By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


Greg Hackney's final-day-bag at the Sabine River Bassmaster Elite Series didn't weigh much more than his biggest individual fish from day 1. Nonetheless, it was easily enough to allow him to close out a dominant victory on one of the toughest venues in the game.

His 7-05 stringer gave him a 4-day total of 48-05. That's the lowest winning mark in the circuit's three visits to the Sabine, but this was a summertime derby (the other two took place during the spawn) and the field was limited to fishing only Texas waters, with Louisiana put off-limits this time due to the state's archaic navigable-water access laws.

The win was Hackney's seventh in his tour-level career and fourth since the inception of the Elite Series in 2006.

Gerald Swindle boxed 14-13 – by far the biggest bag of the day – to finish 2nd with 43-11 after starting the day in 10th. Keith Poche dropped one place to 3rd after a 10-07 bag gave him a 43-00 aggregate.

Bradley Roy boxed 10-04 on day 4 to end up 4th with 41-01. Rookie Jake Whitaker rounded out the top 5 with 40-05 (11-00 on day 4).

Here are the totals for the remainder of the top 12:

6. John Crews: 39-11
7. Brandon Palaniuk: 38-01
8. Skeet Reese: 37-02
9. Shin Fukae: 37-01
10. Justin Lucas: 36-15
11. Steve Kennedy: 35-11
12. Brock Mosley: 33-06

Hackney's winning total was the fourth-lowest in a regular-season Elite event behind Kevin Short's 43-03 at the Mississippi River in 2009, Reese's 46-06 at West Point Lake in 2013 and Mike Iaconelli's 47-14 at the Delaware River in 2014. Previous winning weights at the Sabine were 49-06 by Todd Faircloth in 2013 and 50-00 by Chris Lane in 2015.



B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Hackney's topwater offerings weren't nearly as effective as they'd been over the previous 3 days.

Brent Chapman, the 2012 Angler of the Year, holds the lead in the points race as the circuit turns to the North Country for the final four tournaments on the nine-event schedule. Roy is his closest pursuer, with Hackney (the 2014 AOY) in 3rd.

The anglers will have this week off before reconvening at the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wis. on June 21.

Hackney had Plenty

Hackney, who won the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup at the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa., has now prevailed on two of the stingiest fisheries to ever host a tour-level event.

"This is a pretty sweet one – winning on such a tough fishery – and I think this is the only time I've ever led one from start to finish," he said. "It's funny in a way because the Sabine and Pittsburgh are real similar. I'd been to the Classic in Pittsburgh (in 2005 and didn't catch anything, and that got me mentally more prepared to just fish for bites (at the Cup).

"It's the same deal at the Sabine, but of course the fish are a little bigger."

His final-day bag consisted of four small keepers and a 2 1/2-pounder that he caught at about 1:30 – all of which were enticed by either a buzzbait or a frog. He flipped for the final hour and caught six 12 1/2-inchers that didn't aid his cause.

"The water temperature dropped 9 degrees (due to thunderstorms that moved into the area Saturday afternoon) and that had a negative effect. The fish quit coming to the surface and I couldn't get (fish to commit to) the buzzbait or the frog.

"A lot of them would miss it, or they'd pull it down and they had the tail or just a piece of the frog. I missed a bunch, but I know they weren't big ones."

He started the day with an 8 1/2-pound lead and felt at least somewhat secure after he put the 2 1/2-pounder in his livewell.

B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Keith Poche's 3rd-place finish equaled his career best.

"I knew I had about 7 pounds and that meant somebody else would have to catch 16. I knew if I could catch between 8 and 10 (pounds) it would've been a done deal, but I was about 50/50 after I caught that one.

"They'd all fished their fish and it would've been hard to come up with 16 or 17 pounds that late in the game."

Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published this week.

3rd: Poche Pumped

> Day 3: 5, 10-07 (20, 43-00)

Poche's finish equaled his career-best – he was also 3rd in the 2012 Classic at the Red River in his native Louisiana.

"I'm excited," he said. "We always want more, but I'll take it. It's a good finish overall and I got some good (AOY) points. I've just got to keep it going."

He caught eight keepers on day 4, the biggest of which weighed a little over 3 pounds. His strategy was to catch a small limit each day before traveling far to the north in a quest for bigger specimens.

"I ran my little deal first thing and caught a few fish, but there wasn't much to them," he said. "I'd been getting a couple of good bites each day doing that, but today I only had four little ones so I picked up my trolling motor and headed north and spent the rest of the day up there.

"It was a grind. I caught a ton of fish up there, but a lot of short fish."

He junk-fished with a variety of offerings that included a wacky-rigged worm, a spinnerbait and a crankbait.

4th: Roy Up to No. 2 in Points

> Day 4: 5, 10-04 (20, 41-01)

Roy's second Sunday appearance of the season left only Chapman between him and the top of the AOY standings.

"I'm totally, 100-percent pleased," he said. "You don't know what to expect coming to the Sabine because there are so many variables and to knock out a top-12 is huge."

He handled eight keepers, including a 3-13 specimen that was his biggest of the week.

B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Bradley Roy did most of his work with a Fluke-style bait.

"I knew the place where I caught it had some good ones and I went in there today with about an hour to go. I hadn't been there in a couple days and I probably should've spent more time there."

Most of his fish were caught on a Fluke-style bait presented weightless.

5th: Whitaker on a Roll

> Day 4: 5, 11-00 (20, 40-05)

Whitaker has been on a strong run since starting his career with a pair of non-money finishes. He was 48th at Lake Travis and 21st at Kentucky Lake leading into this event.

"It feels pretty good, I'm not going to lie," he said. "The last three tournaments have gone pretty well."

Two of his final-day fish topped the 3-pound mark. He also lost one in that class during the early part of the day.

"I was on an afternoon deal the whole week – I never had another bite until 11 o'clock after I lost that first one. The shade line would position them around the cypress trees."

A frog imitation was his primary offering and he caught a few on a square-bill crankbait."

6th: Nice Move by Crews

> Day 4: 5, 11-00 (20, 39-11)

Crews moved up five places in the standings with his solid day-4 effort. It was his second consecutive 6th-place showing at the Sabine.

"I fished a new bait in the area where I'd been starting and caught a small limit real quick, and that freed me up to fish new water," he said. "I went and fished stuff that I'd caught some on in practice but never really had time to go back and look at it.

"To me, this placed fished a lot like the James River (in his native Virginia) used to fish before it got way better (via the stocking of Florida-strain bass and abundant grass growth). You really had to concentrate and buckle down to do well."

He plied cypress trees and isolated woods with a variety of baits, including a Missile Baits Destroyer on a 1/4-ounce weight and a Missile Baits Fuse 4.4 employed on a dropshot rig.

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 9 limits, 1 four, 2 threes.

> Swindle said via text message that he keyed on deeper fish than most of the field (4 to 8 feet) and caught a lot on a Zoom Trick worm fished on a shaky-head or dropshot rig. He caught three good ones on day 4 on an Arashi Cover Pop fished very slowly around grass and trees.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 20, 48-05 -- 110 -- $100,000
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15 -- Day 3: 5, 12-14 -- Day 4: 5, 07-05

2. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 20, 43-11 -- 109 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 09-08 -- Day 2: 5, 07-05 -- Day 3: 5, 12-01 -- Day 4: 5, 14-13

3. Keith Poche -- Pike Road, AL -- 20, 43-00 -- 108 -- $21,000
Day 1: 5, 07-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10 -- Day 3: 5, 09-03 -- Day 4: 5, 10-07

4. Bradley Roy -- Lancaster, KY -- 20, 41-01 -- 107 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- Day 2: 5, 10-15 -- Day 3: 5, 09-11 -- Day 4: 5, 10-04

5. Jake Whitaker -- Fairview, NC -- 20, 40-05 -- 106 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 10-02 -- Day 2: 5, 08-03 -- Day 3: 5, 11-00 -- Day 4: 5, 11-00

6. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 20, 39-11 -- 105 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 08-07 -- Day 2: 5, 11-12 -- Day 3: 5, 08-08 -- Day 4: 5, 11-00

7. Brandon Palaniuk -- Hayden, ID -- 20, 38-01 -- 104 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 06-09 -- Day 2: 5, 09-05 -- Day 3: 5, 12-03 -- Day 4: 5, 10-00

8. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 20, 37-02 -- 103 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 12-02 -- Day 2: 5, 10-08 -- Day 3: 5, 07-10 -- Day 4: 5, 06-14

9. Shin Fukae -- Palestine TX JAPAN -- 19, 37-01 -- 102 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 08-00 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10 -- Day 3: 5, 09-14 -- Day 4: 4, 04-09

10. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, AL -- 20, 36-15 -- 101 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 10-15 -- Day 2: 5, 07-04 -- Day 3: 5, 11-08 -- Day 4: 5, 07-04

11. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 18, 35-11 -- 100 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 07-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05 -- Day 3: 5, 08-01 -- Day 4: 3, 04-00

12. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 17, 33-06 -- 99 -- $12,000
Day 1: 4, 04-08 -- Day 2: 5, 15-13 -- Day 3: 5, 09-08 -- Day 4: 3, 03-09