Yesterday, BassFan covered the Bassmaster Legends Major patterns of Greg Hackney and Kevin Short. Below is how 4th-place Shaw Grigsby and 5th-place Gary Klein caught their fish.
4th: Shaw Grigsby
> Day 1: 3, 7-06
> Day 2: 2, 4-09 (5, 11-15)
> Day 3: 4, 11-05
> Day 4: 0, 0-00 (4, 11-05)
Grigsby spent the entire tournament with a big stick in his hand.
"I was flipping vegetation like alligator weed and hyacinth – all floating vegetation," he said. "I was just flipping every nook and cranny I could."
He caught a fair amount of fish in practice, but squeaked into the cut in 12th. He whacked a big day-3 sack in the hole course and led with 1 day of fishing left, but then zeroed on day 4.
"(On day 3), I pulled into hole 5 and whacked three keepers first thing," he said. "Then I went back to the same stretch in the afternoon and caught four, but only one kept.
"(On day 4) I went back there and didn't catch a single bass."
> Flipping gear: 7'6" Quantum PT Gary Klein signature series flipping stick, Quantum Tour Edition PT 1160 baitcasting reel, 65-pound unnamed braid, 1-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight, 4/0 Eagle Claw straight-shank hook, Strike King Wild Thang Jr. and Shaw Grigsby Pro Series The Beav (black/blue and watermelon-flake).
Grigsby's two flipping baits were the Strike King Wild Thang Jr. (top) and Shaw Grigsby Pro Series The Beav (bottom).
> The Shaw Grigsby Pro Series is his line of signature series Strike King baits, sold exclusively through Dick's Sporting Goods.
> Main factor in his success – "Just perseverance – staying out there and chunking and getting it done. Then finding that little stretch of bank that held those fish (on day 3)."
> Performance edge – "If you have to look at one thing, it was probably the (electric) Power-Pole on the back of my boat. When you're going down a bank and get close to a mat and try to stop, your momentum carries you forward. And if you reverse your trolling motor, you blow the mat out. Instead, I just drop the Power-Pole and it stops me. Then I can lift it a little, move, and drop it again. It allows you to fish a lot more efficiently, and I think that was the key to my flipping this week."
> The Power-Pole is an aftermarket electric unit that mounts to the stern of a boat. It extends up to 6 feet below the surface to penetrate the bottom with a composite spike.
5th: Gary Klein
> Day 1: 4, 8-14
> Day 2: 3, 6-01 (7, 14-15)
> Day 3: 2, 4-01
> Day 4: 2, 4-03 (4, 8-04)
Gary Klein had two different patterns working, but his main focus was on a single area. He chose it, then worked it for everything it had.
"It was an area I didn't think could win an event, but one I thought I could make a Top 12 out of," he said. "Instead of running around, I stayed and milked it.
"The first day, I was fortunate enough to catch four keepers. I caught two flipping and two on a shallow crank. The second day I caught one flipping a jig, then two on a shallow crank."
Gary Klein chose an area approach – pick one and work it to death.
He noted his area was on the back end of a large flat. "I think the fish were more resident fish than migrating fish. And all the fish I caught were in 3 feet of water or less."
Once inside the course, he switched to main-river fishing. He caught two keepers off rocks with a jig on day 1. He caught his biggest fish on day 2 flipping grass.
> Flipping gear: 8' Quantum PT Gary Klein signature series flipping stick (has a parabolic bend), Quantum PT Accurist 500 casting reel, 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braid, 1-ounce Penetrator weight (pegged), 5/0 Gamakatsu hook, unnamed plastic creature bait (black/blue and green-pumpkin) and Spro prototype jig.
> About the prototype jig, he said: "It's the one I'm designing for Spro. We're going to have them all out by January. What I like about the jig is that, because I'm working with Spro, I have direct contact with Gamakatsu. So I'm actually having the hooks built to my specifications, instead of just building a jig around a hook that Gamakatsu happens to be making. It's just a bigger-bite hook, and I'm making the bite bigger by redesigning how the eye sits in the jig."
> Crankbait gear: 7' Quantum PT Gary Klein signature series cranking rod (fiberglass), same reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene XT (green), unnamed crankbait (square bill, shallow running, shad pattern).
> He caught one topwater fish on day 4 that bit a Lunker Lure buzzbait.
> Main factor in his success – "Probably confidence. I had an area I felt had some fish in it, and went fishing instead of worrying about it and running around."
> Performance edge – "That's hard to say, since everything I have basically becomes me. My rod is an extension of my hand, then the reel and performance of my boat, stealth-like maneuvering with my trolling motor, my GPS and electronics – it's all a package."
