Entry 250-4

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

Part 4: Day 3 of the Competition

Question: Greg, how did you start out the day?

Hackney: I spent about 45 minutes fishing the crankbait on my best spot and didn’t get a bite. Although I cranked for an hour, I never could produce a bite.

Question: How did you fish the crankbait?

Hackney: I’d learned during practice and the competition that to trigger a strike, I’d have to get the crankbait hung in the grass or a tree. Big timbers were scattered out on the grass flats. Occasionally, I’d get bites when the crankbait wasn’t in contact with some type of cover, but about 99% of the time, the bites would come when I’d get the crankbait hung-up and then rip it free of the cover.

This is a violent way of fishing, and you really have to have your crankbait tied to braided line, which helps the crankbait come through the trees and the grass. When I got hung, I’d rip that crankbait away from the cover as hard as I possibly could. That’s when the bites would come. I wasn’t getting a feeding bite. I was getting a reaction strike, except when the area had really-high winds. Then I’d get a feeding bite. Most of the time during the tournament, I’d get reaction bites on my Strike King Series 5 or Series 6 crankbait.

Question: Which crankbait did you throw on the last day?

Hackney: I fished a perch-colored Strike King Series 5 crankbait.

Question: When your crankbait wasn’t working, what did you fish?

Hackney: I actually picked up a 7-inch Ocho Stir Stik, the new plastic stick bait from Strike King. I think they’re calling this bait the Ocho, but most of the pros call it the Stir Stik, because it’s big and bulky and looks like a stick you’d use to stir paint.

Question: How did you fish it?

Hackney: I’d cast the bait out and then dead-stick it (let the bait lay on the bottom motionless). I used a No. 5/0 wide bite hook. I cast out the Stir Stik with no weight and let it fall slowly to the bottom in 15 to 18 feet of water.

Question: How long did you wait before you’d move the bait after it hit the bottom?

Hackney: A long time. I knew exactly where the fish were located and where they were setting up to take the bait. I really had to drag that bait around slowly on the last day to get any bites.

Question: When you were dead-sticking the bait, how long did you let it lay on the bottom?

Hackney: Probably 15 seconds at the most. I waited that long because I wanted to make sure the bait reached the bottom. Once the bait reached the bottom, I’d drag it around a little, making sure I kept it in contact with either grass or wood.

Question: Why did you choose the Stir Stik instead of the Strike King Zero, which is also a cigar-shaped worm?

Hackney: The Stir Stik is a lot heavier, it falls much faster, and it’s a bigger bait than the Zero. Because I was fishing deep, I wanted to get the bait down to the bottom quicker than the Zero would fall. I like to fish the Zero in shallow water, like 4 feet or less. The Stir Stik has been designed to give you a similar action and shape to the Zero, but allow you to fish it in deeper water. The Stir Stik is just a deep-water Zero. It’s faster on the fall, but it still doesn’t fall fast. The Stir Stik still gives you a really-slow subtle presentation.

Question: How many bites did you get with the Stir Stik on the third day of competition?

Hackney: I had about 10 bites and caught a couple of 6 pounders. I also caught two, 3 pounders, which really hurt me. I lost one fish that would have weighed between 4 and 5 pounds. If I could have landed that fish, it would have helped me, but I just never got the giant bite that day. Even though the conditions weren’t right, late in the afternoon, I fished the Shadalicious. When you catch a bass that weighs 11 pounds and 11 ounces, you can’t leave the lake without trying that bait again. I got three or four bites on the Shadalicious but didn’t catch a fish on it. The water was just too flat and calm for that bait to be effective.

Question: Going to the weigh-in, what did you think you had in the boat?

Hackney: I had about 20 pounds of bass. Before I left the launch site, I knew I’d need to catch 30 pounds of bass to win. I was one bite away from winning the tournament. I was really confident on that last day, because I had a legitimate shot at winning. I just never got that big bite. If I could fish the tournament over again, I’d fish it the same way. I spent time in areas holding big bass. I went to that tournament not just to place and get points but to win. I made all the right decisions to win the tournament. I just didn’t get the bites I needed from the bigger fish.

Question: So, after the weigh-in, in what place did you finish?

Hackney: I finished in 7th place, which is how I started the day. I didn’t move up or down on the leader board. I actually had one of the bigger bags of bass on the last day, but I didn’t have enough weight to make up the number of pounds I needed to win.

Next: Lessons from the Shadalicious and the Ocho Stir Stik

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