Entry 78-5

Shaw Grigsby, Jr.

The $1 Million Mark

Editor's Note: Shaw Grigsby, Jr., a 47-year-old professional angler from Gainesville, Florida, has joined the One Million Dollar Club of professional fishermen on the BASS Circuit, after earning more than $1 million in tournament winnings. He has finished in the top 10 in 43 tournaments and ranks fourth in career winnings on the BASS circuit. He has a TV show and is always listed among the best of the best tournament bass fishermen.

Question: In 2000, you broke the $1 million tournament-winning barrier on the BASS circuit but what about all your tournament winnings?

Grigsby: I don't really know. I'm sure it was a few years before I hit the $1 million mark in BASS because I had won the Red Man All-American and earned $100,000 there. I had won some U.S. Bass tournaments. I had won some Red Man Golden Blend tournaments and some other tournaments, so I probably broke the $1 million barrier a couple of years before I broke it on the BASS circuit. To be honest, I never really thought about it or considered it. I know the first fisherman to win $1 million the quickest was Rick Clunn. After that, there were several other fishermen who broke that barrier quickly.

Question: What did it mean to you to have won more than $1 million on the BASS circuit back in 2000?

Grigsby: I wasn't even conscious of breaking the $1 million lifetime winnings on the BASS circuit. On the press day at the Classic in 2000, Chevrolet has a big presentation with all the Federation presidents. At that luncheon I was called up to the platform, and I wondered if I was in trouble or something. They presented me with the "Like A Rock" trophy for having won over $1 million on the BASS circuit. I thought to myself, "Now this is really cool." But I really hadn’t even thought about my career winnings. I never look back at what I've done. I always try to look ahead at what I need to do. When I fish in tournaments, all I think about is how and why I will catch that next bass and how can I become a better fisherman each day. I don’t strive for the money, the awards or the accomplishments as much as I strive to become a better angler and find and catch more bass.

Now I don't mean to sound flippant about what I've won. I'm proud of the things I've accomplished. But, I don’t fish for the awards. I want to become more consistent in my fishing. I want to have good days of fishing every day, and I want to do well in all the tournaments. As good as the competition is right now, this goal is really a challenge. There are so many young anglers moving up who are really-good fishermen, that if you don’t get better every day, they’ll beat you. These young fishermen have the drive, the ambition, and tons of knowledge, and they are very talented. So just to be able to compete with them, I've got to constantly try to do better. The competition on the pro fishing circuit right now is as keen and as good as it has ever been. For me, there’s a constant challenge to stay in contention and to continue to compete with these really great young anglers.

Question: You have a show called "One More Cast," on the Outdoor Network. You have one of the strongest sponsor bases in the industry, and last year you qualified for another Bassmaster Classic. What is in the future for Shaw Grigsby? Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Grigsby: I still want to fish tournaments, do my TV show, earn “Angler of the Year” and win a Bassmaster Classic. The only change I hope will occur in my life in the next five years is that each year I'll become a little better at fishing than I was the year before. I've had a chance to win Bassmaster Classics and Angler-of-the-Year. I’ve finished second in both those competitions, and I'd really like to win both of them. But, I realize how difficult that task is. Look at Roland Martin. He’s fished in 25 Classics. He’s had a very, very successful career, and he’s yet to win a Classic. So, I realize just how challenging these two goals are for me.

Now, I'm not different from any other angler out there. Every professional fisherman wants to win an Angler-of-the-Year title and a Bassmaster Classic. My goals are the same as all the people I compete against. If I don't win those two things, I won't feel like a failure, because I've had a great career. The driving force behind Shaw Grigsby is to be able to compete. I love competition, and I love to catch fish—any kind of fish. During this past Classic on a practice day, I was racing my boat down towards Venice, and I passed by a bank I had fished before that’s always loaded with redfish, and I had to fight the urge to not whip my boat into that bank and fish for redfish. I knew I could probably fish that bank and catch 10- to 15-really-big redfish. However, I had to get my focus back and remember I was in the Bassmaster Classic and I was supposed to be fishing for bass, not redfish. When I get a day off, I go fishing. I love to go hunting, too. When I'm on the water, I want to catch fish—any kind of fish and lots of them. I don't see that desire changing anytime soon.




 

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