Bass-Fishing Tactics with Greg Hackney
Hop It If They Don’t Bite It Dragging
Editor’s Note: Greg Hackney of Gonzalez, Louisiana,
one of the hottest tournament fishermen on both pro
circuits, has finished in the top-10 in four tournaments
with nine more tournaments left to compete in this year.
Hackney won the Lake Sam Rayburn Bass Tournament, and
so far this year, he’s earned $192,000 on the
Bassmaster circuit and is ranked No. 1 statistically
on www.bassfan.com
as of May, 2006.
Question: If you don’t catch the bass dragging
it across the bottom, what do you do next?
Hackney: I hop the jig. Hopping the jig is entirely
different from dragging it. To hop a jig, you have to
really have the bass dialed in to one rock, one stick
and one piece of cover. This technique also works if
the bass are holding the edge of a ledge or beside a
stump. But you need to know exactly where the bass are
holding. I’ll cast the jig out, drag it right
up to that stump, rock, log or ledge,
and snatch the jig as hard as I can straight up. Many
times if I’ve caught a lot of bass dragging the
jig, and they’ve stopped biting it with that type
of presentation, I’ll hop the jig up off the bottom
and get a reaction type strike. Using this technique,
I’m showing the bass a totally-different-looking
bait. This bait looks like a crawfish on steroids. I’m
sure the bass thinks that when the jig hits the log,
rock, stump or edge of the drop-off, that it goes nuts
and jumps straight up. You have to remember that bass
has been watching that jig crawling that same rock three,
four or even five times. So when that jig jumps straight
up in the water, the bass thinks it’s going to
get away, and it will strike instinctively. I’ll
hop the jig 2 or 3 feet off the bottom before I let
it fall back on a slack line. And most of the time,
the bass is going to strike as the jig is falling. When
fish are really aggressive, you can just cast a Strike
King jig out around them, and the bass will hit it.
But once they quit biting, I have to show them something
different. Jerking this jig up off the bottom and letting
it fall back is an entirely-different presentation than
those fish have seen before. Now if you have your  bass
“dialed-in” like we’ve talked about,
and they stop hitting the jig when you drag it, then
change to hopping the jig off the bottom at the spot
where you’ve been catching the fish.
When the bass stop biting, then I throw the Strike
King 3X Finesse Worm to that same spot. Most of the
time, there are more bass holding on the spot than most
anglers believe. To catch those additional fish you
have to show them a different bait from the bait you’ve
been fishing when they’ve bitten it. This is where
slow fishing pays off. Most anglers will bump a rock,
catch a bass or two, and leave that spot when the fish
stopped biting. They would because they think they’ve
caught all the fish that were holding there. However,
I’ve learned that at this time of the year, if
you catch one bass off  deep
structure, there are probably several bass there. Instead
of leaving that place, I’ll fish that same spot
with a different lure and give the bait a different
action. Or, I’ll fish the spot with the same lure
and use a different type of retrieve. In my opinion,
slow fishing means I’m trying to catch every fish
that’s holding on a particular spot before I leave
it and go look for another place to fish. The real secret
of successful bass fishing is to:
* find where the bass are holding.
* catch bass off that spot.
* not leave, but instead change lures and tactics when
the bass stop biting.
* not leave, but instead change lures and tactics when
the bass stop biting.
This type of fishing requires a lot more patience and
deliberate fishing skills than the run-and-gun tactic
does. I’ve learned that I tend to catch more bass
if I milk a spot for every fish that’s on it.
Tomorrow: Finally, Crank Them
|
