It was still very dark prior to morning launch at Toledo Bend’s Cypress Bend Park boat ramp, but Shaw Grigsby was shining his polarized sunglasses.
He was also showing off cell phone photos of the 60th birthday cake that friends Paul Elias, Don Barone and bass fishing legend Tommy Martin shared with him last night.
The great thing about Toledo Bend is that winning stringers can be caught from 3 to 30 feet deep, with just about any technique you favor most. For Shaw Grigsby, that’s sight fishing. And the day after his 60th birthday, he’s still one of the best in the world at it.
“My first stop of the day will be to try and catch a spawner and I’ll fish for bedding fish as far as it’ll carry me throughout the tournament,” Grigsby said. “The three best fish I spotted on beds in practice probably totaled 17 pounds and that may or may not be the kind of daily weight you need to make Sunday’s top 12 cut here.
“I’d love to stay shallow and look for ‘em for three days but more than likely I’ll have to move out deeper and pitch a heavy Texas rig around in the vegetation,” Grigsby said. “My daughter Amy and my favorite fishing buddy Bryce (grandson) called and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ which that was special. And so was that cake that Tommy Martin’s wife had made for me. I still can’t believe how clear my photo was on the cake. That was so cool!”
After 60 years, if we’re all as rich with enthusiasm as Shaw Grigsby, we should feel super fortunate.
“I heard somebody caught a 13-pounder here in practice so I’m pretty stoked this morning,” Grigsby said. “And when I get back to Florida, I’m going after giant tarpon with a fly rod; I can’t wait!”
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
