Entry 250-2

Fishing Lake Amistad with Greg Hackney and the New Shadalicious and the Ocho Stir Stik

Part 2: The Actual First Day of Competition

Question: Okay, Greg, on the first morning you went out to compete, what were the weather conditions?

Hackney: We had really-bright sun, temperatures in the low 50s, and the wind was variable.

Question: So, where did you run to on the first day?

Hackney: I fished different places with grass on them. I’d planned to start from the take-off point and fish my way out to my outlying spots. Our blastoff was at 8:00 am, so I wanted to fish fairly close to the take-off point to get an early-morning bite before the sun climbed high in the sky.

Question: Describe your first hour of fishing.

Hackney: I caught a limit of bass in the first hour. I caught one decent fish, but the bass weren’t super aggressive. I could hardly tell the difference between a bite or my crankbait just picking up grass, because the bass were biting really lightly. I caught bass at every milk-run stop. I never fished a place on the first day where I didn’t catch at least 10 bass. I caught somewhere between 60 and 80 bass. I caught bass on my first stop and continued to catch bass until the day ended. The only lull when the bass didn’t bite aggressively was between 10:30 am and 11:30 am. At 12:30 pm, the wind picked up, and from 12:30 pm until quitting time, I caught bass on almost every cast.

Question: What did your biggest five bass weigh?

Hackney: The first day, I had right at 20 pounds, but I never really got a big bite. I had a couple of 5 pounders, and the rest of the fish were 4 pounders.

Question: Okay, Greg, after the weigh-in on the first competition day, in what place were you?

Hackney: I was in 32nd place, so I made the 50 cut.

Question: After you knew you made the top 50, what did you think when you returned to your motel room that night?

Hackney: I felt really good about my performance, but I also believed that the weather really hurt me. Even though I’d caught a lot of fish, I didn’t catch the quality of bass I wanted to catch. Because I was catching so many fish, I’d have no problem going out the next morning and catching the same size bass I’d caught on the first day of competition. So, I’d have to adjust my fishing style to try and get the big bites that would put me in the top 12.

Next: Day 2 of the Competition

Contents:

• Part 1: Day 1 of the Tournament
• Part 2: The Actual First Day of Competition
• Part 3: Day 2 of the Competition
• Part 4: Day 3 of the Competition
• Part 5: Lessons from the Shadalicious and the Ocho Stir Stik