AOY Club: Greg Hackney
Category: Tournament
Oct 23rd, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 23rd, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Mercury pro and reigning Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) Greg Hackney is considered by many of his peers as one of the best anglers to never have won the B.A.S.S. AOY title, until this year of course. Sure, Hackney won the FLW Tour AOY back in 2005, but not many folks talk about that. The Bassmaster title seems to be a bigger deal to most pundits and fans.
Hackney took a little time out of his deer hunting preparations to fill in BassFIRST.com on his AOY title wins.
2014 was a near-perfect year for Hackney.
“This year was something special for me,” said Hackney. “I was having a real solid year going into the Lake Dardanelle tournament. I could’ve won that event
“Anyway, after Dardanelle I was in second place in the AOY standings. I was in contention to win the title. That was the first point in the year that I thought I could win the AOY deal. I could see it as a possible reality. I knew I had a better than good chance.
“I started keying in on it. Nothing else mattered on the Elites. Not the Classic, not individual wins. Just the AOY.”
Hackney went for the knockout after Philly.
“The Delaware River event in Philadelphia was my worst performance,” said Hackney. “After that event I was in the lead for AOY by one point. I decided to go for the throat. Take out my competition. I was going to try and win at the next event on Cayuga. I mean, you never know how these things are gonna turn out, but I knew I needed to go for it.
“Aaron Martens didn’t make the cut. I knew that if I won, Todd Faircloth wouldn’t gain any ground on me. It was weird. I became so laid back, like everything was in slow motion. I never wasted a cast. The last day of Cayuga it was lights out. The weather, stars, moon, sun, everything lined up. I couldn’t have written a better script. After that tournament I knew I was going to win the AOY in Escanaba.”
Very little separated 2014 from other years fishing Bassmaster for Hackney.
“Typically I’d been missing a key fish or two at each event,” said Hackney. “This year I missed a lot less. In fact, I only missed three key fish. One at Dardanelle that cost me that tournament. One at Table Rock that cost me that tournament. One on the Delaware that cost points. I went to swing a 3-pounder into the boat and knocked it off.
“Lots of time on the water and doing a better job at catching key fish were the difference makers this year. Everybody is so close on tour that just one fish here and there makes the difference.”
B.A.S.S. versus FLW AOY titles.
“To me they are both equally important,” said Hackney. “The funny thing is many people don’t remember I won the FLW AOY. Heck, even at FLW events they never mention I am an AOY. They mention I won the Forrest Wood Cup, but never the AOY. I was gonna say something, but I never did.
“When I won the FLW title, I was yelling and excited, which isn’t typical for me. Winning the Bassmaster AOY was more a relief this year. Just as excited, but the pressure was on. Now I just need to keep winning them.”