FLW Tour pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minnesota, brought a five-bass limit of smallmouth weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces to the scale Sunday to win the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury and the top prize of $125,000 – his second-career FLW Tour win. Grigsby’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 97-8 gave him the win by a 2-pound, 3-ounce margin over second-place angler Costa pro Dylan Hays of Sheridan, Arkansas, who weighed 20 bass for 95-5 to finish second and earn $30,200.

“I love this lake and today was one of those days that was just incredible,” said Grigsby, a five-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “I’m at a loss for words on how good the lake is fishing. Michigan is my home state, and I’ve been fishing here for 20 years. I’ve never seen it so good. The fishing has been phenomenal – it’s been a really special week.”

Grigsby caught his bass this week fishing an area he estimated as 1/8 of a mile stretch on the southern Canadian side of St. Clair that he had all to himself.

“I found this group of fish during practice and I knew after the first day that this was a really special spot,” Grigsby said. “It had all of the right ingredients – a ton of bait, grass patches, sand, and it was deep. It was loaded with fish. I was so disappointed yesterday when I only weighed in 21 pounds, and that’s just ridiculous.”

Grigsby credited three baits as being key for him this week – a Duo Realis Spinbait 80 spybait, a 4-inch green pumpkin and gold-colored Venom Lures Tube on a ¾ ounce Venom jig head, and a ¼-ounce black marabou hair jig.

“I only weighed in two fish on the hair jig, but they were key fish for me on Day Two when they weren’t biting the spybait,” Grigsby said. “The key for me was being able to adjust with the conditions. I couldn’t get bit on the spybait if it was rough, and I couldn’t get bit on a tube when it was slick. I had a combination of different baits for the conditions.”

Grigsby’s win highlights a season which saw his return to the FLW Tour and qualification for his first Forrest Wood Cup appearance since 2010 after a two-year stint on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

“To get this win is just awesome,” said Grigsby. “I’ve had to overcome a lot of my own demons. I’ve had such a bad last two years I didn’t even feel comfortable fishing anymore. I had no confidence. Coming back to the Tour – especially these last four events – I finally feel relaxed, comfortable and confident in my abilities as an angler. And now winning here just blows everything out of the water.”

The top 10 pros on Lake St. Clair finished: 
  
              1st:          Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 20 bass, 97-8, $125,000
              2nd:         Costa pro Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 20 bass, 95-5, $30,200
              3rd:         Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 20 bass, 92-5, $25,100
              4th:         Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 20 bass, 89-11, $20,000
              5th:         Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 87-13, $19,000
              6th:         Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 20 bass, 85-1, $18,000
              7th:         Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 20 bass, 84-11, $17,000
              8th:         Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 20 bass, 82-14, $16,000
              9th:         Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 20 bass, 82-6, $15,500
              10th:       Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 20 bass, 82-3, $14,000

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.