Bass-fishing tournament winner 'at a loss for words' for fish in Lake St. Clair

Chad Grigsby emerged victorious Sunday in the Fishing League Worldwide Tour presented by Mercury bass fishing season finale Sunday at Lake St. Clair Metropark in Harrison Township and taking home a $125,000 check with him.

Grigsby, 45, of Maple Grove, Minn., brought a five-bass limit of smallmouth weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces to the scale on Sunday. That lifted his four-day total of 20 bass weighting 97 pounds, 8 ounces in for the win.

“I love this lake and today was one of those days that was just incredible,” Grigsby told a crowd of about 300 after the competition. “I’m at a loss for words on how good the lake is fishing.”

Grigsby -- a former resident of Colon, Mich., near Kalamazoo -- praised the fishery of the lake.

“I found this group of fish during practice and I knew after the first day that this was a really special spot,” he said. “It had all the right ingredients -- a ton of bait, grass patches, and it was deep. It was loaded with fish.”

Some 360 anglers competed in the four-day Lake St. Clair tournament. It seemed everyone had something good to say about Lake St. Clair.

“This is, by far, the best place to fish I have ever fished in my life,” said Joey Cifuentes of Clinton, Ark., who finished in 10th place.

Gerry Santoro, program manager for the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development’s Land and Water Resources Group, said a number of factors about the lake are making it a destination spot for the fishing sports industry. That includes walleyes, perch and musky.

“Lake St. Clair has become legendary in the fishing industry,” Santoro said. “It’s not just the size of the fish, but the clarity of the water. We have some near-shore issues we’re still working on, but the general clarity of the water, along with the three-to-five day refresher rate keeps Lake St. Clair one of the best-known fisheries in the world.”

The top 10 pros on Lake St. Clair included:

1) Chad Gribsby 97 pounds, 8 ounces

2) Dylan Hayss, 95 pounds, 5 ounces

3) Brad Knight, 92 pounds, 2 ounces

4) Scott Dobson, 89 pounds, 11 ounces

5) Bryan Thrift, 87 pounds, 13 ounces

6) Todd Castledine 85 pounds, 1 ounce

7) Cody Hahner, 84 pounds, 11 ounces

8) Jeremy Lawler, 82 pounds, 14 ounces

9) Ryan Chanderl 82 pounds, 6 ounces

10) Joey Cifuentes, 82 pounds, 3 ounces

Highlights of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury will be televised noon-1 p.m. on Aug. 8 on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN).