Entry 269-3

Greg Hackney Squeaks into the Classic, Thanks to the Zero, the Finesse Worm and the Red Eye Shad

Part 3: The Finesse Worm Saves the Day at Lake Oneida and Lake Erie

Question: You said the second-most important lure to you this year was the Strike King Finesse Worm. What size and what color were you fishing, and why was the finesse worm so important to you?

Hackney: When we went up North to fish for smallmouths, the finesse worm saved the day. I figured out how to fish it last year when we had those two tournaments in New York. I fish it on a drop-shot, and the Strike King Finesse Worm floats the hook. On most people’s finesse rigs, when the weight hits the bottom on a slack line, the worm sinks to the bottom. But that doesn’t happen with Strike King’s Finesse Worm. With the 4-inch finesse worm, when the weight hits the bottom, the finesse worm floats the hook up off the bottom. I’ve found that the less rod action I use, the more bites I get. I think that worm floating up really attracts the smallmouths and causes them to bite.

I believe the natural movement of the water causes that worm to wiggle as it floats up off the bottom, and I think the appearance of the worm is so natural that the smallmouths just can’t stand watching that worm and not attacking it. I finished 12th in the Buffalo tournament, but I caught 77 pounds of smallmouths in 3 days of fishing on that worm. That Strike King 4-inch Finesse Worm has been a very-important lure for me anytime I’m fishing for smallmouths.

Question: What size and what color seems to be your favorite?

Hackney: I like the 4-inch watermelon-red Strike King Finesse Worm. I’m catching those fishing 36- to 42-foot water using 6-pound-test Gamma fluorocarbon line. The smallmouths may have still taken the worm on bigger line, but I like the 6-pound test because it gets the bait to the bottom more quickly. Much of the time we’re fishing really-rough water. So, the quicker I can get the bait down that deep, the better my chances for catching the smallmouths.

Question: Greg, most bass fishermen don’t think about fishing 35- to 48-feet deep. Why did you think about fishing that deep?

Hackney: Really and truly, I was fishing more shallow than many of the other people in the top 12. The fellow who won the tournament was fishing 50- to 90-feet deep, just like you’d fish if you went deep-sea fishing for grouper. There’d be a little rise off the bottom, and those smallmouths would be stacked-up on it. The bottom’s really flat up there in New York State, therefore any type of rock or structure coming up off the bottom will hold the smallmouths. I’d graph those deep-water fish and drop a bait down to them. My bait never would stop. The fish would pick it up just about the time it reached the bottom.

When you’re fishing that deep with that 4-inch finesse worm and a little-bitty hook, you don’t set the hook. You just let the fish load-up on the rod and start taking-up line. Even though I’m a shallow-water fisherman from Louisiana, I’ve done plenty of deep-water fishing offshore for snapper and grouper, so I understand how to fish deep water. Those tactics are the ones you have to use when you’re fishing those deep, clear lakes in the North.

Question: How big were the smallmouths you were catching up there?

Hackney: One day I had 4 smallmouths that weighed 20 pounds, and the next day I caught a 6 pounder. There’s quite a few 4- and 5-pound fish up there. The first year we went up there to fish, I caught 12 smallmouths that weighed 5-pounds-or-more each during the tournament. Most of our tournaments this year have been won by anglers who have been fishing offshore. This year, if you didn’t know how to fish offshore, you were really at a disadvantage. When you go offshore and fish that super-deep water, you can’t beat a Strike King Finesse Worm with a drop-shot rig for success.

Next: Don’t Be Afraid of the Red Eye Shad

Contents:

• Part 1: I Almost Missed the Train
• Part 2: Beefed-Up Finesse Fishing
• Part 3: The Finesse Worm Saves the Day at Lake Oneida and Lake Erie
• Part 4: Don’t Be Afraid of the Red Eye Shad
• Part 5: The Classic Comes Home