FLW Cup: Hackney reels in $500,000 pay day
By MATT WILLIAMS
The Daily Sentinel
Monday, August 10, 2009
Greg Hackney is feeling pretty flush these days.
Hackney is a bass pro from Gonzales, La., who won the Forrest Wood Cup held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa. Hackney rolled out of the The Steel City with a large trophy in one hand and a plump pay check in the other.
 FLW Outdoors Photo Texan David Curtis was a strong contender to win it all right up until the final day, when he stumbled with only one bass. Curtis finished 6th and won $45,000.  FLW Outdoors Photo 2009 FLW Cup champ Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La. displays the hardware that came with his recent victory on the Three Rives in Pittsburgh, Pa. Hackney referred to his trophy as 'the cake' and the $500,000 check as 'the icing on the cake.'  FLW Outdoors Photo Hackney had two distinctive patterns working. One involved targeting aggressive smallmouths that had homed in on hatching mayflys up the Allegheny River. |
Billed as the richest tournament in professional bass fishing, the 'Cup is FLW Outdoors' version of the Bassmaster Classic. It brings together the top qualifiers from the previous season and offers them the opportunity to go at it one last time. Only for more money. A whole lot more money.
The top guaranteed prize in the pro division is half a million bucks. However, anglers who are Ranger Cup qualified are eligible win an extra $500,000 in bonus money.
Eligibility rules are cut and dry. The angler must own a 2004 or newer Ranger bass boat, and compete out of the boat during all qualifying events leading up to the 'Cup. The fat contingency bonus is offered by Ranger Boats. It is paid out at a rate of $50,000 year over 10 years.
Hackney used to be a Ranger guy. He won the FLW Tour Angler of the Year title in 2005, then jumped ship to BASS and made the switch to Triton for a better fit with that league.
The Louisiana pro qualified for the 2009 'Cup through the FLW Series Eastern Division. He fished those tournaments from his Triton, thus surrendering his eligibility for the bonus check that would have made him an instant millionaire.
How does it feel to walk away and leave 500,000 smackers sitting on the poker table? I asked the personable angler that very question and he answered it straight up with the tact of a smart businessman and the poise of a true gentleman that he is.
"I was very mentally prepared to accept $500,000 if I was fortunate enough to win this tournament, and for some reason that is the way it worked out," said Hackney, 35. "The main thing I had on my mind when I went to Pittsburgh was that trophy. The trophy was the cake. The $500,000 was just the icing. Leaving that bonus money on the table doesn't bother me one bit. The Good Lord blessed me with half a million dollars. I'm right where I want to be."
Hackney put himself in position to win the four-day event by accumulating enough weight to make the Top 10 cut after the opening two rounds. With weights zeroed for the final two competition days, the angler who put together the most weight based on 10 fish (5 per day) would be crowned the champion.
Hackney didn't have to catch much to earn the richest pay day of his young, eight-year career. In two days he brought nine bass to the scales. Together they weighed just 9 pounds, 9 ounces - three ounces more than runner-up Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J.
Considering the venue, the meager weights came as no surprise. Small is relative on the Three Rivers, which includes the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers. The fish don't grow very quickly there, mainly because the habitat is marginal and there is limited forage to eat.
"A one-pounder in South Texas might be nine months old, whereas a one pounder in Pittsburgh up might be 4-5 years old," Hackney said. "They are tough to catch, too. They act like big fish that sense, probably because of their age."
Hackney is a hardcore river rat from way back and he relied on a lifetime of experience when piecing together game plan for attacking what many anglers have come to realize as one of the most challenging bass tournament venues in North America.
It also helped that he had history in Pittsburgh, although it wasn't exactly rosy.
Hackney competed in the 2005 Bassmaster Classic that Michigan ace Kevin VanDam won with a three-day total of 11 bass weighing a record low 12 pounds, 15 ounces. In two days fishing, Hackney never weighed in the first keeper.
"My previous experience there was a big help, no doubt," Hackney said. "Pittsburgh is one of the most challenging places I have ever fished, and I was mentally prepared for that before I got there. Probably 75 percent of the field had no idea the fishing would be as tough as it is, and I think it hurt a lot of them."
Adding to complexity was the deluge of rain that began just before the tournament got underway. By some estimates, as much as 6-7 inches of rain fell across the area over the course of the event. The heavy rains caused water levels to rise, river currents to gain steam and water clarities to go from clear to stained to muddy.
Catching a limit of 12-inch keepers was a very tricky proposition, but Hackney had them figured out better than most. He had two primary patterns going.
One was targeting smallmouths along sharp breaks in swift water stretches located just below river lock dams. The fish huddled up behind large boulders to take refuge from the current.
The other was centered around a big time mayfly hatch that kicked in up the Allegheny just as tournament got underway.
"I actually think the rain helped me, especially with the bigger fish on the current seams," he said. "It made the current stronger, which forced them to leave their sanctuaries behind the dams to find a place to get out of the current. It exposed them."
Hackney used an assortment of baits to fish his way to the gold, but each shared one thing in common. Everything was small. His biggest fish of event, a 3 3/4 pound smallmouth, grabbed a 1/4 ounce Strike King spinnerbait. He also caught a three-pound smallie on four-inch wacky worm. Other baits that came into play were a drop shot rig, 1/8-ounce buzz bait and a 1/8 ounce Aaron Martens Scrounger jig head tipped with a pearl Zoom Tiny Fluke.
Texas pro David Curtis of Trinity also made a good showing at the 'Cup. In fact, Curtis was in great position to win it when he entered the final day in second place, slightly less than a pound behind the leader, Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif.
Curtis weighed only one fish in the final round and dropped to sixth place. He earned $45,000. Shin Fukae of Mineola was the only other Texan to crack the Top 20. Fukae finished 14th, $17,000.
