Entry 200-3
What Makes Him Good – Shaw Grigsby
Part 3: The Z Too and Zulu Will Make a Bass Go Yahoo
Editor’s Note: Fifty-one year old Shaw Grigsby, a longtime member of the Strike King team, has won over $2 million in tournament bass fishing. He’s fished professionally since 1984 and he has traveled with and fished against the Strike King pros his entire professional career. He’s also the host of the “One More Cast” TV show on the Versus Channel. If you interview, as I have, a large number of tournament fishermen and ask them, “What makes Shaw Grigsby so good?” they’ll say that Grigsby is one of the best sight fishermen in the nation. Grigsby does have the eye of an eagle. He can spot bass from long distances, swoop in close and deliver the lure that puts the fish in his boat. Grigsby also sees and understands what makes other fishermen great and has learned from them.
Question: Shaw, yesterday you told us about your number-one sight-fishing bait, the tube. What’s your second go-to bait for a sight-fishing bait and how do you use it?
Grigsby: I’ll have to name the Zulu and the Z Too as tying for my No. 2 favorite baits, but, I probably use the Z Too more than I the Zulu. I fish with the Z Too so much because I can cast it further because it’s heavier than the Zulu. 
The other advantage the Z Too gives me over the Zulu is that the Z Too is a sinking bait. Because it sinks, I can get the Z Too down to the bass’s level quicker and easier than I can the Zulu. Once I get that Z Too down to the bottom, I can shake the rod slightly and convince that bass that the Z Too is a shad and will be easy for him to eat. If I have to, I can shake that Z Too in front of the bass for a long time because it’s heavy and won’t move unless I move it.
I use a No. 3/0 high-performance hook when I’m fishing the Zulu and the Z Too. I’ll usually cast them on 10- to 14-pound-test line. The other advantage the Z Too gives me is I can cast it on a baitcasting rod and reel. However, when I’m fishing the Zulu, I’ll be fishing it on spinning tackle. Even though I can cast the Z Too on my baitcasting tackle, I’ll still fish it like I do the Zulu on spinning tackle. There are two reasons to fish the Zulu on spinning tackle. You can pick the lure up and cast it out quicker on spinning tackle than you can on baitcasting tackle. All you have to do is flex the tip on the spinning rod to shoot that bait out in a hurry to get it in front of the bass.
Because I feel this bait is so deadly, Quantum created the Shaw Grigsby Quantum PT Tour Edition spinning rod. I match that rod up with a Quantum Energy PTi spinning reel in the 30 size. 
The 40-size reel will work, but I think it’s a little too big, and the 20 is too small, but the PTi 30 is just right. The big spool on the PTi 30 will hold enough line to allow me to make really-long casts. When you’re sight fishing, you have to make long casts so that you can get the bait out in front of the fish before the fish sees you. If you’re a duck hunter or a dove hunter, you’ll be a better sight caster, because you have to lead the bass just like you lead the duck or the dove.
If the bass won’t take the Z Too after I’ve put it in front of the fish and shake it, then I fast-crank the Z Too in and cast right back to the fish with the Strike King tube. When I’m covering ground and moving fast to try and find fish, most of the time I’ll start with the Z Too, rather than with the tube. If I see a lot of fish, I’ll be using the tube first. If I’m just cruising with my trolling motor on, looking for bass, the Z Too will be my primary bait. If the bass doesn’t hit the Z Too, I’ll fish the tube the same way I described on Day 2’s information.
Question: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever had happen when you’ve been sight fishing?
Grigsby: As long as the bass doesn’t see you, you may be able to make two or three casts to it to try and get it to bite. I remember this one big 10-pound largemouth I was attempting to catch down in Florida. 
I’d already cast to it three times, and it never acknowledged the bait was even in front of it. I just thought that bass couldn’t see the bait. I moved the bait, jiggled it, twitched it, hopped it and did everything I could to get the bass to see and take the bait. But it just wouldn’t. The fish would swim by the bait every time.
The last cast I made to that fish on the Strike King tube it fell about 10 feet in front of the fish. From nowhere a bluegill swam up and started nibbling on the tentacles. I started yelling “No, no, no! Leave that tube alone!” But when the bass saw the bluegill trying to eat the tube, the bass charged the bait and inhaled it. I set the hook and caught it. I could have kissed that bluegill. Sometimes luck will pay off when skill fails.
