Performance Profile: Greg Hackney

Louisiana pro overcomes midseason blunder to win Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title

Though Greg Hackney has only been fishing professionally for five years, he has already established himself as one of America’s hottest bass anglers.

In 2005, the Gonzales, La., resident was the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. He was also top seed in the Forrest L. Wood Championship presented by Castrol on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark., where he made the semifinal round. In 2004, he finished second in points for Angler of the Year. His career winnings already approach $1 million, but he still isn’t satisfied. A champion never is.

“I’ve had a lot of success, and I hate to come off sounding negative, but I made a lot of mistakes this year,” Hackney said. “Last year, I fished much better than I have this year. I accomplished some major goals this year, like winning a tour event and the Angler of the Year title. I had a good day, then a bad day. It seems like it’s hard for me to put together a good, solid week.”

For example, Hackney almost spoiled his chances for Angler of the Year in April when he left a keeper fish in the livewell at the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake. That mistake cost him nearly 20 points, which could have been a killer.

“That was a bad deal, and I still think about it.” Hackney said. “It didn’t cost me, but it could have. I would have had (Angler of the Year) won after the first two days of (the Chevy Open) if I had weighed that fish. To overcome that, it just made everything a little sweeter.”

Ultimately, the mistake might actually have helped him because it kept him from having to protect a lead. He eventually beat runner-up Toshinari Namiki of Hachioji-City, Japan, by eight points at the regular-season finale – the Chevy Open presented by Kellogg’s on the Potomac River in June.

“I was sitting in third place going into that last tournament, so I didn’t have the pressure that the first-place guy had,” Hackney said. “Had I weighed that fish, I would have been in first place in the points standings. The good thing about it was I didn’t have to go to a tournament right after that. I had a week off, so I was pretty well over it.”

Originally from Star City, Ark., Hackney said one of his biggest assets is having learned to fish tournaments in his home state. Arkansas anglers have long believed the diversity of water in their state makes them especially versatile. They believe they can take what they’ve learned from fishing their home waters and apply it anywhere they go.

“I give all credit to the state of Arkansas for the way I fish,” Hackney said. “We have every type of lake in Arkansas that there is in the whole United States. We’ve got deep, clear lakes with no grass and deep, clear lakes with grass. We’ve got lowland reservoirs, and we’ve got river systems.

“I started fishing the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League events, and we went from one corner of the state to the other, from east to west and north to south. I was blessed to be able to fish a lot of different waters early in my career.”

Some anglers keep extensive notes and journals about the waters they fish, with minute attention to detail. Hackney doesn’t keep notes. He relies on memory.

“I probably should keep notes, but I have just a freakish memory,” he said. “I can remember every detail about the places I’ve fished.

“I can remember exactly where I caught a bass in 1992, but of course I can’t remember where I just laid my car keys. I depend on my wife for stuff like that. If it weren’t for her, nothing would ever get done in my personal life. She pays the bills; she takes care of everything and makes it possible for me to do this.”

Only the top 48 anglers made it to the Forrest L. Wood Championship, and only the best 24 made it to the semifinals. Fish were scarce and small all week at Lake Hamilton, the venue for the championship, so making it to the semifinals was a feat in itself. Hackney, however, does not define success by winning. For him, success is a relentless pursuit of perfection.

“I don’t know if I will ever find perfection,” Hackney said. “I won a tournament, but I was disappointed because I fished horribly that day. I’ve had tournaments that I didn’t win, but had a flawless performance.”

During the Forrest L. Wood Championship semifinals, Hackney pointed at Larry Nixon and George Cochran, two legends in the sport. He wants their kind of stature and reputation for himself, but those things can only be earned over time.

“I still feel like I have a lot of dues to pay,” Hackney said. “Those guys have paid their dues. I have really good stats on paper, but I have a lot more to accomplish before I can ever be mentioned in the same breath as them. I feel like there’s a hill, and I’m on the side of that hill. What’s after the top, I don’t know.”

The view from the top must surely be splendid, but for Hackney, it’s the climb that is the exciting part.

“They have their careers made for the rest of their lives,” Hackney said. “If Larry Nixon never catches another fish, it doesn’t matter because he’s still Larry Nixon. They’ll still be making money off this when they’re not catching fish. I’ve got a long way to go before I can even think about that.”

Some NASCAR drivers say they’re just as happy racing sprint cars on dirt tracks as they are racing at Daytona. The thrill of racing is what drives them. The money and prestige are simply the rewards for excellence. The same holds true for anglers like Hackney.

“I don’t really get into the money,” he said. “When you start doing this, you just want to fish. Nobody becomes a professional fisherman for the money. It’s just like any other sport. You do it for the love of the sport.”