Entry 286-3

Shaw Grigsby – How I Prepare for a Tournament

Part 3: To Spool or Not to Spool

Question: Shaw, do you re-spool your reels after every Part you fish?

Grigsby: The amount of wear I put on the line each Part I fish determines whether or not I’ll re-spool. If I’ve used one particular rod a lot and caught several fish on it, I will re-spool. But if I have fresh line on my reel and only have made 8 or 10 casts with that rod, I won’t re-spool. Terry Scroggins told me a really-neat thing to remember. Terry asked me, “When you made that last cast of the Part, did you have confidence in your line that if you got a big fish on, your line was in good enough shape to land that fish?” I told him, “Oh yeah, or I wouldn’t have made the cast.” Then Terry smiled and said, “Why wouldn’t you have that same amount of confidence in that line the next morning when you make the first cast of the Part.” I thought for a minute, and then said, “That makes a lot of sense.”

The number of fish I’ve caught and the amount of stress I’ve put on the line determines whether or not I’ll chance the line for the next Part. I don’t automatically change the line every Part for every rod. Now I am a line fanatic, and I pride myself on always having good line. I don’t get as many bites as some power fishermen on the circuit, but the bites I get, I convert into fish landed. I only broke off one fish for the entire 2008 fishing season and that was on Lake Pickwick in Alabama. To get ready for a tournament, you have to strive to execute perfectly when you have an opportunity to catch a fish. So if there’s any question about the line, I’ll change it.

Question: In tournament preparation, how big a role does having the right electronics play in your ability to find and catch bass?

Grigsby: Having good electronics is one of the most-important pieces of fishing equipment you can have. I run a Lowrance 113 depth finder, and I have the broadband depth finder. The broadband gives you the best sonar picture that you can get from a depth finder. The picture is crystal clear and looks like high-definition television. The broadband takes regular sonar and makes the picture look like high definition.

In my opinion, Lowrance has had the best sonar always, and they have the best GPS system I’ve ever used. You have to have a good GPS, and I like a large screen GPS. My unit is a 10.4-inch diagonal screen. If you don’t have a big screen, you can’t see all those little details on the bottom of the lake that you need to watch to find fish and structure. My unit is a color unit, and I think color contrasting makes objects and fish pop-off the screen much easier, and enables you to see details much better.

I have a Lowrance 520 in-dash just as a back-up, in case anything goes wrong with my electronics. On the front of my boat I have a Lowrance 38 with a 7-inch screen, which is large enough to see most of the detail you need to see. This unit also has broadband and GPS. All these sonar and GPS units are hooked together, so if I mark a waypoint on the front of the boat, that same waypoint shows up on all the other GPS sonar units I have on board. I think having all your depth finders functioning together is crucial to my success at fishing. If I catch a big fish, I can mark the waypoint, regardless of what GPS unit I’m looking at, and it will show up on all the units.

Then I can return to that same spot another Part and make that same cast. Or, if I’m fishing a school of fish, I can stay on the same spot, until I catch all the bass I can catch from that school. To name priorities for fishing, you’ve got to have a boat, you’ve got to have an outboard, and you’ve got to have a trolling motor with good batteries. But next in importance is good electronic equipment, because it’s your eyes under the water.

Next: Know When to Hold Them and Know When to Fold Them

Contents:

• Part 1: Pack Right
• Part 2: Take It All
• Part 3: To Spool or Not to Spool
• Part 4: Know When to Hold Them and Know When to Fold Them
• Part 5: To Let Live or Die