Greg Hackney is one of the hottest sticks on the tournament trail. What's so remarkable about this guy? How quick he got to the top. So how did he do it?
He did it with the rubber skirted jig.
"It's my favorite bait by far," admitted the Louisiana pro. "If I could only have one bait, that's what it would be. It doesn't bother me to go all day without a bite throwing a jig. I enjoy the way it feels.
"It really suits the way that I fish. I like to spend an hour in a place the size of this roof. If there are five fish there, those are the five I want to catch. I don't want to run all over the country trying to catch five. And it catches big bites."
Hackney's extensive experimentation with a jig over the years has resulted in some novel modification and rigging tricks, which he wanted to share with readers of BASS Times.
It begins with the lure's wire weedguard.
"When I trim my weedguard, it's like steps," he explained "I still leave it the full length, but it's thicker at the top and becomes smaller as I cut the strands out. I don't spread it like a lot of guys do.
"I still have enough weedguard to keep it from getting hung, but by thinning it like that when it gets down to where the hook point is, it's actually real thin. But it's still the same length. It just seems like I get a lot better hookups with it done this way.
"I know that a lot of other guys trim their weedguard at a 45 degree angle right at the hook point. But it's just like anything else if it's long and thin, it's limber. If it's short and thick, it's stiff. So I don't really feel like you've accomplished anything that way. I thin it down and then I roll my hand on it. I keep taking a little bit out until I can roll my hand and it sticks my finger."
Hackney believes this alteration also solves a common problem with jig fishing.
"A stiff weedguard is what makes your jig roll when you set the hook. That's the reason that a lot of times after you set the hook and have the fish coming, something happens. Normally, it's because of that stiff weedguard."
Another modification involves trimming the skirt to make it resemble the shape of a forage fish.
"I always trim mine at an angle so that when the trailer hangs, it V's over the hook. It's thin on the sides and covers up the hook point. This kind of gives it a look where when it comes through the water the front of the body will be big and the tail is tapered. It resembles the body shape of a bream. Most of my jig fishing is when I think they're feeding on bream, not crawfish."
Hackney's choice of trailer depends on water clarity. But he follows a general rule. If the water, is stained, he goes with a plastic chunk. If the water is clear, he goes with a crawdad imitation.