure. It also will be a good follow-up bait for baits like the Shadalicious or the King Shad. If a bass blows-up on one of those lures and doesn’t inhale the bait, you can pick-up the Space Monkey and cast it right back to the spot where you’ve missed the bass and probably catch the bass with the Space Monkey.

Question: What color Space Monkey do you like?

Hackney: My favorite color is the Bama bug and black neon is a close second. I like green pumpkin too. Strike King doesn’t make a bad color for the Space Monkey. I think I need a bag of each color because of the different water colors we fish all over the country. I try to match the lure color to the water color.

Question: What size hook and line will you use fishing the Space Monkey?

Hackney: I’m fishing a new prototype flipping No. 5/0 straight-shank heavy-wire hook that you can use with big monofilament line or braided line. You don’t have to worry about this hook flexing.

Question: On what pound-test line will you be fishing the Space Monkey?

Hackney: I’ll either use 25-pound-test gamma-edge fluorocarbon or 65-pound-test braided line.

Question: On a Carolina rig, how will you rig the Space Monkey?

Hackney: When you have a bait with as much action as the Space Monkey, you really need to use a longer leader. I’ll be using a minimum 2-foot leader and 3- or 4-foot leader when I’m Carolina-rigging a Space Monkey because this bait swims very easily through the water. So, when you pull it just a little, this bait will swim itself off the bottom because it has a lot of natural lift to it. I believe the Space Monkey will fill in a lot of gaps for my style of fishing.

Next: Catch The Wake

Contents:

• Part 1: Even Babe Ruth Strikes Out
• Part 2: I’m Looking Forward to Monkeying Around
• Part 3: Catch The Wake
• Part 4: I’ll Have the Lobster
• Part 5: There’s a New Creature Living on The Bottom