 GREG
HACKNEY ON BASSING
Figuring Out Tube Bass
EDITOR’S NOTE: Winning $65,000 and the title
that went with it, Angler-of-the-Year on the Forest
L. Woods (FLW) tour, prove that Greg Hackney knows how
to catch bass. One of the newest members of the Strike
King Pro Staff, Hackney from Gonzalez, Louisiana, has
been fishing professional tournament circuits for 5
years. However, he’s been competing in bass-fishing
tournaments since he was only 11-years old. Hackney
is the number-two pro in the nation according to www.bassfan.com.
This week he’ll tell us how to catch bass during
March.
QUESTION: What’s your second choice for baits
at this time of the year?
HACKNEY: I really like the tube bait. I fish the 5”
Denny Brauer Tube at this time of year and the 3”
Kevin VanDam Tube, especially if I am sight-fishing
or fishing for spotted bass.
QUESTION: What are your favorite colors?
 HACKNEY:
I like green pumpkin, black neon and green pumpkin with
a blue tail.
QUESTION: How are you fishing it?
HACKNEY: Most of the time I fish the tube using a fairly-heavy
weight. However, at this time of the year, I prefer
a much-lighter weight. I usually start with either a
1/8-ounce or a 1/4-ounce weight, and I may even use
a weight as small as 1/16-ounce. I believe that the
bass bite better when they’re bedding, if you
use a smaller slip sinker. Again, I don’t know
why this is true. I just know I have better results,
especially when I’m fishing for bedding fish at
this time of the year, using a smaller slip sinker.
QUESTION: Normally you like to fish fast. How are you
fishing that tube at this time of the year?
HACKNEY: If I know the bass are bedding but I can’t
actually see the fish, I fish it really slow. Of course,
I do dead-stick my bait a lot at this time of the year,
even when I can see the fish.
QUESTION: How long are you leaving your tube laying
on the bottom and not giving it any action at all before
you move it?
 HACKNEY:
I usually leave it for 10 to 15 seconds. Unlike top-water
lures, I want the bass to see, study, move in closer
and suck in the bait. If I can actually see the bass
on the bed, I may leave the tube sitting still on the
bottom without moving it for as long as 1-minute. I
have thrown my tube in the water to a bass that I can
see, let it lie on the bottom, straightened-up my tackle,
gotten a soft drink or eaten a sandwich while waiting
on the bass to eat the bait. I watch a lot of these
TV pros fight fish, and I realize that I fight fish
different from the way I sight-fish. I would say I’m
pretty unorthodox in my approach to sight-fishing for
bass at this time of the year.
QUESTION: What are you doing that’s so different
from the other pros?
HACKNEY: Most anglers use bright-colored tubes when
they sight-fish, but I don’t. Only about 5 percent
of the time I’ll use a bright-colored tube when
I’m sight-fishing. I’ve found that the bass
seem to bite a more-natural presentation and color than
they do bright colors. I know I can’t see my tube
lying in or near the bass’s bed as well when I’m
fishing a natural color as I can if I ‘m fishing
a bright color. I’ve also discovered that even
though I can’t see the tube as well, I catch more
bass with natural colors than I do with bright colors.
QUESTION: What do the bass do when you flip that tube
in close to their bed?
HACKNEY: Most of the time the bass leave their bed,
and usually they come back. Sight-fishing is very different
from any other type of bass-fishing because each bass
on the bed reacts to the bait differently. Some bass
won’t take the tube if it’s not moving.
But with other bass, the longer you let the tube sit,
the more likely you  are
to catch the bass. Other bass won’t strike the
tube unless you bounce it off their noses. I’ve
seen bass leave the bed when the tube hits the water,
make a circle and come back to the bed. If you hop the
tube off the bottom just as they’re coming back
to it, they will strike. However, if you don’t
hook a bass the first time it strikes the lure, it won’t
bite it again. Another weird thing about fishing this
month is I’ve noticed that each lake we fish seems
to have bass with different attitudes. You may fish
one lake where the bass are really aggressive, and then
5 miles down the road at another lake, the bass don’t
bite. I think the key to catching bass in March is to
determine what attitude the bass have on the particular
lake you’re fishing as soon as possible. Don’t
expect the bass in another lake to have that same attitude
on that same day.
TOMORROW: BET ON CREATURE BAITS
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