FLORENCE, Ala. (June 7, 2014) – Pro angler Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces, giving him a three-day cumulative total of 15 bass for 75 pounds, 14 ounces and extending his lead heading into the final day of the FLW Tournament at Pickwick Lake. He now holds a 7-pound, 13-ounce lead over second-place pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., in the event that features 165 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world casting for the top cash award of up to $125,000.
“Today was a lot harder, and it took me a lot longer to really catch them,” said Hackney, who has one previous career victory on the Walmart FLW Tour – the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. “The quality was still pretty good, but I didn’t catch the sheer numbers that I had been catching. I only had 12 to 15 keepers today when I’d been catching 30 or so the first two days. It was a grind.”
Hackney said that he thought the increased current had a negative effect on his area.
“It doesn’t make any sense and I don’t really understand it,” Hackney said. “The shad were gone, and that’s been the whole key for the first two days. Today it seemed like the fish were scattered out looking for them.
“I caught all of my fish today on a totally different bait than I had been fishing all week,” Hackney continued. “Everything I caught came on a Strike King Denny Brauer Structure jig, fishing really slow. That jig is the deal when casting off-shore. It’s replaced all of my football jigs.”
When asked if he felt comfortable heading into the final day of competition with nearly an 8-pound lead, Hackney was realistic.
“I don’t feel comfortable at all. Not on Pickwick Lake. Anybody can catch 30 pounds here. I don’t think I can catch another 30 pounds, but I think I can catch 20. It doesn’t matter to me if I catch 2 pounds. Really, I just want to win.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Pickwick Lake are:
1st: Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 75-14
2nd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 68-1
3rd: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 67-13
4th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 65-11
5th: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 15 bass, 61-6
6th: Robbie Dodson, Harrison, Ark., 15 bass, 61-3
7th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 15 bass, 60-13
8th: Michael Wooley, Collierville, Tenn., 15 bass, 60-1
9th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C, 15 bass, 58-13
10th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 15 bass, 58-13
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 15 bass, 58-0, $12,000
12th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 15 bass, 54-4, $12,000
13th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 15 bass, 54-2, $12,000
14th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 54-0, $12,000
15th: Troy Hollowell, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 53-3, $12,000
16th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 53-2, $12,000
17th: Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 52-9, $12,000
18th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 14 bass, 51-15, $12,000
19th: Jason Quinn, Rock Hill, S.C., 12 bass, 48-9, $12,000
20th: Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 15 bass, 45-10, $12,000
Overall there were 96 bass weighing 331 pounds, 14 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 18 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify. The 2014 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country. The winning angler in that event will win $500,000 – professional bass-fishing’s richest prize.
Braxton Setzer of Auburn, Ala., won the co-angler division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 51 pounds, 7 ounces, followed by John Jacobs of Birmingham, Ala., in second place with 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 8 ounces worth $7,500.
“It’s such a privilege to get to fish here,” said Setzer, who earned the first victory of his career. “This lake is full of fish. I’ve been fishing my gut instincts all year and I’m having a phenomenal season. My goal this year was to make one more top-20 cut than I did last year and I accomplished that with this tournament. Now I just get to go fish on Kentucky Lake and see where I wind up in the points.”
Setzer said he caught fish throughout the week on a jig and a drop-shot rig, but his key bait was a shaky-head rig with a Zoom Trick Worm. The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Braxton Setzer, Auburn, Ala., 15 bass, 51-7, $20,000
2nd: John Jacobs, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 50-8, $7,500
3rd: Grayson Smith, Clarksville, Tenn., 15 bass, 47-2, $5,000
4th: Jason Johnson, Gainesville, Ga., 15 bass, 46-8, $4,000
5th: Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-5, $3,000
6th: J.P. Sims, Cookeville, Tenn., 15 bass, 45-10, $2,500
7th: Chad Randles, Elkhorn, Neb., 15 bass, 45-6, $2,250
8th: Stephen Smith, Glenwood, Ark., 15 bass, 44-3, $1,800
9th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 43-11, $1,700
10th: Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 43-9, $1,600
Overall there were 83 bass weighing 229 pounds, 4 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included 14 five-bass limits.
In addition to the top award of $25,000, co-anglers were also fishing this week for valuable points that would help them qualify for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.
The final 10 pros will take off from McFarland Park located at 200 James M. Spain Drive in Florence at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 2701 Cloverdale Road in Florence beginning at 4 p.m.