Greg Hackney finished last at the 2005 Classic. Did not weigh a fish. He had good company, though, as he was one of six anglers who failed to weigh a keeper during competition on Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers, including Jay Yelas, Ish Monroe and Brian Snowden. Despite that temporary setback, Hackney told me yesterday that his Pittsburgh failure was the key to winning the Forrest Wood Cup in 2009, a $500,000 payday.
“In that Pittsburgh Classic I learned to fish for a few quality bites,” he said. By focusing on quality over quantity, and making the most of a few clues earned in a previous disaster, he won the event.
Of course, Hackney did not fish the last Classic at Ray Roberts. A field trip to another tour took him out of the Classic field for several years, so he can’t build upon past tournament knowledge this week – but a number of members of the field certainly can. And it might not be the obvious choices, like Matt Arey (2nd last time), Chris Johnston (8th) or Drew Cook (9th). It might be someone like Shane LeHew, Stetson Blaylock or Pat Schlapper, one of the bottom-scrapers in 2021.
Occasionally this is a derby where the angler who finishes last or near last is closer to winning than the guys who finish 10th, 12th or 15th. They took a calculated risk and failed, but were off by a matter of degrees. Past Classic performance is no guarantee of similar future success, either. Remember, guys like Denny Brauer had plenty of clunkers. Bryan Kerchal finished last before he finished first, just like Hackney. Someone in today’s field who is a sleeper or an afterthought has some nugget of knowledge that could lead him to fishing immortality – if the wind lets him execute and the stars line up.
