Entry 255-5

Looking Back at Lake Murray and Forward to Wheeler Lake with Greg Hackney

Part 5: The Last Day of the Tournament

Question: Greg, how much money did you earn for 17th place in this tournament?

Hackney: I got a check for $10,500.

Question: What did you learn in this tournament?

Hackney: I’ve never seen a blueback herring in my home state of Louisiana. So, I need to learn more about how to fish lakes where the blueback herring is the dominant prey species. I’ve learned that on a lake like Lake Murray you don’t look for the bass like you do on most other lakes. You search for the blueback herring. If you find the herring, you’ll locate the bass. The bass on Lake Murray act more like stripers than largemouth bass, they don’t have permanent homes, and they don’t live in condos. The bass are very nomadic, roaming the entire lake and setting-up camp wherever they find blueback herring.

This lake was full of offshore structure, but there were no bass holding on it. On any other lake, at this time of year, you can bet on the offshore structure to catch bass. But since the blueback herring were in shallow water, that’s where the bass lived. Whenever I pulled up on a specific place in this tournament, my primary objective was to locate blueback herring. If the herring were there, I’d fish it. If not, I’d move to another place. This was a different type of fishing than what I was accustomed to doing. So, I had to learn to fish for herring, and then they’d teach me how to fish for the bass.

Question: Greg, what kind of year have you had?

Hackney: I’m not in a really-good position for points in the race for the Angler-of-the-Year title. I’ve had three bad tournaments, but the rest of the tournaments have been pretty good. I guess I’m just mixed-up and weird right now. I’m in 45th place for the Angler-of-the-Year title right now, but I’m moving up a few places every tournament. Too, I’m seven places out of the 2009 Classic, so I’ve got to keep my head down and keep working and digging until I can jump, climb or crawl into the 2009 Bassmasters Classic. Making the Classic is always my primary goal for the year.

Question: The next Bassmaster Elite Series tournament is at Wheeler Lake in Alabama June 5-8, 2008. How will you fish it?

Hackney: Wheeler’s a normal lake like we have throughout the South. There are no blueback herring in it, but there are shad, bream, crawfish and the kind of bait that bass like. I’ll probably fish shallow early and then move out to deeper water later in the morning. In the first week of June, the bass start bunching up on offshore structure. Wheeler Lake should be a really-good tournament, and there should be tons of bass caught, including numbers of 10- to 12-pound, five-fish limits.

The guy who wins will have to bring a total of 10 to 15 pounds to the scales every day. So, I’ll try to figure out techniques that will produce 3 pounders or better. You can have a good tournament catching 12 pounds of bass a day, but to have a great tournament, you’ll have to catch 15 pounds of bass a day. I fished a tournament at Wheeler Lake a couple of months ago, and the lake was in the best shape it’s ever been. It’s really healthy and has tons of bass in it.

Question: Wheeler has smallmouths as well as largemouths. Which species will you be targeting?

Hackney: I’m a largemouth fisherman. That’s not to say I can’t catch smallmouth in a smallmouth lake. But Wheeler’s set-up right for me to fish to my strengths. I’m basically a power fisherman. I’ll be fishing for largemouths, but if I catch a smallmouth, I certainly won’t be mad.

Question: What baits do you think you’ll have to use at Wheeler to win?

Hackney: At this time of year, a jig like the football head jig will be really strong in this lake. This is a good time of year to get productive top-water bites. But I can’t really say how I’ll fish until I arrive and learn the water and the weather conditions. I promise the tournament at Wheeler Lake will be good.

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