Hackney Surges To Top As Browning Weighs One Rat
Ike, Reese Lurking
Hackney Surges To Top As Browning Weighs One Rat
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
Greg Hackney got his baits in front of some big fish today, including this 8-10 brute. |
Stephen Browning opened a wide gate today at the California Delta Bassmaster Elite Series, and Greg Hackney drove a big truck right through it.Browning, the leader after each of the first 2 days with a 22 1/2-pound average, weighed just a lone 13-ouncer on sunny, windy day 3 and plummeted to 5th place. Meanwhile, Hackney whacked a 25-07 bag – best of the day by more than 4 pounds – and will take a 2-11 lead into the final day with a 57-05 total.
“I got the same bites I’d been getting, but today I caught big ones,” the Louisianan said. “I tried some different stuff this morning because the way I’d been fishing, I wasn’t catching any big ones. I caught three and lost one doing that, but they weren’t the right size fish.
“I went back to what I’d been doing, figuring I could get another 15 or 17 pounds. I caught one good one, and then I caught my best one (an 8-10 brute that equaled the best of the tournament). After that I figured I was doing the right deal and I just settled down and went fishing.”
Mike Iaconelli held onto the No. 2 position with a 14-14 sack that gave him a 54-10 total. Californian Skeet Reese moved up two more spots to 3rd with an 18-12 stringer for a 52-10 total.
John Crews brought just four fish to the scale for the second time in 3 days, but surrendered just one spot – his 14-15 stringer left him in 4th with a 51-14 total. Browning stayed in the Top 5 at 46-01, but the 5 1/2-pound lead he started the day with has become a deficit of more than 11 pounds.
Here are the 12 anglers who’ll fish tomorrow, with deficit margin from leader denoted by red numbers in parentheses:
1. Greg Hackney: 57-05
2. Mike Iaconelli: 54-10 (2-11)
3. Skeet Reese: 52-10 (4-11)
4. John Crews: 51-14 (5-07)
5. Stephen Browning: 46-01 (11-04)
6. (tie) Dustin Wilks: 45-12 (11-09)
6. (tie) Shaw Grisgsby: 45-12 (11-09)
8. Gary Klein: 44-03 (13-02)
9. Rick Clunn: 43-12 (13-09)
10. James Niggemeyer: 42-07 (14-14)
11. Zell Rowland: 41-08 (15-13)
12. Denny Brauer: 41-00 (16-05)
Wind was the most prominent weather condition today – it blew out of the north/northwest at a sustained 15 to 20 mph, with gusts up to 30. A night that saw air temperatures dip into the high 30s sent water temps a couple of degrees backward in some places, and they were already low for this time of year.
Hackney, who started the day in 8th place, and James Niggemeyer (21-06) scored the only 20-pound bags. Niggemeyer’s moved him up 29 places and got him an extra day of fishing in a hot spot that he’d sorely underestimated coming out of practice.
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Others who moved into the Top 12 today were Dustin Wilks (15th to 6th with 16-11) and a trio of seasoned veterans – Rick Clunn (16th to 9th, 15-00), Zell Rowland (17th to 11th, 12-13) and Denny Brauer (13th to 12th, 11-10). They bumped Greg Vinson (7th to 13th, 7-14), Derek Remitz (9th to 14th, 9-06), Jeff Kriet (10th to 16th, 8-08), Scott Rook (11th to 21st, 6-08) and Russ Lane (12th to 37th with an empty sack).The winner will be determined tomorrow by highest 4-day weight.
Hackney Showing Patience
Hackney, who has vast experience on the Louisiana Delta, has been in love with its California cousin since he saw it for the first time 3 years ago. Now he’s in position to claim his second Elite Series win (the other came at Sam Rayburn in Texas in 2006).
“This place is phenomenal, but it’s just off a little bit,” he said. “But it could turn on real easy – you can catch 30 pounds in 20 minutes when it’s right.
“Clear Lake is great, but I love the Delta because I can fish the way I like to fish. Every cast, in my mind, I could catch one that’s 13 to 18 pounds. The chances of that happening are slim, but it keeps me going.”
He did most of his damage today between 11:00 and 1:00. He divulged that his repertoire includes flipping and throwing a crankbait.
“I’m pleasantly surprised to be leading the tournament. I also underestimated my fish – I thought I only had 20 or 21 pounds. All I’ve really done for 3 days is go fishing, and I’m fishing well.”
He doesn’t plan to change much for the final day.
“I plan to spend most of my time in my main area. There’s a little bit of it I haven’t fished and some of it I’ll fish over again, and I ran around a little bit today after I thought I had enough (to make the Top 12) and I saw some other stuff in there that looks pretty good.”
2nd: Iaconelli Went from Low to High
Iaconelli had been catching his fish all week when the tide was at or approaching its low extreme, but today was just the opposite.
“When I went there I had a bunch of low water, but I totally bombed on it today,” he said. “I couldn’t catch them, and it was just the weirdest thing.
“At 12:00 I didn’t have a keeper and I was just about to bail and try something else. Then I got my first bite as the tide got high, and from 12:00 to 2:30 I had nine bites. I wish I had an answer for what happened, but I don’t know. To me, they bit on the bad tide.”
He landed seven fish, and the biggest was a 4-pounder.
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Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
John Crews continued to get the right bites – just not as many as he would like. |
“I’m going to go back to that area and live or die there (tomorrow). The thing that keeps me confident is I know what lives there. I’ll have to stay positive and put my head down and fish.”The biggest thing is keeping an open mind. If it’s 1:30 and I don’t have anything, I’m going to have to just keep throwing because it can happen quick. Today I got three bites in a 10-minute stretch, and things happen real fast in tidal water.”
4th: Crews Needs More Action
Crews has believed all along that he’s on the right type of fish to win the tournament – the problem is catching enough of them.
His bag was one fish short for the second time in 3 days. If he’d finished off those sacks with run-of-the-mill 2 1/2-pounders, he’d be less than a pound out of the lead.
“I still feel like I’m right there,” he said,”but if somebody ahead of me catches 25 pounds, that might be too much to make up.
“If I could get eight or nine bites I could put together a really good bag. Today was as tough as it’s been out there for me.”
He’d be thrilled if he showed up tomorrow and found his water a couple degrees warmer.
“I think there’s a decent number of fish in there and there’s definitely some big ones, but the water temperatures have got them where they’re not in a biting mood. I don’t know if it was the higher water or the cold that made the morning so slow.”
His biggest fish was a 5-13 that he caught with 20 minutes remaining.
“This has been a slow, methodical tournament and the mind game is one of the hardest things about those. You have to stay focused enough to execute when you do get a bite – that’s the trick.”
5th: Browning was Baffled
Browning had been scoring on the high tide and he had to wait longer for it today than the previous 2 days. And when it finally showed up, it didn’t help him.
“I just never generated any strikes that would tell me what was going on in the area,” he said. “I tried to wait it out and hoped that I’d get a few bites once it rolled in, but I never learned anything that told me to stay deep, go shallow or fish in the middle.
“The water conditions were pretty much the same. The problem is that when you’re not around a lot of fish, it’s hard to catch them under tough conditions. It’s tough to tell what’s going on when you’re only getting six or eight bites a day.”
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Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
Stephen Browning’s main area let him down today and he’ll move to a backup place tomorrow. |
For day 4, he’ll abandon the area that was so good to him the first 2 days in favor of a backup place he hasn’t yet visited during the tournament.”I’m losing my tide and I just don’t think it’ll work,” he said of his main area. “It’s a mental deal now and I played it for as long as I could.
“I thought about going to my backup area today, but I felt it was just too far. It’s a place where I caught some (in 2007) and maybe it’ll play to my favor tomorrow.”
10th: Niggemeyer Keeps Climbing
Niggemeyer has battled back nicely from day 1, which saw him weigh just one 2 1/2-pounder.
“This is such a game of decisions, and the first day I made a bad decision,” he said. “To start off with, I didn’t properly assess the potential of what I had (from practice).
“I was looking for giant bags, and I considered the place I’ve caught them the last 2 days as purely a fall-back area. Obviously it’s much more than that. Today I was intent on holding onto the progress I’d made and the big bites just started showing up.”
He caught eight keepers, but had to release two because they were hooked outside the mouth (a California regulation). His bag was topped by a 5-pounder.
He’s mixing up his presentations, but revealed that his biggest fish have been enticed by a Strike King Rodent.
“I didn’t save anything in there today – I hit it for all it was worth. But I haven’t seen a competition boat in there since practice and I for sure won’t see one tomorrow.
“It’s just a matter of going in and buckling down and going to work on it.”
Notable
> Day 3 stats – 47 anglers, 17 limits, 5 fours, 14 threes, 6 twos, 4 ones, 1 zero.
> Zell Rowland (11th) is in a Sunday field for the first time since 2006 at Champlain. “I’m not happy how the first day turned out (when he weighed just two fish for 5-07), but after that, I’m pleased,” he said. “I haven’t missed any fish and when that happens, you can’t complain. If I can get those fish to bite tomorrow, I’ll catch 20 pounds.”
> Emcee Keith Alan announced prior to the weigh-in that Elite angler Jared Lintner and his family were involved in an auto accident today on the way from the Delta to Clear Lake (site of next week’s event). There were no injuries, but Lintner’s boat and tow vehicle reportedly suffered heavy damage.
> BassFan Big Stick John Murray ended up in 44th place with a 25-13 total and weighed fewer fish (eight) than any other angler who’ll cash a paycheck from this event. To read his competition report, click here.
Weather Forecast
Here’s the weather forecast for the final day of the tournament.
> Sun., March 14 – Partly Cloudy – 67°/43°
- Wind: From the NW at 7 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Greg Hackney — Gonzales, LA — 15, 57-05 — 305
Day 1: 5, 14-14 — Day 2: 5, 17-00 — Day 3: 5, 25-07
2. Michael Iaconelli — Pitts Grove, NJ — 15, 54-10 — 295
Day 1: 5, 14-00 — Day 2: 5, 25-12 — Day 3: 5, 14-14
3. Skeet Reese — Auburn, CA — 15, 52-10 — 290
Day 1: 5, 15-01 — Day 2: 5, 18-13 — Day 3: 5, 18-12
4. John Crews — Salem, VA — 13, 51-14 — 285
Day 1: 4, 15-02 — Day 2: 5, 21-13 — Day 3: 4, 14-15
5. Stephen Browning — Hot Springs, AR — 11, 46-01 — 290
Day 1: 5, 21-11 — Day 2: 5, 23-09 — Day 3: 1, 00-13
6. Dustin Wilks — Rocky Mount, NC — 15, 45-12 — 276
Day 1: 5, 14-11 — Day 2: 5, 14-06 — Day 3: 5, 16-11
7. Shaw E Grigsby — Gainesville, FL — 13, 45-12 — 272
Day 1: 5, 14-08 — Day 2: 5, 18-14 — Day 3: 3, 12-06
8. Gary Klein — Weatherford, TX — 13, 44-03 — 268
Day 1: 5, 13-09 — Day 2: 5, 21-10 — Day 3: 3, 09-00
9. Rick Clunn — Ava, MO — 13, 43-12 — 264
Day 1: 4, 09-13 — Day 2: 5, 18-15 — Day 3: 4, 15-00
10. James Niggemeyer — Van, TX — 11, 42-07 — 260
Day 1: 1, 02-08 — Day 2: 5, 18-09 — Day 3: 5, 21-06
11. Zell Rowland — Austin, TX — 11, 41-08 — 257
Day 1: 2, 05-07 — Day 2: 5, 23-04 — Day 3: 4, 12-13
12. Denny Brauer — Camdenton, MO — 15, 41-00 — 254
Day 1: 5, 12-05 — Day 2: 5, 17-01 — Day 3: 5, 11-10
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not be fishing tomorrow.
13. Greg Vinson — Wetumpka, AL — 14, 41-00 — 251
Day 1: 5, 12-12 — Day 2: 5, 20-06 — Day 3: 4, 07-14
14. Derek Remitz — Grant, AL — 13, 40-11 — 248
Day 1: 5, 15-13 — Day 2: 5, 15-08 — Day 3: 3, 09-06
15. Kevin Short — Mayflower, AR — 14, 40-02 — 245
Day 1: 4, 09-02 — Day 2: 5, 14-11 — Day 3: 5, 16-05
16. Jeff Kriet — Ardmore, OK — 13, 39-12 — 243
Day 1: 5, 14-03 — Day 2: 5, 17-01 — Day 3: 3, 08-08
17. J Todd Tucker — Moultrie, GA — 13, 38-06 — 241
Day 1: 5, 13-05 — Day 2: 5, 16-01 — Day 3: 3, 09-00
18. Mark Davis — Mount Ida, AR — 15, 37-15 — 239
Day 1: 5, 15-03 — Day 2: 5, 09-14 — Day 3: 5, 12-14
19. Peter E Thliveros — St Augustine, FL — 15, 37-10 — 237
Day 1: 5, 13-08 — Day 2: 5, 10-15 — Day 3: 5, 13-03
20. Dave Wolak — Wake Forest, NC — 12, 36-11 — 235
Day 1: 5, 19-08 — Day 2: 2, 04-07 — Day 3: 5, 12-12
21. Scott Rook — Little Rock, AR — 10, 36-10 — 233
Day 1: 2, 04-07 — Day 2: 5, 25-11 — Day 3: 3, 06-08
22. Bradley Hallman — Norman, OK — 15, 36-08 — 231
Day 1: 5, 08-10 — Day 2: 5, 11-15 — Day 3: 5, 15-15
23. Dean Rojas — Lake Havasu City, AZ — 14, 34-15 — 229
Day 1: 4, 11-10 — Day 2: 5, 08-07 — Day 3: 5, 14-14
24. Guy Eaker — Cherryville, NC — 12, 34-14 — 227
Day 1: 5, 15-02 — Day 2: 5, 12-14 — Day 3: 2, 06-14
25. Edwin Evers — Talala, OK — 11, 34-13 — 225
Day 1: 2, 10-00 — Day 2: 5, 11-14 — Day 3: 4, 12-15
26. Alton Jones — Waco, TX — 15, 34-12 — 223
Day 1: 5, 13-05 — Day 2: 5, 08-09 — Day 3: 5, 12-14
27. Bill Lowen — North Bend, OH — 12, 34-04 — 221
Day 1: 4, 09-09 — Day 2: 5, 17-08 — Day 3: 3, 07-03
28. Paul Elias — Laurel, MS — 13, 33-08 — 219
Day 1: 5, 13-05 — Day 2: 3, 06-12 — Day 3: 5, 13-07
29. Kevin VanDam — Kalamazoo, MI — 14, 33-03 — 217
Day 1: 4, 09-06 — Day 2: 5, 14-08 — Day 3: 5, 09-05
30. Mark Tucker — Saint Louis, MO — 12, 33-00 — 215
Day 1: 4, 09-10 — Day 2: 5, 11-15 — Day 3: 3, 11-07
31. Todd Faircloth — Jasper, TX — 14, 32-09 — 213
Day 1: 5, 12-15 — Day 2: 4, 07-00 — Day 3: 5, 12-10
32. Steve Kennedy — Auburn, AL — 15, 31-13 — 211
Day 1: 5, 12-10 — Day 2: 5, 11-11 — Day 3: 5, 07-08
33. Clark Reehm — Russellville, AR — 11, 31-13 — 209
Day 1: 4, 07-04 — Day 2: 5, 19-06 — Day 3: 2, 05-03
34. Jeff Connella — Bentley, LA — 12, 31-03 — 207
Day 1: 5, 13-01 — Day 2: 4, 13-05 — Day 3: 3, 04-13
35. Kotaro Kiriyama — Moody, AL — 10, 31-01 — 205
Day 1: 5, 15-02 — Day 2: 4, 12-11 — Day 3: 1, 03-04
36. Jason Quinn — Lake Wylie, SC — 10, 30-09 — 203
Day 1: 3, 05-14 — Day 2: 5, 19-07 — Day 3: 2, 05-04
37. Russ Lane — Prattville, AL — 9, 29-07 201
Day 1: 5, 18-10 — Day 2: 4, 10-13 — Day 3: 0, 00-00
38. Kevin Wirth — Crestwood, KY — 11, 29-03 — 199
Day 1: 5, 14-09 — Day 2: 5, 13-06 — Day 3: 1, 01-04
39. Pat Golden — High Point, NC — 10, 28-09 — 197
Day 1: 2, 05-08 — Day 2: 5, 16-03 — Day 3: 3, 06-14
40. Brian Snowden — Reeds Spring, MO — 10, 27-14 — 195
Day 1: 4, 09-11 — Day 2: 5, 12-12 — Day 3: 1, 05-07
41. Pete Ponds — Madison, MS — 12, 27-12 — 193
Day 1: 5, 09-15 — Day 2: 5, 12-00 — Day 3: 2, 05-13
42. Matt Herren — Trussville, AL — 12, 27-05 — 191
Day 1: 5, 08-05 — Day 2: 5, 14-13 — Day 3: 2, 04-03
43. Vince Fulks — Purcell, OK — 12, 26-04 — 189
Day 1: 4, 07-04 — Day 2: 5, 15-00 — Day 3: 3, 04-00
44. John Murray — Phoenix, AZ — 8, 25-13 — 187
Day 1: 3, 14-06 — Day 2: 3, 05-12 — Day 3: 2, 05-11
45. Jami Fralick — Martin, SD — 11, 25-09 — 185
Day 1: 3, 04-14 — Day 2: 5, 15-13 — Day 3: 3, 04-14
46. Chad Griffin — Cresson, TX — 11, 25-07 — 183
Day 1: 3, 03-15 — Day 2: 5, 16-08 — Day 3: 3, 05-00
47. Mike McClelland — Bella Vista, AR — 11, 24-11 — 181
Day 1: 3, 05-03 — Day 2: 5, 14-08 — Day 3: 3, 05-00
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