Event Article:
Pros and Press on Pardee Lake |
Big Baits and Peashooters: Fishing With B.A.S.S. Pro Angler Shaw Grigsby
Date: |
4/26/15 |
Location: |
Lake Pardee,
California |
Event Date: |
4/25/15 |
Reviewer: |
Zander |
Introduction: In what has now become an yearly tradition Pro Angler and
Host of “Ultimate Bass Radio,” Kent Brown, put together another Media Day on
Lake Pardee to bring together some of the top Pro Anglers with members of the
fishing media to talk shop, check out some of the newest tackle and techniques,
and even do a little fishing.
Riding shotgun with Pro Anglers
Earl Dalton and Shaw Grigsby
The event started out the night before at Jackson Rancheria Casino and Resort
where the anglers get to spend time talking to the pros about the current
season. This year attendees included some top pros including B.A.S.S. Elite
Anglers Shaw Grigsby, Fletcher Shryock, Aaron Martens, Keith Combs, Fred
Roumbanis, and Paul Mueller. There were many other FLW Pros there and well known
big bait anglers as well, all sharing their favorite techniques to catch bass on
tour and when trophy hunting.
Earl shows Shaw some of his go to
swimbaits on Lake Pardee
This event I was paired with B.A.S.S. Angler Shaw Grigsby and FLW Angler Earl
Dalton in the morning session, and pro angling swimbait specialist Russ Graves
in the afternoon. Earl Dalton fishes for Jackson Rancheria and Lake Pardee is a
one of his home lakes. Pardee is a very picturesque lake that is known for
trophy largemouth and smallmouth fishing, and this fishery is fueled by large
trophy trout and Kokanee salmon plants.
Cast after cast Earl works his
swimbaits through submerged timber
As you might have guessed these plants not only give the bass plenty to munch on
but also help make this an excellent venue for those that enjoy targeting
lunkers with swimbaits. With the ultra-clear water that Pardee is famous for it
isn’t uncommon to see a pack of four and five pound fish chasing a swimbait back
to the boat, but getting them to commit and strike can be a challenge in this
clarity as well.
Shaw doing what he is known for....
sight fishing
This was the first time that Shaw had ever come to Pardee so we leaned on Earl
to show us the spots and put us on the bite. Earl is also known for fishing
swimbaits and on the deck of his boat he had a number of popular baits tied on
including a 68 Huddleston as well as a Trash Fish. As we powered away from the
launch ramp I compared notes with Earl and showed him some of the Deps Slide
Swimmers that I had tied on. Shaw’s face absolutely lit like a kid in a candy
store up as he examined the baits.
Shaw shows us one of his favorite
combos rigged with the Strike Sexy Dawg topwater bait
While there is certainly overlap, fishing tournaments requires a very different
approach than that of trophy bass hunting, and Shaw was not as familiar with
some of the exotic swimbaits that we had prepped for the day. “I love fishing,
but I also love to learn about new fishing techniques and lures every
opportunity I get,” Shaw said as he checked out the big baits. His mouth was
agape when we told him how much a single Deps Slide Swimmer 250 retails for
($179.99), if you were lucky enough to even find one.
One of Earl's top producing
Pardee swimbaits... the 68 Hudd
Earl powered up the river and we started fishing a variety of coves along the
shoreline. As expected the visibility was outstanding and we could see more than
25 feet down. There were beds everywhere but nobody was home. The cooler weather
likely pushed the fish back so we had to either get fish to come up or target
them deeper.
Next
Section: Shaw's Sexy Dawg...