Entry 302-5
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 5: Give the Bass a Cup of Coffee
Question: When do you use the Coffee Tube?
Grigsby: When I’m fishing for smallmouth, I like the purple- and brown-colored Coffee Tube from Strike King. I’ve caught so-many big smallmouths on this particular color of tube bait, that I have a tremendous amount of confidence in it. In the early spring, the smallmouths are starting to move into shallow water, and most people are fishing for them with a green-pumpkin-colored soft-plastic lures. But, I’ve found that by fishing purple and brown (some people call it peanut butter and jelly), I can catch more smallmouths than I can on a green-pumpkin tube.
I pitch this tube to grass and around logs or stumps or any structure that’s in the water. 
And one of the advantages of fishing the Strike King Coffee Tube is that it will catch every species of fish that swims. Even if I’m fishing for smallmouths, this tube doesn’t cull the largemouths. The Coffee Tube is also a great bed-fishing tube. I like to put a rattle in my Coffee Tubes, especially when I’m bed fishing. Then, I can flip the tube into the bed, shake the tube, and it not only wiggles, but it rattles.
Question: What do you think the rattle in the tube does, Shaw?
Grigsby: I think the rattle helps the fish find the tube better, especially in muddy water like we get in the spring and early summer.
Question: Why do you think that the coffee flavor in the tube helps the fish find the tube and hold onto it?
Grigsby: I have no idea, but I sure love smelling it. Now I did help Troy Gibson, who developed the coffee flavor in the Coffee Tube. He convinced me that the coffee-flavored soft plastics catch more bass than the soft plastics without the flavor. I think the coffee flavor is a new smell to the fish, and it’s like a new lure. They haven’t smelled it before, and they’re more interested and curious about it. Therefore, they eat it more than any other lure on the market.
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
