Post by yihunt on Aug 3, 2009 11:42:36 GMT -4
Big finish gives Hackney Forrest Wood Cup
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Monday, August 3, 2009
Close call
Greg Hackney's 3-ounce win over Mike Iaconelli tied the Forrest Wood Cup record for the tournament's smallest margin of victory. David Dudley also won the Cup by 3 ounces back in 2003.
Greg Hackney wasn't the most consistent fisherman in Pittsburgh's version of the Forrest Wood Cup — he was just the best.
And now he's a champion.
Hackney, the good-natured pro from Gonzales, La., won the Cup Sunday by bringing in a five-bass limit that weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces. That gave him 9 pounds, 9 ounces of fish over the tournament's final two days.
That was enough — barely — to beat Runnemede, N.J., pro Mike Iaconelli. He finished 3 ounces back at 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
Iaconelli actually began the day in fourth place, two spots ahead of Hackney, and weighed in a five-bass limit of his own Sunday. But they weighed just 4 pounds, 10 ounces.
That allowed Hackney — who rocketed from 36th place to first overall on Day 2 of the tournament to make the finals — to rally again, this time for the title.
Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., who began the tournament's final day in first place, caught only one keeper yesterday and dropped to fifth overall. Dave Lefebre of Union City — the local favorite to win the Cup — caught just one fish yesterday, that on his last cast of the day while waiting to lock through on his way back to the launch site. He finished eighth.
Still, he said winning the Cup exceeds anything he's ever accomplished as a fisherman, including being named Angler of the Year in 2005. He credited his win to thinking small.
"These rivers are full of little bass, so when I was here in practice I tried to figure out the easiest way just to catch keepers," Hackney said. "And if you catch keepers, the big ones will come along."
Hackney fished the Pittsburgh pool on the first day of the tournament, figuring he could catch a limit there to stay in contention. That backfired, and he caught just three bass. But by running up the Allegheny River to just below Kittanning and fishing the 30 miles back down to the city each of the next three days, he caught two limits — one of them the tournament's biggest, at 11 pounds, 12 ounces — to win. His most consistent lure was a 1/4-ounce Strike King spinnerbait in golden shiner.
"By far, my best practice was three pools up, but I didn't want to fish for those fish until I had to," Hackney said. "I had to the last three days."
For Iaconelli, meanwhile, the Cup was his second close call of the year. He finished second in the Bassmaster Classic — pro fishing's other big event — to Skeet Reese in in February in Louisiana by 11 ounces.
He tried to be philosophical about the near-misses.
"That's fishing. When it's meant to be, you'll win, and when it's not, you won't," he said. "I'm not disappointed at all."
Salewske was. Leading going into the final day, he was in line to win $1 million — five times as much as he's earned, total, in his career thus far — but had a feeling early yesterday that he was in trouble. He started catching short fish right away, something that hadn't happened all week, from water that was lower, faster and muddier than he anticipated.
"It changed so much," he said. "I knew the river would change, but not that it would change so much. I don't think I was mentally prepared for that.
"I probably should have upsized my baits today. They just couldn't find it maybe."
As for Lefebre, who finished second at last year's Cup, a storybook ending wasn't to be. He won several events on the three rivers as an amateur more than a decade ago and seemed poised to win this one on the same waters, located just a two-hour drive down I-79 from his home.
But the same holes that had him in first place after Day 1 of the Cup and in second after Day 2 dried up — or more accurately, disappeared under waves of mud.
"There was a lot of mud coming down from further up the Allegheny," Lefebre said. "It took a couple of days to get here, but when it did, it killed me.
"I put all my eggs in that one basket. I was so convinced that nothing could hurt those fish. I learned a lesson."
Hackney did, too, but his helped him earn a title and a whole lot of money. He choked up on stage when handed the trophy.
"This is by far the highlight of my career," he said. "Words can't even describe it. This is the most awesome day of my life."
Half the payday
Hackney's win also broke the Cup's streak of $1 million first prize winners. FLW officials bill the tournament as offering $1 million to the winner, but the tour itself only pays half that. The other half is paid by Ranger boats, but only to anglers who drive a Ranger.
Hackney is sponsored by rival boat builder Triton and so collected just $500,000 for winning.
The first Forrest Wood Cup, held in 1996, paid $18,500 to the winner. That increased to $100,000 a year later, to $250,000 in 1998, to $260,000 in 1999 and to $500,000 in 2003.
It went to $1 million in 2006. Each of the anglers to win it over the past three years collected that full amount.
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Monday, August 3, 2009
Close call
Greg Hackney's 3-ounce win over Mike Iaconelli tied the Forrest Wood Cup record for the tournament's smallest margin of victory. David Dudley also won the Cup by 3 ounces back in 2003.
Greg Hackney wasn't the most consistent fisherman in Pittsburgh's version of the Forrest Wood Cup — he was just the best.
And now he's a champion.
Hackney, the good-natured pro from Gonzales, La., won the Cup Sunday by bringing in a five-bass limit that weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces. That gave him 9 pounds, 9 ounces of fish over the tournament's final two days.
That was enough — barely — to beat Runnemede, N.J., pro Mike Iaconelli. He finished 3 ounces back at 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
Iaconelli actually began the day in fourth place, two spots ahead of Hackney, and weighed in a five-bass limit of his own Sunday. But they weighed just 4 pounds, 10 ounces.
That allowed Hackney — who rocketed from 36th place to first overall on Day 2 of the tournament to make the finals — to rally again, this time for the title.
Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., who began the tournament's final day in first place, caught only one keeper yesterday and dropped to fifth overall. Dave Lefebre of Union City — the local favorite to win the Cup — caught just one fish yesterday, that on his last cast of the day while waiting to lock through on his way back to the launch site. He finished eighth.
Still, he said winning the Cup exceeds anything he's ever accomplished as a fisherman, including being named Angler of the Year in 2005. He credited his win to thinking small.
"These rivers are full of little bass, so when I was here in practice I tried to figure out the easiest way just to catch keepers," Hackney said. "And if you catch keepers, the big ones will come along."
Hackney fished the Pittsburgh pool on the first day of the tournament, figuring he could catch a limit there to stay in contention. That backfired, and he caught just three bass. But by running up the Allegheny River to just below Kittanning and fishing the 30 miles back down to the city each of the next three days, he caught two limits — one of them the tournament's biggest, at 11 pounds, 12 ounces — to win. His most consistent lure was a 1/4-ounce Strike King spinnerbait in golden shiner.
"By far, my best practice was three pools up, but I didn't want to fish for those fish until I had to," Hackney said. "I had to the last three days."
For Iaconelli, meanwhile, the Cup was his second close call of the year. He finished second in the Bassmaster Classic — pro fishing's other big event — to Skeet Reese in in February in Louisiana by 11 ounces.
He tried to be philosophical about the near-misses.
"That's fishing. When it's meant to be, you'll win, and when it's not, you won't," he said. "I'm not disappointed at all."
Salewske was. Leading going into the final day, he was in line to win $1 million — five times as much as he's earned, total, in his career thus far — but had a feeling early yesterday that he was in trouble. He started catching short fish right away, something that hadn't happened all week, from water that was lower, faster and muddier than he anticipated.
"It changed so much," he said. "I knew the river would change, but not that it would change so much. I don't think I was mentally prepared for that.
"I probably should have upsized my baits today. They just couldn't find it maybe."
As for Lefebre, who finished second at last year's Cup, a storybook ending wasn't to be. He won several events on the three rivers as an amateur more than a decade ago and seemed poised to win this one on the same waters, located just a two-hour drive down I-79 from his home.
But the same holes that had him in first place after Day 1 of the Cup and in second after Day 2 dried up — or more accurately, disappeared under waves of mud.
"There was a lot of mud coming down from further up the Allegheny," Lefebre said. "It took a couple of days to get here, but when it did, it killed me.
"I put all my eggs in that one basket. I was so convinced that nothing could hurt those fish. I learned a lesson."
Hackney did, too, but his helped him earn a title and a whole lot of money. He choked up on stage when handed the trophy.
"This is by far the highlight of my career," he said. "Words can't even describe it. This is the most awesome day of my life."
Half the payday
Hackney's win also broke the Cup's streak of $1 million first prize winners. FLW officials bill the tournament as offering $1 million to the winner, but the tour itself only pays half that. The other half is paid by Ranger boats, but only to anglers who drive a Ranger.
Hackney is sponsored by rival boat builder Triton and so collected just $500,000 for winning.
The first Forrest Wood Cup, held in 1996, paid $18,500 to the winner. That increased to $100,000 a year later, to $250,000 in 1998, to $260,000 in 1999 and to $500,000 in 2003.
It went to $1 million in 2006. Each of the anglers to win it over the past three years collected that full amount.