Entry 310-3

Shaw Grigsby – Raging for Summertime Bass on the Mississippi River

Part 3: The First Day of Competition

Question: What was your strategy on the first day?

Grigsby: I had decided to fish two spots. I had one location I called my big-fish spot and a second place that I called my numbers spot. I knew that at my big-fish spot, I could immediately catch a 2-pounder. A 2-pound bass may not sound that big – but in this section of the country, it is. At my numbers spot, I should be able to fill-out a limit. I really thought I could catch a limit on my big-fish spot, but I knew if that didn’t happen then the other place I’d picked as my numbers spot would be where I could fill out a limit.

Question: What was your big-fish spot?

Grigsby: My big-fish spot was a large duck blind. On the first day, I went to the duck blind, caught a 2-1/2-pounder and a 2-pounder, and then four or five bass too short to measure. I cranked-up my big engine and went to the spot where I thought I had a lot of bass that I could catch. Although I did catch a 3 pounder at my numbers spot, I thought the majority of fish holding this spot would just be solid keepers. So, I went into my numbers spot after I left my big-fish spot and really whacked the bass. The fishing was real easy, and I picked up 13 pounds for a 5-fish limit with very-little trouble. But when I went to the weigh-in on the first day, one of my fish had died. However, but I was in seventh place, which I thought was really good for the first competition day.

Next: The Second and Third Days of Competition

Contents:

• Part 1: Why I Used Aerial Reconnaissance before the Tournament
• Part 2: Flipping Skinny Water
• Part 3: The First Day of Competition
• Part 4: The Second and Third Days of Competition
• Part 5: If I Could've Made One More Cast