Entry 302-4
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 4: The Water’s Up, Burn ‘Em
Question: Shaw, in the spring of the year, when the water comes-up, what lure are you using to fish in that “new water” to try to catch the bass?
Grigsby: I’ll use the new Strike King Burner spinner bait. Again, I like the Sexy Shad color even in a spinner bait. I think that the bass in any part of the country just like that Sexy Shad color. Now, to fish that really-shallow water, I take the little blade on the Burner spinner bait and replace it with a bigger blade to give the blade more lift and allow me to fish it in really-shallow water.
On Lake Amistad in Texas, I discovered how good the new Raz-R-Blades on the new Burner spinner baits can be. I used my old traditional Strike King Pro Model spinner bait and fished it deep from 10 to 30 feet. I changed to the Bottom Dweller, Strike King’s new deep-water spinner bait, that has the same Raz-R-Blades on it as the Burner spinner bait. I found that the difference between these Raz-R-Blades and any other kind of spinner bait is that they put-out about twice as much vibration as other baits. 
Even at slow speeds, I can feel those blades vibrating.
Now, the Bottom Dweller that I used at Amistad, and the Burner spinner bait that I used at Wheeler Lake have the same Raz-R-Blade on them. I’m using the Burner spinner bait in that shallow water not so I can reel that spinner bait really fast, as the name implies, but so that I can feel those blades turn. The reason that it’s important to feel the blades turn is that the first thing you notice when a bass bites a spinner bait is the interruption in the rhythm of the blades. Therefore, the better you can feel the blades move – and, more importantly, when the rhythm of the blades is stopped – the quicker you’ll know you’ve got a bite. 
Too, the quicker you can set the hook and get a catch.
When you’re fishing in shallow water, the amount of time you have to set the hook is extremely critical. Therefore, if I can know a millisecond sooner when the fish is hitting the bait, that gives me a fraction of a second more to get a good, solid hook set than I would have if I waited to feel the bass load-up on the bait. So, I use the Burner spinner bait not just because I can fish it faster than I can a regular bait, but because the Raz-R-Blades on the spinner bait allow me to fish it better and quicker.
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
