Entry 145-3

Shaw Grigsby on Fishing Saltwater with Strike King

The Glass Minnow – Stick It to ‘Em

Editor’s Note: Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, is one of Strike King’s most-visible pros with his TV show, his participation in Bassmasters tournaments and the promotions he does at boat shows, fishing events and anywhere sportsmen gather. Grigsby has taken Strike King Products into saltwater as well as freshwater, and this week, Grigsby will tell you some of the ways that Strike King lures have helped him to catch fish in both brackish water and saltwater. With Strike King in your tackle box, anywhere there’s water, you can go fishing and catch fish.

Grigsby: Speckled trout can be really finicky. Many times they don’t want to hit a splashing-type bait or a big bait. So, last year when I was doing a TV show, I decided to start fishing the Strike King Glass Minnow on a jighead by putting the Glass Minnow on the jighead and then pushing it as far as I could up on the head of the jig. Next I’d slide the bait back and forth to the head of the jig two or three times. Then I’d put fishing glue on the head of the jig and the little barbs on the jig to hold the grub or the Glass Minnow in place. I’d even put a little glue further down the hook than the bait keeper. Then I’d slide the Glass Minnow to the head of the jig and hold the Glass Minnow to the head of the jig for 5-10 seconds to give the glue time to set. Using that technique I could get one Glass Minnow to stay on my jighead almost forever.

Most of the time when I rig this way, I’ll wear out the jighead before I do the 3X Glass Minnow. The bait is almost indestructible once you get it glued on the hook like this. I was fishing the Glass Minnow on both a 1/8- and 1/4-ounce jigheads. Once I got the Glass Minnow glued on to the jighead, I started fishing it on Stren Superbraid line.

We were fishing in Texas, and I was catching a pretty good number of speckled trout, but I really wasn’t catching the number of fish I thought I was capable of catching. So, the second day before we went out fishing, I took the braid off my reel and started fishing fluorocarbon line. And that day, I really started catching speckled trout in unbelievable numbers. We caught hundreds of trout that day that weighed from 2- to 4-pounds each.

The trout were really suckers for that Glass Minnow fished on fluorocarbon line. And, I could catch so many because as soon as I caught and released one trout, I could immediately cast back to the school and catch another trout without having to re-bait a Glass Minnow. Because those Glass Minnows were made of 3X, a really tough material, and I’d glued the Glass Minnow to the hook, I could immediately get back to fishing without having to fool with my bait. So, not only did the bait attract the fish, but it allowed me to catch more fish than the other anglers were catching who weren’t rigged the same way I was. We were catching these trout in Texas, and this day was one of the most-awesome speckled trout fishing trips I’d ever had.

Another big advantage of fishing 3X Glass Minnows for trout and rigging the way I’ve suggested is that it is very inexpensive. You can buy a pack of Glass Minnows and fish all day – perhaps only with one or two. But when you start buying shrimp or 100 to 150 grubs to fish with, you’ll make quite an investment in a day’s fishing. So, I think if you’re fishing for speckled trout and not using the Glass Minnow or the Zulu, you’re paying more to go fishing every day than you have to pay. With the Glass Minnow, the Zulu and the Redfish Magic, you can catch more fish and spend less money than other saltwater fishermen do.

Next: Zuluing Tarpon

Contents:

• Part 1: Grigsby’s Double Zulu Rig...
• Part 2: The Magic of the Redfish Magic
• Part 3: The Glass Minnow – Stick It to ‘Em
• Part 4: Zuluing Tarpon
• Part 5: Snook