Greg Hackney is returning to his bass fishing roots in an effort to connect with the numerous 3 to 5-pound bass that find themselves swimming in exceptionally dirty Bassmaster Classic waters this week at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees.
“A spinnerbait is the bait I learned to fish with, but sadly, I could count on one hand the number of bass I’ve weighed-in on it the past ten years,” said the shallow water expert from Louisiana. “But this week, a heavy spinnerbait with that giant No. 7 hubcap-sized Colorado blade just seems to make sense on Grand.
“This one is a really heavy 1-ounce Strike King Hack Attack, so I can get it deep enough to where those pre-spawners are suspended and that giant gold blade produces about as much vibration as anything you could tie-on in this muddy water.
“I started with a No. 6 willowleaf blade in practice, but I’ll be honest with you; it just wasn’t providing enough ‘thump’ to give me confidence the fish could feel it in that dirty water. So I changed over to that big Colorado blade instead and I’ll promise you they can sense that rolling past ‘em.”
As far as the gear required to tow such a heavy, high-vibration beast, Hackney uses a 7-foot, 4-inch Quantum Tour KVD heavy-action rod and a large EXO 200 reel spooled with 20-pound Gamma fluorocarbon line.
“It just seems like we seldomnly ever have an Elite Series event anymore that sets up perfectly for spinnerbaits, but with the water being dirty and 46degrees, this could be it,” Hackney warned. “And if that water warms up to the low 50s, look out!”
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
