Hackney Worked Tailraces, Mayflies Up The Allegheny

Most Forrest Wood Cups over recent years have all shared a similar trait – tough fishing. But none were tougher than this year's Three Rivers Cup in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Greg Hackney brought home the Cup with a final 2-day total of 9-09. So yes, it was an incredibly low winning weight, but remember too that the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa. were largely blown out and muddy after day 1, which made for much more difficult fishing conditions.

Ultimately, Hackney's win came down to two patterns. Here's how he did it.

Practice

The Cup field faced a changing fishery every day. Pros launched into the Pittsburgh pool in downtown Pittsburgh, then could run up

either the Allegheny or Monongahela, or down the Ohio (the Allegheny and Monongahela join to form the Ohio).

Hackney had found fish in the both the Allegheny and the Pittsburgh pool. The two patterns that were in play were tailraces and the mayfly hatch.

Untold numbers of mayflies were hatching in various spots all over – especially up the Allegheny – and the smallmouths were keyed on that hatch.

It's not clear whether the fish were eating the rising larvae or the baitfish attracted to the larvae, but it's notable that Hackney said he saw considerably more bait than he did at the 2005 Pittsburgh Classic. He saw crawfish, bluegills, warmouth (maybe rock bass), but especially small, 2-inch "ghost minnows."

Also notable was he approached this Cup with a different mindset than he did the Classic.

"When we were here in '05, I looked for jig-fish – I looked for largemouths," he said. "I normally fish against the grain and do off-the-wall stuff. In the Classic, it didn't work. This time I targeted 12-inch fish. I went out in practice and tried to figure out a way to catch keepers, (thinking) a big one would come along.

"And I really tried to match the bait with everything I threw. I saw a lot of what we call 'ghost minnows' back home. They're about 2 inches long. So everything I threw was on the small side."

He also kept in mind something he didn't necessarily realize at the Classic. "Here, a 1-pound fish is 4 or 5 years old, so catching a 13- or 14-incher is like fishing for a 5- or 6-pounder back home."

In other words, although they're small, they're somewhat educated and in fact difficult to catch.

Photo: BassFan

The key to his win, Hackney said, was an attitude adjustment – he targeted smaller fish this time.

Competition

> Day 1: 3, 3-01
> Day 2: 5, 11-12 (8, 14-13)
> Day 3: 4, 4-03
> Day 4: 5, 5-06 (9, 9-09)

Hackney made a key decision on day 1: He stayed in the Pittsburgh pool in the attempt catch 4 to 5 pounds and thus save his Allegheny fish for day 2. He didn't catch a limit, which put the pressure on for day 2.

He answered in a big way with an 11-12 limit, which was the heaviest bag anyone caught across the 4 days by far.

What happened, he said, was the heavy rains that came on day 1 and the day before washed down the Allegheny and pushed fish out of their sanctuaries immediately below the Allegheny dams. The big fish actually moved into shallower water to avoid the heavy current and he whacked a 3-pounder and a 3 3/4-pounder.

He also targeted the mayfly hatch and used that one-two punch across the final 2 days, although the big fish never made another shallow move – likely because the rain let up and the current, although still strong, stabilized.

His attack plan over the 3 days was to lock up the Allegheny three times and fish his way back downriver.

Winning Pattern Notes

Following are some key pattern elements that Hackney referenced.

"Anywhere you found a little rock and overhanging limbs, there was a mayfly hatch. You could catch fish whenever you found that, but in order to catch keepers, there had to be a hard bottom."

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell

Hackney noted that he caught keepers where mayflies hatched under overhanging trees, but there had to be a hard bottom.