Grigsby Advances to First Knockout Round Thanks to Big Bass
RALEIGH, N.C. – While the drama unfolded near the Elimination Line during Elimination Round 2 of the Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Evinrude, MLF pro Shaw Grigsby was in an unfamiliar position as time wound down: safe.
Grigsby was unable to advance to the Knockout Round in the first two stages of the Bass Pro Tour, but thanks to a solid round, he’s moving on to the Knockout Round.
Good Start for Grigsby
The Florida pro came into the Elimination Round feeling good about his Shotgun Round weight of 22 pounds, 15 ounces, giving him a 17th-place starting position for the day. However, as the competition shifted from Jordan Lake to Falls Lake, Grigsby became a tad uneasy.
“I really didn’t have a good practice on Falls,” Grigsby explained. “When I saw how tough it was fishing for the guys in Group A, I knew I was going to have to catch some fish. I knew it was going to warm up today and the fish were going to head to the bank.”
So that’s where Grigsby headed. He spent his entire day patrolling the banks of Falls Lake, flipping any fallen tree or piece of brush he could find. After a 3-6 in the first period to get him on SCORETRACKER, he fell down below the Elimination Line and needed to make something happen.
Luck Be A Lunker
Grigsby’s kicker came on a ¼-ounce Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Swim Jig with a Rage Bug trailer. He was flipping around a fallen tree with a Wright and McGill Skeet Reese Performance Series Rod and Seaguar 20-pound Flippin Fluorocarbon when it happened: An 8-10 hawg (the biggest bass of the round) locked on to his jig, shooting Grigsby up SCORETRACKER and back into the Top 20.
Grigsby followed that up with a 2-10 to push his total weight to 37-9 at the end of the second period. Unfortunately, that’s all he was able to find for the rest of the day.
“I had no bites after that 2-10,” Grigsby admitted. “I kept doing what I thought was the right thing but the fish were telling me, ‘No, you’re not doing the right thing.’ Everyone was catching them and I wasn’t so that was stressful.”
Stressful Period 3
As SCORETRACKER continued to update and other anglers began to make big moves, part of Grigsby began to get a little nervous.
“When you’re not catching fish you’re going backwards,” Grigsby explained. “These are the best anglers in the world and this is the toughest, most fun competition you can have. If I knew I was going to make the cut with the weight I had, I would have practiced some, but instead I fished hard the whole time and never had another fish. I’m a little worried, but I’m still happy to be moving on.”
Happy to be Fishing
A 15th-place finish secures the Floridian’s spot in Saturday’s Knockout Round. Despite the toll the stress of MLF takes on the 62-year-old, his positive attitude never wavers.
“I just love fishing,” Grigsby gushed. “I get to fish for a living, and to get to do it for 35 years is just ridiculous. How can you complain about anything when you get to fish for a living? I’m the most blessed human in the world.”
Making it to Sunday’s Championship Round will not be an easy task. Grigsby will head back out onto Falls Lake to try and beat out 39 other anglers for one of the Top 10 spots. Luckily for him, he already has a game plan.
“I know I’m going to need at least one big fish and I’m going to need more than I caught today,” Grigsby planned. “I had two nice fish chase me today, but I couldn’t get them to take the bait. I need to figure out how to get that pattern to work. If I can do that, I should be okay.”
Competition begins Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 10 a.m. ET, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 3:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 5 p.m. daily.