It’s a rare occurrence when Shaw Grigsby fails to entice a bedding bass to take a bait. However, that was the case on day 1 of the St. Johns River Bassmaster Elite Series last week.
“I was Texas-rigging, I threw a drop-shot and I even threw swimbaits,” he said. “Everything I think I could catch a spawner on the first day, I threw at them and couldn’t catch one.”
He eventually boxed five small fish and weighed just 7-11. He nearly tripled that on day 2 with 23-01 to rocket up the standings from 88th to 15th. He struggled again on day 3 and eventually finished 23rd, but without his day-2 stringer, he wouldn’t have earned a $10,000 check. The only other angler to weigh less than 10 pounds on day 1 and make the 50-cut was Jeremy Starks.
He believes heavy pressure on his primary spot on day 1 put the fish in lockjaw mode because when he pulled into the same spot on day 2 and no other boats were around, he said the fish were “real happy.”
“It was one of those deals that by not having pressure on a spot, the fish were real comfortable so I was able to whack ‘em,” he said. “The key was being able to find the big fish.”
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes the most signifiant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
