Holy Hack Attack
Category: Tournament
Jun 7th, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 7th, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Greg Hackney continued his dominance at the Pickwick Lake FLW Tour event out of Florence, AL. The Bass Mafia pro brought in 22 pounds, 4 ounces for a three-day total of (75-14).
Hackney was in position to win the last event he fished, the Bassmaster Elite Series tourney on Lake Dardanelle, but fell a few ounces short. Looks as though Pickwick may provide the pounds he needs to claim his first FLW victory since winning the Forrest Wood Cup in 2009.
In second is another former Forrest Wood Cup champ, Mercury pro Brent Ehrler with (68-1)
Rounding out the Top 5 are in third Bullet Boats pro Michael Neal (67-13). Fourth is held by Ranger Boats pro Troy Morrow (65-11). In fifth is Strike King pro Jason Lambert (61-6).
Cup was Hackney’s goal
“Coming into this event, I was the last guy on the qualification list for the Forrest Wood Cup,” said Hackney. “My goal was to fish as good as I could the first two days and anything after that would be a bonus.
“You never know. I had no idea in practice it would be this good. I have some more places to try tomorrow if I need to do that. The fish bit differently today. It was slower and the fish seemed to be more scattered. It took a long time to catch them. I sure would like to be able to catch 100 pounds over four days here.”
Ehrler is happy
“I have a lot of ground to make up tomorrow,” said Ehrler. “I am happy with how it went today. They bit well. I laid off a few spots, so they should be good for tomorrow. You can never tell what will happen though. I don’t want to jinx myself, but the areas seem to be replenishing with bass. The fish just pile up in big schools.”
Nothing big for Neal
“I caught all good fish, just no big fish,” said Neal. “The first two days I brought in at least one bigger fish. It just didn’t happen today. I’m in pretty good shape heading into the final day. I will do the best I can. I’m going to try and get 30 pounds tomorrow. I think I need that much weight to have a shot at this.”
Morrow had fun
“It was a fun day on the water,” said Morrow. “I’m ready to head out tomorrow. I’m not sure my areas are replenishing with fish, they’ve been really beat on. Still, I didn’t expect to catch what I did today. I have a long way to come back for a win, but let’s see what happens.”
Slow start for Lambert
“I had a really slow start today, “said Lambert. “I only had 12 pounds at noon. I made a move to find another school and I caught a 6, a 5 and a 3 pretty quick. I also lost a couple of big ones that could’ve made it real interesting.
“Big stringers happen pretty regularly here at Pickwick. The fish are out there. I’m looking forward to going out tomorrow.”