Entry 302-1
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 1: Football Season Is Now
Question: What’s one of your favorite lures to fish, Shaw?
Grigsby: I like the Football Head jig. I know it’s been out for a few years, but Strike King has made some changes this year. This new edition has a heavier and sturdier hook, and what’s amazing about this new hook is that you can still penetrate a fish’s jaw with 10-pound-test line. Even if you hook a fish on 10-pound test, the hook on this Football Head jig isn’t going to bend. You can also put it on 15-pound-test line, really tug the fish and hammer it up to the boat, and you still won’t bend that hook.
Hook technology has changed drastically in the last year or so. We once believed that to get good penetration in the bass’s jaw, we had to have a smaller-diameter hook with more flex. So, by getting better penetration, we had to give up a little bit of the strength. However, with these new hooks, we still get the same penetration, if not better penetration, and we’ve actually increased the strength of the hook.
One of the things I really like about Strike King is that when new technology is developed, they bring that new technology into their existing lines of lures. In other words, you didn’t see Strike King come out this year announcing a new, better Football Head jig. The company just made that change in the hook to improve the Football Head jigs that were already some of the best on the market. Before Strike King brings new lures to market, the company wants us pros to test the lures and make suggestions on how the lures can be better. If you look at the line tie on the Football Head jig, you’ll see that the line tie is down really close to the jig itself, which keeps the jig from getting hung-up like a standard jig does.
I fish the 3/4-inch Football Head jig in the early spring when the bass are moving in to spawn. I fish it out on points by casting it out and either dragging down the point, dragging it up the point or hopping it up or down the point. 
This same technique will work when the bass are coming off the beds and moving back out into deep water for their summer pattern. The Football Head jig stands up and doesn’t get hung like other jigs do when you’re working it up and down a point.
Now you have to match that jig up with a Rage Craw or Rage Chunk. If you’re going to use the Craw, cut off about an inch to about a 1/2-inch off the back end of the Craw. If you’re going to use the Chunk, you don’t have to cut anything off the bait. With the Rage Craw on it, the Football Head jig is the perfect combat pre-spawn bait or post-spawn bait to find or catch your bass.
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
