You’re not suposed to win a multi-day event by sightfishing. Especially these days when everyone with a pair of polarized shades can peek beneath the surface and locate bedding bass. There are few secrets and fewer secret spots that an angler can have to himself. And the winter/spring weather is so changeable. I was starting to believe all of that myself. And I believe in magic. The magic of sightfishing. Thank you, Shaw Grigsby, for renewing my faith. How did he do 75 pounds and win by more than 7? He even shared his honey hole with runner-up Grant Goldbeck and day 1 leader, Pat Golden. They picked the right piece of realestate. How strong was the pond where Grigsby and friends stacked up bass like cord wood? Well, nobody lead the tournament who did not fish there.  Eagle-eyed Grigsby looks at a fish – then catches it.

Grigsby said he has fished the little pond for years, perhaps decades. At times it produces nothing. At times it is really strong. The key feature is the firm, sandy bottom and adjacent depths that plunge beyond 15 to as much as 20 feet. The biggest bass set up on the edge of the drop. As the days rolled by, more bass rolled up out of the depths each afternoon.

That Goldbeck did not win is somewhat surprising now that we have the benefit of hindsight. He bailed on the pond the first day when clouds and wind prevented sightfishing. He caught one small fish in Lake Harris and opened the tourney in 97th – almost dead last. Grigsby stayed and blind fished the pond for 14-plus pounds.

Another turning point came when Goldbeck had two giants fight for his lure. The rushed in, butted heads and a 7-pounder swam out with the bait. Goldbeck shook it off. He wanted to catch the 13-pounder that was locked on as well. She kept charging the lure, but never bit. He gave her 4 hours to do so. That fish would have made the difference and completely offset and awful day 1.

Did Goldbeck make the right decision in shaking off the 7-pounder? Leave a comment below to weigh-in with your thoughts.

Aside from Grigsby squaring off toe-to-toe against Goldbeck (a former professional boxer) there were 10 other guys fishing the Harris Chain. Stephen Browning placed 3rd. He caught many of his fish within sight of the boat ramp on Lake Dora. As for technique, he pitched a Z-Man Zinker stick worm.

VanDam is so good he took 4th and 5th places. OK, the man in 5th Jonathon VanDam. Everybody say ‘hey’ to JVD – looks like he’s the real deal. Look for him to do well on the St Johns River this upcoming week. He nearly won an Open there a couple of years ago. <

JVD milked a stretch of Kissimmee grass shoreline in Lake Dora for 11 pounds on the final day.

KVD ran around Lake Harris for his fish this week. He often motored to his next spot without stowing the trolling motor and then fished with his lifevest on so he wouldn’t have to bother with putting it back on before firing the big motor. Classic KVD run and gun!

How did Pat Golden do after bailing out of the little pond to fish Lake Harris? He fell to 6th, which still ain’t half bad.