THE LATEST NEWS

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Patience certainly does have its virtues. Just ask Greg Hackney, the new leader in the Bassmaster Elite Series at Lake Dardanelle.

After landing a 4-pound largemouth soon after competition began Friday, Hackney stuck it out in the same area the rest of the day, working through a series of dry spells without a bite. By day’s end, he was rewarded with five largemouth that weighed in at 18 pounds and 1 ounce.

“There were flurries when it was better, but overall it was pretty slow fishing,” Hackney said. “I wasn’t necessarily fishing dead slow, but I was thorough. This lake is full of fish, but you can go a while between bites.”

Hackney, in second place after Thursday’s first round, changed places with John Crews, the first-day leader. Hackney’s two-day total was 39-14 to Crews’ 39-5, for a spread of 9 ounces between them. On Thursday, Crews had 12 ounces on Hackney.

Zell Rowland of Montgomery, Texas, was Friday’s biggest mover. In 87th place after Thursday, Rowland produced 25-5 Friday to rocket into third place with a total of 37-1.

Another Texan, Keith Combs of Huntington, held on in fourth place at 36-8. Bass fishing legend Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., moved up from 11th place into fifth place with a two-day total of 36-3.

Scheduled to begin Friday’s round at 6:15 a.m., the pros lost a chunk of early morning fishing time when a thick fog clung to the water past 8:30 a.m. Their start was delayed for two hours and 21 minutes. They were given the green light when boating conditions became safe.

Hackney said the delayed start was actually good for him.

“I didn’t catch one until 9 o’clock yesterday, and this morning I caught one on the third cast, so I feel like I was way ahead,” he said.

His largest two bass of the day weighed about 4 pounds each, he said. Two “heavy 3’s” and a 2 1/2-pounder completed the limit he weighed in.

Hackney has a strong background on Dardanelle, an Arkansas River impoundment. He now lives in Gonzales, La., but he was born in Star City, Ark., where he lived for 27 years before he moved to Louisiana, where his wife is from. He said he fished the lower Arkansas River about three days a week in his early youth. He’s been fishing Dardanelle since the early 1990s. His tournament history on Dardanelle is good, too: eighth in the 2007 Bassmaster Major Legends and second in a 2004 Elite 50 event.

From Salem, Va., Crews has shown he can keep up with the natives. He weighed 16-12 Friday. Not as strong as his 22-9 of Thursday, but consistent enough.

“I started today in a new area, caught a couple of 2-pounders pretty quickly, then went for a good little period with nothing — and then I caught two 4 1/2 pounders within 10 minutes of each other. That was the highlight of my day — game on, here we go,” Crews said.

But it didn’t happen that way. The bite shut down, and Crews moved on. Unlike Hackney, Crews “bounced around” Lake Dardanelle for the rest of his fish.

Rowland said he landed every ounce of his 25-5 in one pass through one area. Granted, he said, the area is large, and it took him about two hours to make that one pass.

“Yesterday I think I tried to fish too much water,” he said, and the result was just 11-12.

With about two hours of fishing time left Friday, Rowland ran to an area he remembered from the only two other times he’s competed on Dardanelle.

“When I got a bite, it was a good one, not a little one,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’ll see what happens there.”

For his largest bass, a 6-10, Rowland took the lead in the event’s Carhartt Big Bass competition, which is worth up to $1,500. For his 25-5 bag, Rowland became the top contender for the Berkley Heavyweight bonus of $500.

Hackney won the Livingston Lures Leader Award of $500 for heading up the field halfway through the four-day event.

The field was cut to 50 for Saturday’s third round. By Sunday, only the 12 with the best accumulative weights will compete for the first prize of $100,000 and an instant-in to the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.

The Elite pros are also vying for points, which are awarded according to their finishes at each event. By season’s end, the 29 pros with the most points will earn a Classic entry, and the pro with the highest points total will be crowned Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.

Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., led the points race coming into the Dardanelle event. But after failing to make the Saturday cut, Davis has left the door open for others to gain ground. After Friday, his biggest threat was Hackney.

Davis has made the Top 12 in each of the first four Elite events this season. Friday he broke that streak, but he characteristically had a wry take on the situation.

“I ate a small piece of humble pie only catching 13 pounds yesterday. Today, with only 9 pounds, I’m going to have to eat the rest of the pie,” he said. “I just didn’t fish right. I should have gotten back up on the bank with the rest of the guys instead of fishing the way I most like to fish.”

And he knows the crown isn’t lost.

“I’m not out of it,” he said. “You can have a bomb and still come back.”

Bassmaster.com and the new Bassmaster News smartphone app will continue to provide up-to-the-minute tournament news. Fans can watch the takeoffs and weigh-ins in person at Dardanelle State Park in Russellville. Takeoffs are scheduled for 6:15 a.m. CT; weigh-ins will begin at 3:15 p.m. CT.

The weekend’s Bassmaster Elite Series Expo will feature exhibits, demos and products from the tour’s sponsors. Beginning on Friday at the takeoff site, fans can sign up for free boat rides provided by Nitro, Triton, Mercury, Skeeter and Yamaha.

There’s no charge for any Bassmaster event.

The local host organization is the Russellville Advertising and Promotion Commission.

The Bassmasters TV show on ESPN2 will feature the Dardanelle event on June 1 from 8 to 9 a.m. ET.

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (May 16) — When the 2014 Bassmaster Elite schedule came out in the off-season, Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark., put a big red circle around this weekend’s event on Lake Dardanelle.

Unfortunately, after two days of fishing on the familiar waterway, situated just two hours from his home, McClelland didn’t have enough weight to make the cut and advance to Saturday’s action.

“I came down here with quite a bit of past history on this lake and I think that might have worked against me,” McClelland said. “I’ve always fished here in late May, June, and July, and the fish really like to stack up off the bank a bit where it’s not real deep but a little deeper than the shore line.

“Both yesterday and today I caught a few good ones shallow but then I moved out to go for the bigger ones, especially today thinking I needed more weight, when I probably could have made the cut if I’d just stayed in there close and grinded. Past history definitely altered my thinking and ultimately worked against me.”

McClelland caught five fish weighing 11 pounds, 4 ounces on Day 1 and followed that up with another five fish weighing an even 12 pounds Friday, but he missed the cutoff to advance by 2 pounds, 14 ounces.

“Phenomenal fishery here,” he said. “I’ve had some great tournaments on this lake, not necessarily in BASS events but in others, and it hurts not to do well when you’re in your home state. We have a bunch of great fans here and lots of family, so we’ll be able to spend time with them now. I’ll work the Expo tomorrow and meet as many folks as I can. Then we’ll get ready for the next one.”

For McClelland and the others, the next big tournament is the brand-new BASSfest, which is scheduled for June 11-15 on Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake near Dayton, Tenn.

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland came up just 2 pounds, 14 ounces short of advancing to the next round of fishing at the Bassmaster Elite event on Lake Dardanelle.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (May 16) — A fast start to this weekend’s Bassmaster Elite event on Lake Dardanelle placed Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat pro David Walker in the 19th position in the 107-angler field, more than enough to make the first cut at the prestigious tournament.

Walker caught a five-fish limit weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces Thursday and added another five fish weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces on a fog-shortened Friday to punch his ticket to the weekend.

“We came out Thursday and I caught a four-and-a-half-pounder on the first cast and I thought, ‘Boy, this is how you want to start a fishing tournament,’ ” Walker said. “I caught another solid one soon after that and within an hour and a half I had 14-15 pounds in the live well. That really calms you down and lets you fish better and cleaner. It also allows you to try some stuff because you feel safer.”

After crossing the scales Thursday, Walker was in 16th place on the leaderboard, giving him some breathing room for Day 2. But a two-and-a-half-hour delay Friday due to morning fog ramped up the anxiety levels.

“Today was the complete opposite of Thursday,” Walker said. “We got out there and there were just no bites at all and lots of boats around. We didn’t get started until mid-morning and I was sitting there thinking that by this time yesterday I was culling three-pounders. Plus, I knew it got worse as the day went along yesterday, so it was a nervous time and it just got slick and quiet. It was all stacked against me, but I knew there was enough fish here to be able to grind it out. I just had to stay calm.”

A change of location proved to be the remedy.

“I got away from that group I was in and ran 15 miles up the river and caught one right away,” he said. “Not a big one but it was decent and that made me feel better. I just stayed in that area until time ran out, which wasn’t very long. I ended up catching seven fish, and the good news is I had enough yesterday to carry us into the weekend.”

Only the top 50 anglers make the first cut to fish again Saturday, and only the top 12 advance to Sunday’s finale.

“I need to work on a plan,” Walker said. “Right now I’m just not sure.”

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker enjoyed a fast start to this weekend’s Bassmaster Elite event on Lake Dardanelle and advanced to Saturday in the 19th position.

By the time the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake Dardanelle concludes, just about every one of the countless shallow water targets along this sprawling 34,000 surface acre portion of the Arkansas River will have had a jig or Texas-rigged soft plastic lure pitched to it at some point.

The question is “which one?” – the standard ol’ skool skirted pitchin’ jig – or a Texas rigged soft plastic?

After slapping a 21 pound 13 ounce limit of largemouth on the scales Thursday, Quantum pro Greg Hackney graciously shared his wisdom on when to reach for the jig versus the Texas rig, and vice-versa.

The Louisiana pro with a Grizzly Adams beard and a Waylon Jennings sense of independence is a very generous teacher of the sport he’s won more than $2 Million from, and largely lets time of year guide his choice of lures to pitch with.

Cold water craws call for jigs

“Typically, early in the year, when water temps are still in the 40s and 50s during the pre-spawn, it’s gonna be a jig,” says Hackney. “When bass first start coming to the bank out of their deeper winter spots, they eat pretty aggressively, they’re loading up on protein in the form of crawfish to get ready for the spawn, and a jig is obviously made to mimic a crawfish.”

When the Spawn is On

“Once the spawn is taking place, they’re not nearly as focused on eating as they are reproducing, so it seems like they prefer baits that are a little smaller, which is when Texas-rigged plastics come into play,” says Hackney.

Asked to choose just one soft plastic lure to Texas rig for the rest of his life, Hackney will roll with a Strike King Rodent, especially if the water is stained or muddy. If he encounters clearer water during the spawn, he’ll choose a 4” Strike King Game Hawg in a color like Candy Craw.

He ties both of those lures to 20-pound Gamma fluorocarbon line, typically uses a 1/4 –ounce tungsten weight, and a 7’ 6” Quantum EXO rod is his stick of choice for pitching Texas-rigged plastics to shallow habitat.

A Wrecking Ball for “Fry Guarders”

Once the spawn concludes, it’s back to the jig, and interestingly, often times a very heavy ¾-ounce jig on meaty braided line, even in shallow water. Why such a wrecking ball approach in less than 3-feet of water? Because, it’s not about the depth – it’s about banging around in branches and laydowns right near the water’s surface.

“During post-spawn, often times the bass are guarding their recently hatched fry right at the water’s surface around laydowns, and I’ll actually kinda purposely get that big jig hung-up against the branch, creating a disturbance in that thick cover, and that’s when the bass will eat it, when it’s banging against that old cedar tree limb, or whatever’s laying in the water,” explains Hackney.

“You also have a lot of bluegill spawning at about the same time bass are guarding fry. A bluegill is a pretty good meal. And to me, a jig does a great job of mimicking that larger profile,” says Hackney, who often uses green pumpkin skirts on his jigs accented by oranges and chartreuse when bluegill are the primary food source.

When the heat is on

Once the spawn is long gone, and sweat begins to run down Hackney’s forearms after each cast in the heat of summer, plastics come back into play, mostly in the form of 10” worms on deeper brushpiles and such, but he advises there’s an exception to every bass fishing rule, and warns that not every bass lives deep in the heat of summer. More importantly, he advises that those who do take up residence in water depths of 18 – 25’ often prefer a deep diving crankbait or football jig more so than both soft plastics and jigs.

When the days grow shorter

“Once that first major cold front hits in the fall, and the amount of daylight becomes less each day, it seems like jigs in shallow water come back into play again, much like they were to begin the year,” he says.

“It’s a cycle,” concludes Hackney.

And thanks to his generous teachings, knowing whether to reach for a skirted jig or a Texas-rigged soft plastic lure becomes a far easier decision – based simply on time of year.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — “Steady” was the first word John Crews came up with when asked about his first day of competition in the May 15-18 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Dardanelle.

“One good one here, one good one there, and at the end of the day, it was looking really nice,” Crews said.

“Rock steady” is a more accurate description of Crews’ Thursday performance. The pro from Salem, Va., weighed a five-bass limit of 22 pounds, 9 ounces, for a lead of 12 ounces over Greg Hackney.

An Arkansas native who now lives in Gonzales, La., Hackney took second place with 21-13.

Grant Goldbeck of Boerne, Texas, trailed Crews by 2-8. His 20-1 weight earned third place. Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, fresh off his third victory in the annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic, weighed 19-14 to tie at fourth place with Jason Williamson of Aiken, S.C.

Crews said he weighed three cookie-cutter bass bookended by a 5-3 anchor and his smallest, a 3 3/4-pounder. He worked a string of about a dozen areas along what he described as a “big stretch” of the lake.

“I’m just bouncing around,” he said. At many of his stops, he had the water to himself, a situation he hopes will continue for three more days.

“I don’t think the fishing pressure is going to be too terribly bad,” Crews said.

Crews said he has competed on Dardanelle just twice before, in the 2007 and 2009 Elite events. The results were 1) “so-so” and 2) “terrible,” he said. This time around he figured something out within the first hour of competition.

“I’d been fishing one way most of the morning. Then I changed baits and caught a 4 1/2 or 5, and I saw what it was on (cover), so that clued me in a little bit into what I should be doing,” he said.

He credited some of his success not to lessons learned, but to the lake itself.

“It’s gotten to be much better since 2009,” he said. “There’s more shoreline grass. Anytime you get that, it’s going to be good for the fishery.”

Hackney suffered through a few lean hours before his bite turned on.

“I really thought this morning that I must be rotating behind somebody, because the fish had been biting really good (in practice). Those first couple of hours, I was a little tense,” he said.

But a 4-pounder at about 9:30 a.m. eased his mind. By 11:30 a.m. he had a limit. One small clue helped him.

“They were relating just a hair differently to the cover than they had been,” he said. “I fished slow and steady, and it came together. It got better as the day progressed, but not as wide open as far as numbers as it was in practice.”

The stakes are high at Dardanelle, the fifth of eight events in the 2014 Elite season featuring the full field. A win is worth $100,000 and an entry in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic. Besides going for the first prize, each of the 107 Elite pros competing at Dardanelle is trying to rack up points, valuable in two ways by season’s end: 1) The 29 pros with the most points will earn a Classic entry; and 2) the pro with the highest points total will be crowned Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.

The largest bass of the day, a 6-5, was caught by South Carolina’s Andy Montgomery, who ended the day in seventh place. The 6-5 got the race started in the event’s Carhartt Big Bass competition, which is worth up to $1,500.

The full field of 107 will return to the water Friday. Then the field will be pared down to 50 for Saturday’s round. The Top 12 will compete Sunday.

Fans can track the competition by going to Bassmaster.com or by downloading the new Bassmaster News app on their smartphone. All are invited to Dardanelle State Park in Russellville to watch the takeoffs and weigh-ins. The pros will leave the docks at 6:15 a.m. CT and return to the park for the weigh-ins at 3:15 p.m. CT.

The Bassmaster Elite Series Expo, which will be open Saturday and Sunday, will feature the Berkley Bass Tank and many other exhibits and products. Beginning on Friday at the takeoff site, fans can sign up for free demo rides provided by Nitro, Triton, Mercury, Skeeter and Yamaha.

There’s no charge for any Bassmaster event.

The local host organization is the Russellville Advertising and Promotion Commission.

The Bassmasters TV show on ESPN2 will feature the Dardanelle event on June 1 from 8 to 9 a.m. ET.

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.