Photo courtesy of B.A.S.S. Communications
Grigsby’s big mo: Shaw Grigsby has not stopped moving since he won the season opener on the Harris Chain of Lakes last Sunday.
“It’s been pretty exciting,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “The
phone keeps blowing up. The first day, Monday, it didn’t sit more than a
minute before I got another call or text message. Friends, family, fans
— all congratulating me, and it’s still happening.
I’m honored.”
The momentum is carrying him into the Power-Pole Citrus Slam,
Thursday-Sunday on the St. Johns River out of Palatka — like last week’s
event, not far from his Gainesville, Fla., home.
He said he doesn’t feel like people expect him to turn in back-to-back victories in his home state.
“In reality, it’s so hard to win one, you don’t think about it
(winning two in a row). You just think about doing the best you can,” he
said.
Grigsby won on Harris by sight fishing, the technique he’s most
noted for. By most accounts, the sight bite will be a key pattern on the
St. Johns, too.
Grigsby said his practice days were “nothing like I was hoping.”
“There are a lot of boats in the areas I want to fish, so it will
be a matter of banging out some fish and hopefully I can stay
competitive,” he said.
Made-to-order conditions: Peter Thliveros says his home water of the St. Johns and adjacent lakes will show their stuff during the Citrus Slam.
“I think it’s probably going to be the best tournament B.A.S.S. has
had here since I’ve been fishing,” he said. “We’re hitting it at the
right time. Moon phase is perfect (see “Supermoon” at
Bassmaster.com),
we’re right in the middle of the spawn, and we’re going to see some big weights tomorrow.”
It’s fielder’s choice for the spawner bite, he said.
“You can go any direction you want to go in right now. You can go
north and catch spawning fish, you can go south and catch spawning fish,
and you can go to Rodman for spawning and postspawn fish,” he said.
Northern light: After three days of practice, another
home-state Citrus Slam competitor, Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, noted
that the St. Johns River water level was down.
“Normally there is another foot of water on these fish and eel grass beds,” he said.
The tide becomes much more of a factor the closer one gets to the mouth of the river.
“I went north today, and the tide came in strong. Grass beds I saw
in the morning that were a foot deep were 2 1/2 feet deep. Tides could
make a big difference for the angler who goes north (from Palatka),” he
said.
Scroggins then and now: It is not amazing that Terry
Scroggins, a native of the Palatka area, fished his first two pro-level
Bassmaster events in his own backyard, the St. Johns River. What angler
doesn’t start at home?
It is certainly noteworthy that Scroggins won the second of those
tournaments, the 2001 Florida Eastern Open. The field was 328 anglers.
His prize was $16,000 and a $35,000 boat.
“That was the tournament that launched my career,” Scroggins said.
It led to a Classic berth and qualification to compete at the top level,
now the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Roy vs. Crochet: Bradley Roy and Cliff Crochet have a friendly competition on the side under a mutual sponsor’s setup.
Fuel additive Biobor EB, a new sponsor for both of the Bassmaster
Elite Series young pros, is inviting fans to pick which one will outfish
the other, and how many gallons of gasoline they’ll need to do it.
Fans can vote at
biobor.com
up until noon on the first tournament day, beginning with the March
17-20 Power-Pole Citrus Slam. The winning guesser will get a case of
Biobor EB, a pair
of Rugged Shark shoes, and lures from Taylor Man’s Custom Lures and Bill
Lewis Lures.
In 2010, Roy was the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year and Crochet was
the runner-up. Age 20, Roy is the youngest pro on the tour. Crochet, 27,
is among the season’s young guns.
Going up?: The St. Johns River flows from the south to the
north. The seemingly illogical direction of the water flow makes no
difference to the anglers’ strategies in the Power-Pole Citrus Slam. But
they do have to explain to onlookers that “downriver”
is to the north, “upriver” is to the south.
Stable weather: The March 17-20 weather forecast is a treat
for Bassmaster Elite Series pros in the Power-Pole Citrus Slam. It’s not
so much the moderate temperatures or the lack of rain that’s so
pleasing — any condition Mother Nature can dish
out is just part of the game. No, the treat lies in that the prediction
is for four days of almost identical conditions.
For Slam anglers, the steady weather means not having to start over
with a new pattern when air temps plummet overnight, or the wind kicks
up, like what happened in the March 10-13 Elite event on the Harris
Chain.
According to the National Weather Service, the sun is supposed to
shine all four days, but with come-and-go cloud cover. No rain. High
temperatures are expected to be in the high 70s to low 80s; lows are
predicted for the high 40s to high 50s. Winds are
expected to be just enough to cool a brow — and hopefully not enough to
wreck anyone’s sight bite.
Elite inspiration: Larry Cahan of East Palatka, Fla., says
the Elite event across the St. Johns River in Palatka this week is an
inspiration to his own fishing career.
Cahan fishes as a pro in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern
Open, which will stop on Lake Norman next week. He’d like to end the
Open season with enough points to qualify for the Elite Series in 2012.
“Seeing the Elite tournament here will get me motivated for doing
well at Norman,” he said. “I already know some of the Elite guys through
the Opens.”
One is Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Fla., just down the road from
East Palatka. Because the St. Johns River is his home water, Scroggins
is a favorite to win the Elite event.
“I’ve known him since he first fished as a pro,” Cahan said. “I
fished as an amateur a year and a half with him when he was getting
started as a pro; I was 21, 22 then — I’m 31 now. I learned a lot doing
that.”
When he was offered his current job running a fishing lodge owned
by the Norfolk Southern Railroad, Cahan stopped being Scroggins’ travel
buddy. Cahan gets to guide some of the railroad’s guests, but mostly he
works long hours on shore. He knows it’s a
good job that some people might envy, but he would like to sample the
life of an Elite angler.
“I’d have to make sure my ducks are in a row before I ventured out
into the Elite Series, but I’d like to see some kind of way into fishing
the Elites, that’s for sure,” he said.
For more information on the Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam, go to
bassmaster.com.
