Bass-Fishing Tactics with Greg Hackney
Day 5: Finally, Crank Them
 Editor’s
Note: Greg Hackney of Gonzalez, Louisiana, one of the
hottest tournament fishermen on both pro circuits, has
finished in the top-10 in four tournaments with nine
more tournaments left to compete in this year. Hackney
won the Lake Sam Rayburn Bass Tournament, and so far
this year, he’s earned $192,000 on the Bassmaster
circuit and is ranked No. 1 statistically on www.bassfan.com
as of May, 2006.
Question: Greg, if you found a group of keeper-size
bass on a point in the early summer, you’ve caught
those bass on a finesse worm and then crawled and hopped
a jig before starting with the finesse worm again, and
finally the fish have stopped biting, what will you
do next?
Hackney: I’ll stay where I am and begin fishing
the crankbait. If the water has any color to it, I’ll
be using a chartreuse-and-blue or a lime-and-blue bait.
If I’m fishing water that’s 10 feet or less,
I’ll be using the Strike King Series 5 crankbait.
If I’m fishing 10 to 15 feet of water, I’ll
be using the Strike King Series 6 crankbait.
Question: Greg, how are you working the crankbait?
Hackney: I normally work the crankbait pretty fast.
I really want that crankbait to run hard, hit a rock,
a bush or a stump, deflect off that cover and then start
running again. Normally, when I crash a  crankbait
into some type structure, that’s when the bite
will occur. I don’t stop the crankbait when it
hits the cover. I keep the bait coming on a steady retrieve.
Oftentimes, I’ll actually hang the crankbait in
the cover, and that’s when the bass will hit it.
Question: Crankbaits are notorious for losing bass.
How are you keeping the bass on the crankbait once you
take them?
Hackney: One thing that I’m doing that a lot of
other anglers aren’t doing is that I’m casting
my crankbait on braided line. I’ve learned that
bass bite totally different on braided line than they
do on monofilament line. I think that monofilament has
so much give in it that many times the bass don’t
think they’re hooked very well, so they jump and
cut up to throw the bait. Normally, when you’re
fighting the bass on braided line, the fight is much
shorter and not as hard as it is when you’re fighting
the fish on monofilament line. There seems to be something
about the braided line’s not having any stretch
in it that seems to cause the bass to give up quicker.
I’ve also found that it’s not nearly as
hard to cast a crankbait on braided line as it is to
cast a crankbait on monofilament line. When I fish a
crankbait on a monofilament, I feel like th e
crankbait is working twice as hard as it is when I’m
fishing it on monofilament. Also, with monofilament,
the crankbait isn’t moving as fast, and a lot
of times the bass will slap at the crankbaits with their
mouths and get hooked up on the outsides of their mouths.
But with the braided line, the bait’s moving so
fast, a bass usually gets the whole thing in its mouth.
I’ve noticed that the hooks generally hook up
much better on the braided line than they do on the
monofilament line. Now, I’m still using a fiberglass
rod and not a graphite rod, and I’ve just found
that I catch more fish and lose fewer fish using braided
line than I do using monofilament line. I really do
like deep cranking with braided line, and I know that
my hook-up ratio is much better with that braided line
than it was with the monofilament. I’ll use anywhere
from as light as 30 to as heavy as 50-pound-test braided
line.
Question: What’s another tactic that you use to
fish slowly in June?
Hackney: I’ll either be casting a big worm or
the Strike King Iguana lizard at this time of the year.
Question: How big is the big worm you’ll be fishing?
Hackney: If I’m fishing a worm, it will be at
least 10-1/2-inches long. At this time of the year,
the early summer, the bass don’t really seem to
want a fast bait, but instead seem to prefer a big bait.
The bass are coming off the spawn and trying to build
their bodies back up, and they want the triple-decker
hamburger, not the Lean Cuisine Meal. At this time of
the year, the bass like really big, slow-moving kind
of bait. The clearer the water is that I’m fishing,
the less action I want in the tail of the worm. The
more stained the water is, the more action I want in
the tail of the worm. Now when I’m fishing the
Iguana, Strike King’s really big lizard, I’ll
be fishing it on a
Carolina rig. That’s when I’m fishing for
really-big bass. I’ve used the 3/4-ounce weight
if I’m fishing less than 6 feet of water. If I’m
fishing deeper than 6 feet, I’ll use the 1-ounce
lead for my Carolina rig. The reason I’m using
the lead is to keep my bait in contact with the bottom.
So, I need a heavier lead if I’m fishing in deeper
water. You have to remember that the Iguana floats up.
That 3X material has a lot more floating power than
most other plastics do. So, that Iguana is up high,
floating around behind the lead I’m using. Therefore,
I want to make sure I have a lead that will stay on
the bottom when I’m fishing that heavier and bigger
Iguana lizard. I think the bass come to see what’s
making the racket that big lead is making as it moves
across the bottom. When they come looking, they see
that big lizard in that dust cloud behind and above
the lead. I really believe that the big lizard catches
more big bass than the smaller baits do. You can throw
a little lizard and catch 2 pounders, or you can throw
a big lizard and catch 5 pounders. Remember that when
you use that big lizard, it will cut down on the number
of casts you make. The size of fish you catch on the
Iguana is generally going to be bigger than the size
bass you catch on smaller lizards.
Question: Is it good to fish the big lizard after you
have your limit of bass?
Hackney: This depends on your style of fishing. If you’re
a headhunter trying to catch big bass, put the Strike
King Iguana on first. Many times when you first pull
up on a school of bass, the biggest bass in the school
will be first one to bite. When I start fishing, if
I decide I need to use a big soft-plastic bait to catch
bass, I’ll start fishing with the Strike King
Iguana.
Question: What color do you like to use?
Hackney: I really like chartreuse, especially when the
bass are biting shad. But my favorites are green pumpkin,
watermelon and Junebug. Those colors will fit just about
any water colors you encounter.
Question: Most people don’t fish a chartreuse-colored
lizard, do they?
Hackney: No, I don’t think they do. But what you
have to remember is we don’t know what colors
look like to bass. We like to think we do, but we really
don’t. That chartreuse seems to have a glow, and
I believe that in deep-water, chartreuse may not look
like shad.
Question: What size line are you using?
Hackney: If I’m fishing in deep water, I’ll
probably be using 50- to 60-pound-test braided line,
and I’ll have 16- to 20-pound-test Gamma Fluorocarbon
leader coming off my main line. If I’m not pushing
deep cover, I’ll be using 20-pound-test Gamma
Fluorocarbon as my main line and I’ll be fishing
12- to 15-pound Gamma Fluorocarbon as my leader.
Question: How many days a week are you fishing?
Hackney: Up until this year, I was fishing three-different
tournament circuits, and I was probably averaging six
days a week on the water. But I’ve cut back a
little now, and I’m only averaging about five
days a week on the water.
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