The Last Great Mustache

With the retirement of Shaw Grigsby, another legend has left the sport. Grigsby pulled off a career the likes of which only a handful of anglers can claim, combining double-digit national wins with a successful television fishing show.

Grigsby won 11 times throughout his 40-year competitive career – nine with BASS, a Red-Man All American and a Golden Blend Championship (the precursor to the FLW Tour). His "One More Cast" television show aired 20 seasons before going off the air in 2017.

Grigsby lived through the sport's biggest transitions, all the while maintaining a reputation as a legendary good guy, more apt to laugh at himself than others. His mustache could write a joke book.

Reflecting on his storied career, Grigsby credited two things that topped the list.

“Getting inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame,” he said, “and any of the wins.”

His last victory, which came in 2011, stuck out, when he boated a 10-pounder on the final day on a swimbait. Equally imprinted on Grigsby’s memory was a win years prior at Seminole, when a stubborn bass turned into a biter with just seconds to go.

“It was one of those things; you just put her in the livewell and you know you’ve won,” he said.

But Grigsby did more than win.

He helped create the HP Hook for Eagle Claw - tweaking a design by a creative genius named Tommy Clark - and bringing a totally new concept to finesse plastics. The design was so popular that nearly every pro angler used it upon its release. Grigsby, believe it or not, was packaging the hooks in his living room. The blueprint would later be incorporated into the Triple Grip treble.

Grigsby’s biggest bass was a 13-6, caught off the bed at his beloved Lake Toho in a PAA Tournament. Special to that memory was how Bobby Lane - despite having a later flight - quit fishing and followed Grigsby to check-in to ensure he would get to weigh the trophy catch. The friendships have always meant more to Shaw than the prizes.

Toho was home to spectacular fishing in the early 2000s, and it was then that Grigsby believes he spotted Florida’s biggest bass.

“It was a 20-pounder,” he recalled, and he had two anglers in the boat to bear witness. The monster bass, paired with a massive four-pound male, never sniffed the hopeful angler’s baits.

While Florida has always been home, Grigsby’s heart lies in smallmouth country.

“Lakes Ontario, Michigan, the Thousand Islands,” he reflected. "Those places, with the smallmouth and the clear water; they’re the greatest.”

But it was trip to the border that provided Grigsby with his best fishing.

“The year Paul (Elias) won at Falcon, that was incredible,” Grigsby said.

In 2008, the best bass anglers in the world converged on Lake Falcon, a little-known reservoir that straddled the Texas-Mexico border that would change the world. There, Elias caught 132 pounds over four days to set the all-time record for five-fish limit events.

“You’d flip into a tree the size of the hood of your truck, and the whole tree would shake. You’d set the hook and have an 11-pounder on," Grigsby said. "Fiftieth place after two days was 50 pounds.”

Falcon represented what most modern bass anglers will never see: a trophy fishery still attaining maximum potential. The pot of gold. Fiddler’s Green.

Still, Grigsby pointed out “in a lot of places, bass fishing is better today than ever.”

Grigsby’s once-in-a-lifetime memories aren’t limited to tournament locales. Two television episodes still stand out.

“I ran up the Flint River with Jim Murray, and we caught big shoal bass," he said. "It was all jet-boat stuff, with the big boulders. I’ll never forget that. It was just so beautiful.”

Another special day was with Earl Bentz, who oversaw Triton Boats at the time.

“It was the best smallmouth deal I’ve ever seen,” Grigsby laughed. “We’re filming with Earl, and, at noon, he calls his office. He tells them to reschedule his flight, because there was no way he was leaving.”

Still, TV was a job to Grigsby where tournament fishing was his passion.

His career spanned the most revolutionary periods in bass fishing. His list of breakthroughs that changed the game?

“Forward-facing sonar, for sure," he said. "It’s dispelling the myths about fish movement. Anchor-modes on trolling motors, that’s huge, too. On the tackle side, I think the biggest breakthrough during my career was braided line.”

The best days for tournament bass fishing, Grigsby feels, were in the 1980s, when he started. I hear this a lot from veterans.

“I had $8,000 saved up in 1984 to go pro, and it could have lasted me two years. Today, $8,000 only covers one tournament,” he noted.

Entry fees at the time, according to Grigsby, were $325. Return on investment was far greater.

Still, Grigsby sees the inception of Major League Fishing as another high point.

“It was obvious people who normally couldn’t care less about bass fishing were watching it for the first time. I heard that over and over again.”

So what’s holding us back today? Grigsby has a good idea.

“Self-inflicted negativity,” he said. “It’s really sad.”

Grigsby pointed out, more or less, that the bad news is outselling the good. But, when it comes to bass fishing, to him that makes no sense.

“This is the greatest sport there ever was," he said. "That fish doesn’t know who you are, or how big you are. You can do this from the time you’re young til you’re old. And it keeps you in real life, not stuck behind a computer screen. There’s nothing out there like it.

“I hope anglers treat it right and don’t get caught up in the little stuff.”

It would be wise for all of us to check in with Shaw Grigsby once in a while. His contributions to bass fishing - and wisdom - are irreplaceable.

(Joe Balog is the Executive Director of Mighty River Recovery, a nonprofit organization working to restore Florida’s St. Johns River. A former national tournament angler, product designer, seminar speaker and guide, Balog has worn just about every hat available to a professional angler. Today, he enjoys rehashing his experiences and adding veteran insight through his weekly Bass Wars column.)

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