Humbled Hackney Relieved It's Over

BassFan Staff

Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer had just finished introducing Greg Hackney as the newly-crowned Elite Series Angler of the Year on stage Monday and was poised to get Hackney's immediate reaction to his triumph.

"What's going through your mind," Mercer asked, turning to his right and extending the mic.

Hackney didn't say a word.

"Hmmm," was all Hackney could muster to break the silence.

Behind the mirror-blue lenses of his sunglasses, Hackney's emotions were overtaking him and understandably so. He entered the event with a 15-point lead in the AOY race and saw after 1 day of competition Todd Faircloth shave 5 points off that cushion. He then endured 3 straight days of canceled fishing at Lake Michigan due to high winds and small craft advisories. The pressure continued to mount.

Unable to sit still during the long weekend off – "I was a like a caged animal pacing back and forth," he said – Hackney finally got his chance to close the door on the title Monday and he did it with a 17-02 stringer that earned him a 24th-place finish in the 2-day event. More importantly, though, Faircloth's key spot was a ghost town and the Texan struggled, meaning Hackney had done more than enough to take home the $100,000 bonus prize.

When it became official, Hackney was overcome.

"I've probably never been emotional about something like I am now and it feels weird," he said. "I've been fishing a long time, but it feels like I just started. It seems like I've been hunting that my whole life. I didn’t know how it would make me feel. I just wanted to see what it was like. It was an honor, honestly, just to be in the position to have a chance at the Angler of the Year. All of these guys that I fish against out here are my heroes. They never cease to amaze me.

"I still don't know what to say. It's been a blessed year. I've had a blessed career. I couldn't ask for this. Things have been good for me. This is the greatest thing ever."

After thanking his family and sponsors – he rattled off nearly every brand on his jersey – he choked up again.

"I really feel like they were betting on me and I needed this," he said.

'Glad It's Over'

After seeing his streak of 11 straight Bassmaster Classic qualifications come to an end this year, Hackney bounced back with a vengeance. He opted to fish the FLW Tour in addition to the Elite Series in 2014 and he walked away with two victories (Pickwick Lake FLW Tour and Cayuga Lake Elite Series) and became just the fourth angler to win AOY titles on both major circuits, joining Denny Brauer, Kevin VanDam and Jay Yelas.

He also is now one of five anglers with three legs of bass fishing's grand slam (Classic, Forrest Wood Cup, AOY on both circuits) on his résumé.

"It's very humbling," he said.

His worst Elite Series finish this year was 48th at the Delaware River and his average finish was 20th across the eight points tournaments. He said he's still mulling whether or not to continue fishing both tours next year, but he's hoping the momentum he's picked up will carry over, starting at Lake Hartwell for the Classic.

"You'd like to think so, but you know how fishing is. It's a roller-coaster ride," he said. "I'm glad it's over. I fished so much this year and have been all over the world. I have some things still to do this fall before it's completely over. I hate to say it, but I'm glad the season's over. It's such a relief. This week, I had a lot of emotional turmoil. It felt like the week that would never end."

Ball of Nerves

While his emotions got the best of him on stage, Hackney said his stomach was in knots at times during the competition days.

"Probably the worst I felt this whole week was this afternoon when I checked in," he said. "I could feel my heart beating. I thought it was going to come out of my chest.

"Probably the only time I've ever felt like this was winning the Cup. I was sick at the weigh-in and that's how I was (Monday). I honestly I felt like I was having an anxiety attack. It's just the thoughts of not knowing."

Even though his wife and two sons had flown in to be with him last Thursday, he still couldn't relax even across the cancellation days.

"I've been like a caged tiger for the last 3 days just pacing around and around," he said. "I couldn't be still. I'd eat, I'd lie down. That didn't work. I'd get up and roam around and work on my tackle. I just couldn't be still and I had some of that today. I was fishing slow and I felt like I was running in place while I was fishing. I just couldn't be still. I was so glad when we left this morning."

Monday Was Tougher

Not helping matters was Hackney never felt like he was dialed in on the water, the 3-day delay notwithstanding. Knowing the potential was there for others to catch 25 pounds and close the points gap on him, he never felt comfortable.

"I never found that glory hole and the wind made it hard to practice," he said. "I started way off practicing in Big Bay and ended up over here. I never felt like I got in a groove. There was one area of this bay that produced the majority of the weight and I never wet a hook there. They just crushed them in there."

His areas fished a lot tougher Monday than they had last week.

"I caught more fish (Monday), but they were smaller and not as easy to catch," he added. "A lot of fish that were there were just gone. These fish were really nomadic. They'd just vanish."

He caught most of his fish on day 1 on a Strike King KVD 1.5 square-bill crankbait (yellow perch) and also caught some pitching back to areas where fish showed themselves after chasing the plug. On Monday, he had to slow down and fished a wacky-rigged Strike King Shim-E-Stick on spinning tackle.

"The fish were on the dark spots in little patches of milfoil and other short grass," he said. "When the sun would come out the fish were on those dark spots.

"I finally got to catching some and it got easy. The deal was they were not the ones. The other day they were a half-pound heavier and that worried me. I came back here because I did that the other day and I caught a big one at quitting time. I didn't catch that big one today so I had a lot of anxiety to say the least."

Silver Lining

Hackney was in prime position to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup in August, but a miserable finish (138th) at the Kentucky Lake FLW Tour in the season finale dropped him out of Cup contention, thereby giving him a week off between the Delaware River and Cayuga Lake Elite Series.

Had he made the Cup, who knows if he still would've found the winning fish at Cayuga that kept him in charge of the AOY race.

"I hate to say it, but it worked out," he said, stressing that he wanted badly to qualify for the Cup. "Everything has a way of working out the way it's supposed to. I hate that I missed the Cup, but I made the most of a bad situation there."