Entry 282-1

Greg Hackney Sets New Trophy Bass Record

Part 1: Twenty-five Bites in 2 Hours and Two 8-Pounders

Question: Greg, how much money did you win in the last tournament you fished?

Hackney: I placed first in the FLW Series East vs. West Fish-Off, winning $25,000.

Question: What’s the East vs. West Fish-Off?

Hackney: In this tournament, the FLW chooses 30 of the best fishermen in the East and pits them against 30 of the best fishermen in the West. Each eastern fisherman is paired against a single fisherman from the West. The tournament winner qualifies for the Forrest L. Wood Cup, the World Series of the FLW.

Question: How did you plan to catch your fish during this tournament, according to your practice days?

Hackney: In practice, I decided I’d probably have to fish offshore to win the tournament. The lake was up 30 feet, so the great shallow-water fishing regions were 30-feet deep. I began riding the lake, using my depth finder to look for structure to catch offshore bass. This lake has the reputation of producing some of the biggest bass in the nation and lots of them. I knew I needed to find a place where few other anglers were fishing. During practice, I only found a few offshore spots where bass were holding. After I’d located four offshore spots where I could catch bass, I began looking for shallow-water cover where I could catch bass using the flipping tactic since this was a 3-day tournament, I needed more than one tactic, in case the weather or water conditions changed.

Question: What were you flipping to catch fish on during practice?

Hackney: Strike King’s 7-inch Ocho on a 3/8-ounce True Tungsten slip sinker.

Question: Why did you choose to flip the Ocho instead of a jig or other typical flipping baits?

Hackney: I’d tried a jig and some of Strike King’s new flipping lures, but the Ocho was the only flipping bait the bass would bite.

Question: Most people don’t consider the 7-inch, 8-sided Ocho, which is a big fat worm, a flipping bait. Why do you use it as a flipping bait?

Hackney: I use the Ocho to flip a lot. Normally, I flip the 5-inch Ocho. However, since Falcon Lake is known to have bigger bass, I chose a bigger worm. I also used a bigger hook in the 7-inch Ocho because when you’re fishing for big bass you need a big hook that’s strong enough to handle those monster fish. Just before I began fishing the Ocho, I’d been casting and retrieving with a wide variety of lures without much success. I saw some brush on the bank and thought, “I need to show those bass something different.” I changed to the Ocho and got 25 bites in 2 hours. Several of these fish were 8- to 10-pounders.

Question: How did you rig the Ocho?

Hackney: I rigged it Texas-style and pegged on a 3/8-ounce slip True Tungsten slip sinker. That 7-inch Ocho is heavy, and when you flip it, the lead falls away from it. But when you peg a slip sinker to the head of the worm, that weight carries the Ocho right through the cover you’re casting toward. I was flipping to the centers of bushes, and most bass took the bait on the fall. Two of the fish I caught in this 2-hour time period were 8-pounders. The rest were 4-pounders or more. The flipping bite was so good because a cold front had been on the lake a day or two before the tournament. On this particular practice day, the sun had finally come out, the weather had warmed-up, and the fish had come up shallow. So going into the first day of the tournament, I felt like I’d depend on the flipping bite in this region to win the tournament.

Next: Thirty-Two Pounds for 4th Place on Day One

Contents:

• Part 1: Twenty-five Bites in 2 Hours and Two 8-Pounders
• Part 2: Thirty-Two Pounds for 4th Place on Day One
• Part 3: The Day to Get Ahead
• Part 4: The Last Tournament Day
• Part 5: Hackney Holds First On the Final Day