As the weather has gotten hot, so has Greg Hackney. He came within a half-pound of winning the Bassmaster Elite series event on Lake Daranelle after leading on days 2 and 3.

Now the former Forrest Wood Cup champion from Gonzales, La. is leading the FLW Tour tourney on Pickwick Lake as the top 20 pros and co-anglers head into the weekend.

Hackney brought in 31 pounds, 12 ounces on Friday to run his two-day total to 53-12. He leads by more than 6 pounds over Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn.

Hackney caught fish on a dozen different lures, but the biggest bass responded to just two of them. He said it was important to figure out how to pull the better quality fish from the huge school of bass he has located.

“Only one other time have I ever found one school of fish that was better than today, and that was at Falcon Lake when I set the FLW record for the heaviest three-day weight,” said Hackney. “Today was just one of those deals, I can’t even explain it. Once I got 25 pounds I figured I might as well see if I could catch 30. That was way more than I ever dreamed I could catch.

“I caught 25 to 30 keepers in little spurts. There is a way to catch the bigger ones and I’m hoping that I have figured that out. When they’re biting, you can catch them every cast. But when I do the ‘right thing’ it doesn’t catch anything but big ones. When it goes down, it is as awesome fishing as it gets.”

While current is often critical to success on river-run impoundments, Hackney has watched the clock rather than the flow.

“I’ve been really fortunate and haven’t had to rely on the current. It’s a timing deal, but it goes down pretty quick. When it does, you have to be ready to make the right lure change. Only a couple baits are producing the big ones. There was one other guy that fished the same area a little bit. He was there this morning when I got there, but when I really started catching them he backed off. He’s that kind of guy and I really appreciated that from him.”

While a win would be great, Hackney came to Pickwick with an eye on the prize of earning an invite to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. He’s happy with the points he has earned toward that end.

“I’ve accomplished my goals over the first two days. Whatever happens after this is all bonus.”

Bill Day won big bass honors with a 9 pound, 8 ounce specimen.

The fish are averaging more than 3 pounds apiece as there were 694 bass weighing 2,179 pounds, 11 ounces caught on Friday. Among 161 pros, 125 caught their five-bass limit. Pickwick is producing.

While Hackney has a commanding lead in the pro division, there’s a tight race brewing on the co-angler side of the leader board where John Jacobs of Birmingham, Ala., leads with 35 pounds, 8 ounces and Brandon Edel of Hendersonville, Tenn., trails by a quarter of a pound with 35-4.

These 20 pros will compete on Saturday:

            1st:    Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 53-10

            2nd:   Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 47-9

            3rd:    Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 45-13

            4th:    Jason Quinn, Rock Hill, S.C., 10 bass, 43-1

            5th:    Troy Hollowell, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 42-10

            6th:    Michael Wooley, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 41-13

            7th:    Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C, 10 bass, 41-8

            8th:    Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 41-6

            9th:    Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 10 bass, 41-3

            10th:  Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 10 bass, 40-12

            11th:  Robbie Dodson, Harrison, Ark., 10 bass, 40-8

            12th:  Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 40-7

            13th:  Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 10 bass, 40-6

            14th:  Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 10 bass, 40-5

            15th:  Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 10 bass, 39-8

            16th:  Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 39-7

            17th:  Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 10 bass, 39-0

            18th:  Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 10 bass, 38-11

            19th:  Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 37-8

            20th:  Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 10 bass, 36-15

The Top 20 co-anglers:

            1st:    John Jacobs, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 35-8

            2nd:   Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 35-4

            3rd:    Grayson Smith, Clarksville, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-7

            4th:    Daniel Buswell, Newnan, Ga., 10 bass, 31-11

            5th:    Cody Kelley, Conway, Ark., 10 bass, 31-9

            6th:    Chad Randles, Elkhorn, Neb., 10 bass, 31-9

            7th:    Braxton Setzer, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 30-2

            8th:    Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 30-2

            9th:    David Lauer, Loxahatchee, Fla., 10 bass, 29-0

            10th:  J.P. Sims, Cookeville, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-13

            11th:  Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 28-5

            12th:  Dennis Kirby, Lakeland, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-5

            13th:  Stephen Smith, Glenwood, Ark., 10 bass, 27-15

            14th:  Eric Self, Lawndale, N.C., 10 bass, 27-15

            15th:  Tee Watkins, East Point, Ky., 10 bass, 27-13

            16th:  Frank Divis Sr., Fayetteville, Ark., 10 bass, 27-13

            17th:  Jason Johnson, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 27-12

            18th:  Jimmy Kowalski, Lake Placid, Fla., nine bass, 26-9

            19th:  Stephen Crawley, Bush, La., 10 bass, 26-9

            20th:  Kyle Brookshear, Van, Texas, 10 bass, 26-5