Entry 319-4
How I won a $1/2-Million in One Weekend with Greg Hackney
Editor’s Note: Strike King Pro, Greg Hackney of Gonzales, Louisiana, won the 2009 Forrest L. Wood Cup at Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, against 77-other contestants during the first week of August, 2009. This week he’ll tell us how he won so much money with very-few little-bitty bass.
Part 4: From Leading the Tournament to Middle of the Pack with 1 Day Left and $1/2-Million in the Balance
Question: Greg, you were leading the tournament, and now the tournament officials zeroed-out your weight. You had to start all over again, but you now only were competing with 10 guys. What did you decide to do?
Hackney: I’d planned to return to fish the same regions where I’d been so lucky during day two of the tournament. However, this area had lots of rain on the second day of the tournament, and the water on the Allegheny had become muddy, which made fishing much tougher. Although I had five keeper bites on day three, I only caught four of them. But those four fish weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces.
Question: What did you catch them on, Greg?
Hackney: I caught two on the little Strike King spinner bait, one on the 1/8-ounce buzzbait and one on the little shad-bodied bait. But I couldn’t put together a pattern. I caught all the fish on various types of cover using different lures. I did what I call junk fish. I cast to every spot where I could find a current break or over-hanging limbs that would break the current. I fished around mayfly hatches also.
Question: What was your biggest fish on day 3?
Hackney: I caught one bass that weighed close to 2 pounds. 
But I didn’t have but four bass, and those weighed 4-pounds, 2-ounces.
Question: With four fish that weighed about 4 pounds, what did you think your chances of winning would be?
Hackney: I felt like I still had a good shot because 6 pounds, 3 ounces was leading the tournament. And now instead of leading the tournament, I was in 5th place. I knew that those same 10 guys would be fishing on the last day of the tournament, and I thought I’d have to have at least 6 pounds of bass to win.
Contents:
- Part 1: A $25,000 Win for a Ticket to Compete for $1/2-Million
- Part 2: The First Day of Competition: Three Bass - 3-Pounds Plus - and I’m Still in the Hunt for the $1/2-Million
- Part 3: The Second Day of Competition: From 36th Place to 1st Place in 1 Day
- Part 4: From Leading the Tournament to Middle of the Pack with 1 Day Left and $1/2-Million in the Balance
- Part 5: Three Ounces for $1/2-Million
