Kevin VanDam

Griffin’s Northern Exposure

August 15, 2009
(espnoutdoors.com, August 15, 2009)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Don’t let the Cresson, Texas, mailing address fool you. Chad Griffin, leading the Ramada Champion’s Choice on Oneida Lake as the remaining 50 anglers head out for the third day of competition, is truly a northerner.

In this case, north doesn’t mean New York, Wisconsin or even Montana. We’re talking serious latitude — he spent the first two decades of his life in the great white north of Alaska. He fished, but the quarry was typically salmon and trout.

“I didn’t bass fish until I was 22 years old,” he said.

Despite his late discovery of the sport, something must’ve clicked because in the past decade he’s risen to the top echelons of the sport. As a result, he finds himself a few credits shy of his bachelor’s degree.

“I finished three years of college but I didn’t finish up because it was tough to go to class when the fish were spawning,” he said.

Despite the lack of a diploma, his education hasn’t stopped. On his first trip to Oneida, and only his second time fishing in New York, he finds himself with a murderer’s row of bass pros nipping at his heels. Griffin has a one and a half pound lead over second-place contender Bernie Schultz of Florida. In a tournament where the weights are tight, he finds himself with a comparatively monstrous lead of over four and a half pounds over the angler in 12th, Virginia’s John Crews.

Griffin is fishing an EZEE Jig of his own design and manufacture. The color is “Conroe Craw,” which is “a peanut butter and jelly kind of skirt, with brown and purple strands,” he explained. He’s tipping it with a “Sprayed Grass” colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver. The combination of the two resembles a bluegill, he believes.

“These fish are feeding on brim,” he said. “They’re all very healthy.”

He fished a 1½-ounce jig the first two days, but also had a 1-ounce model on the deck today. While he’s apparently taken a shine to fishing in New York, the technique is straight-up Lone Star state.

“I can relate it to Choke Canyon or Amistad,” he said, referring to two well-known south Texas fish factories. “I’m not really flipping it as much as dropping it.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=4401007

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