Greg Hackney doesn’t have a win on the St. Johns River, but he’s been consistently as good here as anyone in Elite Series history. The 51-year-old Gonzales, La., pro finished 6th last year. He’s been 2nd at the St. Johns twice – in 2021 and 2016 – to go along with a 16th-place finish in 2014, an 8th in 2012 and a 13th in 2011.
With all those days of practice and tournament competition, Hackney feels like it’s different this year on the eve of the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite on the St. Johns River.
“I don’t know, it’s just different,” Hackney said. “It just seems totally different from any time we’ve been here before. I hate to say that I think the weights will be down, but I think the weights will be down. And they will prove me wrong.
“It can be a scary place to fish. I’m telling you, it’s a place you can get messed up on in the first tournament of the year. You know they’re going to catch ‘em. Maybe you’re off on the tide a little bit, or you get in a bad rotation. Bad things can happen to you here. It’s sketchy.”
High winds on Sunday’s first day of practice muddied the river. Water surface temperatures have been in the magic range of 68 to 72, but air temperatures are predicted to dip into the 30s on Thursday and Friday nights.
“I’m actually fishing an area I’ve never fished before,” Hackney said. “That 40-mile-an-hour wind the first day of practice trashed a lot of stuff, and I don’t want to get into that deal of playing hopscotch in the canals with a bunch of guys. I’ll bet you 50 percent of the guys are running canals. When the fishing is off (in the main river), there’s always fish in the canals. So I’m taking a chance on a place I’ve never been to, other than (the last day of practice). It looked more traditional Florida.”
Florida native and Elite Series veteran Bernie Schultz thinks the 100-mile stretch of the St. Johns River available for this tournament will fish small. “There’s going to be lots of traffic in the canals and the springs. If a guy can find something else, it will be possible to separate yourself from the field.”
Jacob Foutz posted the best finish of his two-year career on the Elite Series when he finished third on the St. Johns enroute to his fourth-place total in the final Angler of the Year standings. But that was the fourth tournament on the schedule last year and was held April 18-21.
“I’m excited, he said. “It’s a new year, but fishing has been harder than I’d like. There’s a lot of uncertainty. It could be one of those where it’s anyone’s game. There’s just no predominant pattern that I’ve seen that would favor any one particular angler.”
Tennessee native Brandon Lester has long been a fan of Florida bass fishing. Of his B.A.S.S. 28 Top 10 finishes, five have come from Florida waters. He finished 13th at the St. Johns last year.
“Obviously, the weather is not working in our favor,” Lester said. “But I have seen it tougher to get bites here. I’m going to try to do something a little bit different. I think somebody is going to catch around 78 pounds to win this. There’s just too many big fish in this river. The fish are still here, but the cover changes from year to year. We may see fish caught in places we’ve never seen before.”
