![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ofmn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/2019\/08\/ZSCJTLoc-Hackattack-600x300.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Greg Hackney finished his season with a second-place finish in REDCREST. Photo by Phoenix Moore<\/em><\/p>\n By Mason Prince – August 27, 2019<\/p>\n Greg Hackney finished out a stellar 2019 Bass Pro Tour season with a second-place finish in the inaugural REDCREST on Sunday afternoon. The Louisiana pro got to within 5 pounds of catching Edwin Evers during the second period of the Championship Round, but was unable to keep up with Evers\u2019 furious pace.<\/p>\n Still, second place in what Hackney called \u201cthe finest field ever assembled\u201d is quite a feat. It\u2019s made even more impressive considering how Hackney only missed two Knockout Rounds all year long and earned $96,000 in winnings without having to pay any entry fees.<\/p>\n But even with all of this success, it didn\u2019t come easy for the 2018 MLF General Tire World Champion.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been the hardest season of my career in bass fishing that I can ever remember,\u201d Hackney admitted after letting out a deep sigh. \u201cI\u2019ve had to make a lot of adjustments this year and I\u2019ve really learned a lot competing against the quality guys we have in this field.\u201d After deciding to join the Bass Pro Tour in the fall of 2018, Hackney wasn\u2019t sure what to expect from the newly-founded league. Of course, he had experience fishing the MLF format during cup events and his World Championship win, but going from a five-fish bag to MLF full-time was a daunting change.<\/p>\n \u201cJoining the Bass Pro Tour was scary for me because I was basically quitting one job and starting a new one,\u201d Hackney said. \u201cNow, looking back on that decision I\u2019m really glad I made it. There are guys who have adjusted to this format quicker than I have, but I feel like I\u2019m really getting the hang of it.\u201d Hackney is a student of the game. He\u2019s followed the sport of bass fishing and the big names even before he was a professional himself. The Strike King pro is set to celebrate his 46th birthday on Sunday, a number that used to scare him when it came to the sport he loves. But as the Bass Pro Tour has shown him, age is nothing but a number.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I\u2019ve studied the sport in the past, 35 to 40 years old is when most anglers were in their prime,\u201d Hackney recalled. \u201cI\u2019m 45, but I feel like we haven\u2019t seen the best Greg Hackney on the Bass Pro Tour yet. I\u2019m very motivated and, more importantly, I\u2019m hungry. Seeing Edwin\u2019s success at age 44 has given me confidence that I can continue to do this and do it at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n With the sting of Sunday\u2019s second-place finish in the rear-view mirror, Hackney sets his sights on 2020. Even though next season begins in February, the Mercury pro is itching for a chance to compete right away.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish we had another event next week because I feel like I\u2019m finally where I want to be,\u201d Hackney said. \u201cI don\u2019t want the offseason to ice me. I\u2019m going to enjoy my offseason, but I can\u2019t wait until February when we get started again. I\u2019m going to set some goals and strive for perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greg Hackney finished his season with a second-place finish in REDCREST. Photo by Phoenix Moore By Mason Prince – August 27, 2019 Greg Hackney finished out a stellar 2019 Bass Pro Tour season with a second-place finish in the inaugural REDCREST on Sunday afternoon. The Louisiana pro got to within 5 pounds of catching Edwin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11658,"featured_media":75112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tournament","post_format-post-format-link"],"acf":[],"youtube_video":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75113,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75111\/revisions\/75113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outdoorsfirst.com\/bass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTaking a Leap of Faith<\/p>\n
\nAge is Just a Number<\/p>\n