Greg Hackney's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Like Davis, Hackney has won at Table Rock before and he has a lot of confidence in the Ozarks. He missed the first day of practice while traveling from the Sam Rayburn Reservoir FLW Tour where he also finished 3rd. "I guess I had a productive practice," he said. "I didn't catch a lot of fish, but I tried to look at the whole lake. I'm real comfortable here and have been here several times. It suits how I like to fish. It's a big-time pattern lake. It's rarely ever won on a spot here. I ran the whole lake and looked at everything. The water was relatively clear with the exception of Long Creek and way up the James River." He said he saw some fish cruising around up shallow and that keyed him in on where to target. Conditions on day 1, 2 and 4 were perfect for his cranking pattern with a square-bill and a flat-side plug. He caught three cranking on Saturday, but had to finish his limit on a finesse worm after the wind died down. The majority of fish he reeled in were smallmouth, but on average the largemouth were the bigger specimens. He weighed in mixed bags each day. The largemouths and spots came on the flat-sided crank, which runs a couple feet deeper than the 1.5. The smallies that had moved up on some shallow gravel stretches were keyed in on the Strike King KVD 1.5 square-bill. "It was a lot of fun fishing," he said. "These fish were ready to go. We probably hit it at a pretty good time. "These fish are like us, they're sick of winter and ready for it be done." He fished the lower end of the lake on day 1 - he fished some with a Wiggle Wart, but migrated to the two Strike King baits - and got dialed in on his cranking pattern pretty quick. The next 3 days, he fished from the mouth of Long Creek all the way to Kimberling City, stopping at dozens of spots along the way. "Most of the smallies were on gravel with bigger rock mixed in," he said. "I couldn't catch them on straight gravel. The spots and largemouth were on ledge rock, not necessarily a channel swing although some were on channel swings. The gravel pockets would have a 50- to 100-yard stretch of ledge rock and that's where the largemouths were."

Crankbait gear: 7'4" medium-heavy Quantum Tour KVD cranking rod, Quantum EXO PT 200 casting reel (6.6:1 ratio), 10-, 12- and 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, Strike King KVD HC flat side crankbait (blue gizzard shad), Strike King KVD 1.5 square-bill crankbait (natural red craw, natural chartreuse craw). With the smaller baits, he was focused on making the longest cast possible, hence the 7'4" rod. "We weren't target fishing. I was airing it out," he said. He used 10-pound line on day 1, but eventually went with 12-pound for the flat-sided crank and 16-pound for the 1.5 square-bill. "For the smallmouth, I didn't need the bait to hit the bottom," he said. "Throwing the flat on the 12-pound, it didn't grind along the bottom and lot of them would get it when it would come up." He replaced the stock hooks on the flat-sided crank with Mustad size 4KVD Elite Series Triple Grip treble hooks and put size 2 trebles on the 1.5. The natural red craw and natural chartreuse craw colors are Bass Pro Shops exclusives.

Main factor: "I came in with a lot of confidence. I'm feeling good and enjoying myself. The last time we were here this week I won and I have a lot of confidence in the Ozarks. Growing up in Arkansas, I spent a lot of time around there."

Performance edge: "My Phoenix boat and Mercury were great and so was that MotorGuide trolling motor. I was running and gunning, hitting 50 or 60 spots a day. It's a lot of work that type of fishing, but it's a fun way to fish."

Table Rock Lake 2-5 Patterns Bassfan 4/9/14 (Todd Ceisner)

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Strike King KVD 1.5 HC Squarebill Silent Crankbait

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