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Advance Auto Parts’ Greg Hackney Finishes Year Strong on Oneida

Advance Auto Parts

August 14, 2008

Champion’s Choice

Oneida Lake – Syracuse, New York

Advance Auto Parts’ Greg Hackney Finishes Year Strong on Oneida

Stone and Crews just miss Classic Berth

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (August 14, 2008) – The curtain fell on the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series season as anglers competed at the final tournament on Oneida Lake. Weather played a role in the finish for some, while decisions both good and bad affected others.

One Advance Auto Parts pro beat the odds and finished his season with a bang, gaining a Classic berth by the skin of his teeth.

Greg Hackney’s week started off slow and progressed as the weekend approached.

“I fished good this week,” Hackney said. “I missed a couple of opportunities, but I couldn’t tell you if they were big bites or not. I didn’t have a good practice, so I took a little bit of nothing a made and lot out of it, kind of like last week. I’m just telling you, The Lord blessed me. I had to finish really well here to make the Classic and that was my whole goal for the season; make the Classic. I would have liked to win one this year, but nobody realizes how big of a deal the Classic really is … until you have been there once.”

According to Hackney, he’d rather go to the Classic than win a tournament every year and that isn’t a hard choice to make.

Coming into this tournament thinking he would dropshot for smallmouth, Hackney eventually realized he’d have to rely on his backup of fishing for largemouth.

“Anytime you get locked into one thing, the secondary or backup pattern always becomes dominant,” Hackney added. “I fished those smallmouths the first day for four hours and ended up with only one little largemouth. So I ran to my largemouth area I found in practice and caught a limit. The second day, I started on that area and caught 16 pounds.”

Hackney weighed in a total of 37 pounds, 7 ounces and finished his week in 30th. Sitting in 36th in Angler of the Year standings after the tournament on Oneida, Hackney’s eyes are opened to how close he came to missing his chance at the Classic; the biggest tournament of the year in his home state.

“This year, the Classic is on the Red River, a place I love to fish,” Hackney said. “I struggled and was dead last at the beginning of the year and here I am, the last guy to make the Classic. That’s ironic.”

Advance Auto Parts pro Marty Stone has mixed feelings about Oneida, thinking there may one main thing he regrets from this tournament.

“I went fishing for smallmouth exclusively, and I might look back and regret it,” Stone said. “I thought fishing was going to be a lot tougher than it was. I had a pattern to follow and thought I could catch 11 to 13 pounds a day. I thought that would keep me competitive, but I struggled on day one and only caught six fish and weighed in nine pounds.”

Stone had a better day two as he weighed in 11 pounds, 7 ounces and caught approximately 18 fish. Fishing with two main baits, a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 112 and a Picasso spinnerbait, Stone fished outside grass all week. Finishing 71st isn’t what has Stone feeling frustrated; missing the opportunity to fish the 2009 Classic is.

“This will be three years in a row that I’ve missed the Classic,” Stone said. “It absolutely kills me. One thing I can say about this year though is that I was actually in contention. The last two years, I missed the Classic and wasn’t even in the running. I’m proud of the way I fished the last half of this year and plan to build on it going into 2009.”

After pre-fishing a few northern lakes before he heads home, Stone plans to shut the fishing down for a while and work out like he never has before. Feeling weak coming off back-to-back tournaments makes Stone realize his need to get into the best shape of his life for the 2009 season.

“I’m coming out with both barrels smoking next year,” Stone promised. “I’m out of shape and not where I need to be right now physically. And when you get physically tired, you’re not sharp mentally either. Three years ago, when I made my Angler of the Year run, I was in the best shape of my life. I haven’t been in that shape since, and now I’m making the commitment to come out next year stronger than I’ve ever been.”

Advance Auto Parts’ John Crews had a mediocre practice but still thought he had a few areas with quality fish. It wasn’t a spot he was excited about, but he thought he could catch around 12 pounds a day.

“It’s very frustrating when you think something will work out and it doesn’t,” Crews said. “I knew I was going to have to scramble at this tournament, and I definitely did. I fished for smallmouth mostly wit