HACKNEY LEADS FIELD AT $2 MILLION 2009 FORREST WOOD CUP PRESENTED BY BP AND CASTROL
Baciuska Jr. leads co-anglers
Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces Friday to capture the lead after weighing only 3 pounds, 1 ounce the first day of competition in the $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol — the World Championship of Bass Fishing — with a two-day catch of eight bass weighing 14-13. He now holds a 5-ounce lead in the tournament featuring the best pros and co-anglers in the world. The Forrest Wood Cup is the richest bass fishing tournament in the world and features a $1 million first-place cash award.
“I started off this morning catching a lot of short (fish) and then once things got going right, I stopped catching shorts and started catching big fish,” said the Bassmaster Elite pro. “By the time I got my limit, I had only caught one more short.”
Hackney said he caught seven or eight keepers during the course of the day on three different baits. Hackney didn’t reveal the baits, but said he employed them all in his pattern. Hackney said he was fishing a pattern on the Allegheny River and not a particular spot.
“You never know with (the river),” Hackney said. “It changes every day. It’s getting higher and it rained a bunch today. And that’s going to have some effect on today and tomorrow.”
Hackney said the heavy rains Friday helped position his fish and was key to his success. Hackney said his sack included a 3-pounder and a 3 3/4-pounder among his five smallmouth.
Team Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 14-8.
Thursday Lefebre said he targeted rocks that were holding fish in two spots that were 50 yards apart in one area. The spots required precise casts to provoke strikes. However, Lefebre didn’t return to the area on the second day of competition.
“I left them alone today,” Lefebre said. “I fished around it. I was within 20 feet of them and catching stragglers that were hanging around the edges.
“I haven’t switched baits at all,” Lefebre added. “Tomorrow and the next day there’s going to be a few more surprises for them, hopefully.”
Lefebre said he spent three 17-hour days of practice in the same pool and has more places saved to fish.
“It’s going to come down to one bite,” Lefebre said. “Not one bite each day, but one bite. It’s going to come down to one bite to win the tournament.”
Rounding out the top five pros who will continue competition Saturday and Sunday are Team Folgers pro Scott Suggs of Bryant, Ark. (eight bass, 14-0); Cody Meyer of Redding, Ca. (10 bass, 13-10); and David Curtis of Trinity, Texas (10 bass, 13-8).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 11 pounds, 7 ounces and adding to this already power-packed top-10 field are Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.; Team Chevy pro Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark.; former Bassmaster Classic winner Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J.; Team BP pro David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn.; and Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Ca.
Lynn Baciuska Jr. of Afton, N.Y., leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of six bass weighing 10 pounds, 6 ounces, followed by Tommie Goldston of Gardnerville, Nev., in second place with six bass weighing 8-10.
“We went east up the Allegheny about three locks and starting fishing about 9:30 and within the first five minutes I caught my first fish of the morning,” Baciuska said. “For the next hour, I caught one every five or 10 minutes. I ended up having a bit of slow time in the middle of the day and at the end of the day I caught a couple more for a total of seven keepers. The water clarity cleared up a lot and it really helped my bite.”
Baciuska said he targeted wood and rock in shallow water with soft plastics.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind. (six bass, 8-4); Greg Schultz of Wayzata, Minn. (seven bass, 7-10) and Teddy Bradley of Mishawaka, Ind. (five bass, 7-2).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 5 pounds, 10 ounces in the Co-angler Division are David Lauer of South Bend, Ind.; Kevin Hawk of Ramona, Ca.; Brad Roberts of Nancy, Ky.; Michi Oba of Tokyo, Japan; and Blaine Bucy of Wellsburg, W.V.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $50,000 this week.
