Entry 255-3
Looking Back at Lake Murray and Forward to Wheeler Lake with Greg Hackney
Editor’s Note: Greg Hackney of Gonzales, Louisiana, finished 17th in the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament May 15-18 at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina. Hackney was only 13 ounces from making the 12-cut, and if luck had been on his side, he might could have won the tournament. This week, Hackney will tell us what he learned from Lake Murray, how he competed against 108 of the best bass fisherman in the world, and how he plans to fish the next tournament at Wheeler Lake, June 5-8.
Part 3: Day Two of the Tournament
Question: Greg, what was the weather like on the second day of the tournament?
Hackney: The second day was totally-different weather from the first. We had really-high winds on the second day and the sky was sunny. On the first day, the weather was cloudy, the water was slick as glass, and the areas I fished were protected. On the second day, the wind seemed to really hurt the number of bites I got. Normally, wind on a lake is a positive element, but for some reason, on this day, the wind really bothered the fish, causing them not to bite as well as they did the first day. We had a bit of a cold front come through, and the bass didn’t seem as active as the previous day before.
Question: What did you catch your bass on during the second day?
Hackney: I only caught one bass on the spinner bait. So, I changed lures and tactics and switched to the Strike King Football Jig in the brown and green-pumpkin color.
Question: How did you fish the Football Jig?
Hackney: I dragged it extremely slowly in the same places where I’d caught bass before, but I just crawled it across the bottom. I only caught 10 or 11 bass all day on the second day; however, I caught two big fish – a 5-pound bass and a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass. I didn’t catch as many fish the second day, but the quality of the bass were much better.
Question: Greg, were you having any competition from other tournament anglers on the places where you fished?
Hackney: No, I didn’t, which was a real advantage. The points and the flats I fished weren’t visible above the surface. I only could find them with my electronics. I really got to fish all the places I fished by myself.
Question: What electronics did you use?
Hackney: I used a Lowrance LCXS-113C. Most of the competitors fished visible points, so I didn’t have any company on the underwater points I located. 
I heard from other fisherman that there was a lot of competition on some of the points with three or four anglers trying to fish them. I was lucky. I didn’t have any competitors on my points.
Question: At the end of the second day, how many pounds of fish did you have?
Hackney: I had a little over 16 pounds. So, I moved up to 10th place. I thought I had a shot at winning this one.
Contents:
- Part 1: Before the Competition
- Part 2: The First Day of Competition
- Part 3: Day Two of the Tournament
- Part 4: Day Three of the Tournament
- Part 5: The Last Day of the Tournament
