Entry 259-3

Fishing One Tournament after Another with Shaw Grigsby

Part 3: The First Day of the Tournament

Question: Shaw, what did you do on the first morning of the tournament?

Grigsby: When I took off from the launch site, I only ran about 1/4-mile from the take-off point. I put the trolling motor down into a spot where I’d caught two big bass – a 4 and a 3 pounder – during practice. After I’d made five casts, I caught a bass that would weigh about 1/2-pound. I put the bass in the boat, made about three more casts and caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces. As soon as the fish bit the line, I thought it was a 3 or a 4 pounder. I pushed my Power-Pole button to hold my boat in that spot, so I could land the fish.

Once I landed the bass, I wanted to be able to cast back to that same area, because oftentimes when you catch a big fish like that, there usually will be two or three more fish with it. While I was trying to put the Power-Pole down, the bass jumped, and I didn’t see it. So, once I got my boat squared away, I tried to land the fish. When I got the bass up to the side of the boat, I said, “Holy smokes! That’s a good one!” I caught three or four more little ones, moved to a spot where I caught a bigger fish and marked that place on my GPS.

I continued to catch little bass, so I laid down the Red Eye Shad and picked up my 1/4-ounce spinner bait. I hooked about a 4-pound largemouth, but it jumped, and the bait came out of its mouth. I was really upset because that was a really-good fish. I picked up my Power-Pole and moved up to the next waypoint where I’d caught a 3 pounder in practice. I caught a 3-1/2-pounder at that same location. So, now I had the 6 pound, 14 ounce bass, the 3 pounder and a limit of little ones. I kept moving from waypoint to waypoint and catching tons of fish.

I reached a waypoint where I’d caught three or four bass before, put my Power-Pole down and made a lot of casts. I fished the spot with a 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad, a 1/4-ounce spinner bait, two or three other lures and still couldn’t get a bite. I decided to try Strike King’s new Ocho, a big 7-inch cigar-shaped worm. I threw it out there, got a bite and caught about a 5 pounder. But just as I tried to lift the bass, it jumped and threw the bait. If I’d caught that fish, I could have weighed-in well over 20 pounds on the first day, but because I lost it, I only weighed in 18 pounds and 5 ounces.

Question: How did you fish the Ocho?

Grigsby: I fished it with a Texas rig and a 3/16-ounce lead sinker just like you’d fish any other Texas-rigged worm. The Ocho is a really-unique, cigar-shaped plastic worm. It’s extremely flexible and different from the 3X/ElaZTech Plastic. It has a lot of salt in it, so it sinks really well, and because it has eight sides, it rocks, darts and performs actions other worms don’t.

Question: What kind of action did you give the Ocho?

Grigsby: I drug it really slowly.

Question: What position were you in at the end of the first day?

Grigsby: I was in fifth place.

Next: The Second Day of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: A Level Playing Field
• Part 2: Practice Lessons
• Part 3: The First Day of the Tournament
• Part 4: The Second Day of the Tournament
• Part 5: The Third and the Final Day of the Competition