sometimes the faster you work it, the better.”
Hackney usually makes just one modification to his topwater baits out of the package and that is to switch the hooks.
“I swap out all of my
topwaters with the Mustad
KVD Triple Grips,” he said. “I
think it hooks and holds fish
much better for topwaters
and really all hard baits.”
When it comes
to topwater, braid is
Hackney’s choice,
specifically 50-pound
Gamma Torque.
“Straight braid is how
I like to fish topwaters,”
he added. “If I fish it on
mono, it just wears me
out and using braid also
allows you to use a much lighter action rod and still get a good hookset on topwater fish.”
One of Hackney’s low water approaches is to head shallow and find the baitfish. It is something that can be duplicated anywhere that is affected by seasonal changes to water levels.
FALL 2017
33
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