By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Becoming the first angler to win professional bass fishing's career "Grand Slam" would be a neat deal for Greg Hackney. However, achieving the feat that brought him that exalted status would be even more special.
"I haven't really been thinking about (the Grand Slam), but I have been thinking about winning the Classic," said Hackney, who'll make his 12th career appearance in the sport's signature event next month at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. "The other part would just be a nice bonus.
"Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be the guy who did that first. But probably more than anything, I'm interested in winning the Classic."
The Slam consists of winning the Bassmaster Classic, the Forrest Wood Cup and Angler of the Year (AOY) titles on both major circuits (Bassmaster Elite Series and FLW Tour). Hackney picked up the third leg last fall when he captured the Elite points crown to go along with his Cup championship (2009) and FLW AOY ('05).
Kevin VanDam, Davy Hite, David Fritts and Jay Yelas are the other anglers who've bagged three legs of the Slam. VanDam and Yelas are sans a Forrest Wood Cup victory, while Hite and Fritts are missing an FLW AOY.
For the most part, the Classic has been a big bugaboo for Hackney throughout his career, as he's compiled just one Top-10 finish in the event. That came seven years ago, when he was 6th at the same venue where it'll take place this February.
"The one thing I know for sure is I'll be confident when I go there," he said. "That part always carries over (from one year to the next). When you're confident in the decisions you've been making, that always helps regardless of all the different variables."
Experience to Draw From
Hackney has been to Hartwell twice since the '08 Classic. He competed in the FLW Tour event there last March (he finished 58th) and returned the week before Christmas for a few days of pre-practice before it went off-limits on Jan. 1.
"It's better than it was during the previous Classic – the fish population is good and the fish are bigger," he said. "The FLW last year had the potential for really big bags, but we just had super-bad weather.
"There's a huge population of 3- to 5-pounders. It had some spotted bass in '08, but they've really exploded and now there's a lot of 3- and 4-pound spots, and the largemouth are still good. All those fish are healthy and they'll weigh heavy, especially at that time of year."
He was obviously on a solid pattern in '08 and he said he had an excellent practice for the FLW derby 10 months ago. He declined to divulge any specifics, but said he'll be prepared to fish deep, shallow or a combination of both next month.
"Everything I've ever done there has basically been just typical wintertime fishing. It's a pattern lake and I like that about it, but it has that one huge factor in the blueback herring. They're a real wildcard whenever you're in that part of the world.
"The fish act like normal bass for awhile, then they just go off the cuff because of the herring. It seems like lakes that have them, nothing else matters and everything revolves around that forage. You can be a hero one day, then you have to totally regroup the next. You can catch some just fishing normally, but the ones you're going to need to win the Classic are probably the nomadic herring-eaters."
No Concrete Objectives
Coming off his stellar 2014 campaign, which included an Elite Series win at Cayuga Lake and an FLW Tour triumph at Pickwick Lake in addition to the AOY title, Hackney said he'll put no pressure on himself to duplicate any of it this year. He won't set any performance-related goals whatsoever.
"I'm just going to let it happen," he said. "There's just so many things involved in this deal that you can't control. If I had one goal, it'd just be to fish clean and not make mistakes.
"A mistake-free season will turn out to be a good season. If you don't feel like you're playing catch-up and you don't have to make up for anything (due to poor performances in previous events), then you can stay even-keeled."
There are some numbers he'll be chasing, though, and they'll have dollar signs preceding them.
"I'm at a point in my career where I'm still very goal-oriented, but I'm really motivated by money," he said with a chuckle. "When you're young and sleeping in your truck, you don't care about much of anything and you're just glad to be fishing.
"That part was a lot of fun, but as you get a little bit older you realize what makes the world go around."
