By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Shaw Grigsby is pining for the days when he could make a cast, a flip or set the hook without feeling some modicum of pain or discomfort. Heck, the guy just wants to get a good night’s sleep for a change.
After having significant operations on each of his shoulders this offseason, Grigsby believes those pain-free days (and nights) are ahead of him in the not too distant future.
“Waking up and sleeping without pain will be an amazing experience,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to grab a rod and reel and compete again.”
The rotator cuff in each of his shoulders needed to be repaired and he also had bone spurs removed. He’s 6 weeks into the rehab program for his right shoulder and will be starting rehab for his left shoulder soon after having surgery on it last week. He’s going to be sure to not deviate from the prescribed plan so he can be ready for the first Southern Open at Lake Toho in mid January.
“I’m sticking with the doctor’s orders,” he said. “The guys at the Huntsville (Ala.) hospital put me on a great rehab regimen with a physical therapist here in Gainesville. I don’t want to go quicker and hurt something or tear something. I want to make sure I’m on schedule to be fishing by January 1.”
’Happy To Get All Of It Done’
Grigsby said he’s been dealing with daily shoulder pain for more than 10 years and it had gotten to the point where his sleep patterns were being impacted by the discomfort.
“It became part of my everyday routine and I just negated it as best I could,” he said. “I went fishing and didn’t think about it. When it got to where it wasn’t conducive to sleeping and I was tossing and turning and getting 3 hours of sleep, I had to take care of it.”
First up was his right shoulder, which was pretty much a mess. The rotator cuff was 90 percent torn, his surgeon told him. The AC joint also needed to be fixed.
“I’m six weeks out from that and it’s coming along well,” he said.
The rotator cuff in his left shoulder was 40 percent torn and he also had “massive bone spurs” removed on that side. He’s not sure how much his physical ailments had affected his fishing over the years.
“It probably impacted my fishing for a lot of years and I knew it had to be done,” he said. “Had (the right side) torn all the way, it would’ve been a much tougher rehab and reconstruction. I’m glad we caught it now. I feel very blessed to get everything done now.”
Next up on his medical to-do list is to have a torn meniscus in one of his knees repaired. It’s an injury he suffered in Wisconsin 2 years ago. He felt it was important that his shoulders take precedence, though.
“I took time off from hunting and fishing and got my physical side fixed up,” he said. “I haven’t not had pain for as long as I can remember.”
His right arm was in a sling for 4 weeks following surgery and he’s been doing rehab exercises to regain the range of motion. He’ll add light weights to the regimen to help with muscle tone.
“It’s painful,” he said of the initial rehab sessions. “Your shoulders are stiff and you have to get moving. There’s still a considerable amount of pain involved with moving my shoulders, but we have to guard against scar tissue from forming and making sure to I continue moving them.”
He hopes to be able to start fishing around the start of the new year.
“I’m looking forward to just getting out there and going fishing,” he added. “I don’t think I’ve lost anything in my time off other than just casting and retrieving and things like that. I need to build muscle back up so I can pick up a flipping stick and a 1- or 2-ounce weight. That’s going to be a big deal.”
Ready For Bounce-Back Season
The 2014 Elite Series season started on a positive note for Grigsby, who locked up an 8th-place finish at Lake Seminole in the season opener. He was thinking it would be a harbinger of things to come, but he was mistaken.
“It started off really good and I thought it would be a great year,” he said. “I should’ve done much better on day 2 at Seminole. That crushed me. It was a good tournament, though. I would’ve liked to have finished higher or won, but it’s a good tournament any time you finish in the Top 12.”
The following week at the St. Johns River started a string of five missed cuts that included four results of 80th or lower.
“The St. Johns has been tremendous for me. I just love it there, but I didn’t get it done,” he said. “I’m not sure if those big crowds were the deal, but that one really dropped me back.
“Looking at the rest of the year, I had a lot of sub-par performances. I just wasn’t managing things as well as I should’ve. It was really one of my worst years ever.”
He regained his footing with a 5th at the Delaware River, but still believes he could’ve finished higher.
“That one disturbs me still,” he said. “I had the fish to win, but there were also a lot of people in the area I was fishing and I think that forced me to fish too quick. That cost me a shot at it.
“Two Top 12s is good, but when you don’t back it up, it’s frustrating,” he said. “It was probably my worst year ever. At most of them, I had the fish on but I just didn’t complete the sequence. Hopefully this will be a much better year … usually I don’t have that many bad years in a row. I’m still loving every minute of it. What I’ve always loved about fishing is it’s not about your age. You can compete at every level and the older you get you can still complete. Last year, I loved watching Paul (Elias) still catch ‘em. Us old guys can still go find them and set the hook and catch ‘em just like everyone else.”
