Entry 302-3
Shaw Grigsby on the Newest Strike King Lures and How He Fishes Them
Editor’s Note: Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, is one of the most-consistent performers at the Bassmaster Classic and on the Elite Circuit each year. Grigsby grew-up tournament fishing and has helped to develop many of Strike King’s lures by field testing them and offering design suggestions. This week we asked him to tell us about the lures he’s using and why.
Part 3: I’ll Take the Red Eye Shad Anytime I Can Get it
Question: Shaw, yesterday you mentioned the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad. Why do you like that bait so much?
Grigsby: I can show you better than I can tell you. Look at some of the Red Eye Shads that I have in my tackle box. The paint’s just about gone on many of them. Now, these lures didn’t loose their paint because I’ve bounced them up against rocks or because there’s a bad finish on these Red Eye Shads. These baits are all scarred-up because bass have been eating the paint off them! I don’t quit fishing a lure like the Red Eye Shad just because it loses a little paint. As a matter of fact, I fish it more because that lure has proven that the bass want to eat it. As long as the bass want to eat it, I’ll keep casting it.
You can cast the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad about 1/4-mile, and it’s also really easy to cast in the wind. Also, because of the weight of the lure, I can fish it deeper than I can lighter-weight, lipless crankbaits. The 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad is appropriate to fish in the middles of pockets or out on the flats when the fish move out on the flats. Many of the places I fish, I may be casting into water that’s 1-1/2- to 8-feet deep, and with the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad, I don’t have to change lures. Depending on the speed of the retrieve, or the type of retrieve I use, I can fish this lure in any of those water depths, and the bass will crush it. Due to the size of the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad, it’s a bait that big fish usually will eat. A 3/4-ounce bait is a good mouthful of food for the big bass.
And, of course, everybody knows that the primary feature of the Red Eye Shad is that when you kill it and the bait starts to fall, it swims to the bottom like a baitfish rather than sinking to the bottom like an anvil, like most lipless crankbaits do. Another reason I fish the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad is that I can fish it out on points and drop-offs for bass moving into spawn or bass moving out after the spawn.
Question: Shaw, the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad was really designed to fish in deep water. Why are you fishing it in 1-1/2 to 2 feet of water?
Grigsby: I fish it in that shallow water because the bass eat the paint off it! Bass just really like to eat the Red Eye Shad, regardless of the water depth where you fish it. 
The bait gives off a lot of vibration and a lot of noise, and it’s a larger shad imitation than many other lipless crankbaits.
Question: Shaw, when you’re fishing that 3/4-ounce crankbait in shallow water, you’re fishing it pretty fast aren’t you?
Grigsby: Yes, but as the water heats-up, the bass don’t mind chasing a bait, especially a big bait. Also, I’m using it on 15-pound-test line, which helps to float the bait more. And, I could use as much as 17-pound test line. I’m retrieving this bait on a 3.6:1 Quantum reel, which helps get the bass moving.
Next: The Water’s Up, Burn ‘Em
Contents:
- Part 1: Football Season Is Now
- Part 2: Lessons Learned from the Bassmaster Classic
- Part 3: I'll Take the Red Eye Shad Anytime I Can Get it
- Part 4: The Water's Up, Burn 'Em
- Part 5: Give the Bass a Cup of Coffee
