bait that I could cast under these bushes and under these boat docks ,” Davis said . “ It was a hard , a high-velocity cast . ... And when you extend your arm out and then come around and down with it , and you do it abruptly and do it hard and fast , your shoulders aren ’ t made to do that . But here I was doing it day in , day out , and I had to quit casting that way . I just quit . After two surgeries , you ’ re like , ‘ Yeah , I ’ m going to change that .’”
Meanwhile , hours spent standing on the front deck can lead to back , hip and knee injuries . Davis and Grigsby have both undergone hip replacements , while Grigsby also had a torn meniscus in his knee surgically repaired . Davis said doctors told him his right hip looked like that of an 80-year-old while his left hip looked like it was 30 . He believes that ’ s a result of spending years standing with his right foot on a trolling motor pedal in the days before Spot-Lock .
Fellow BPT pro Terry Scroggins has had both knees replaced within the past three years . While the 55-year-old believes his knee issues predate his fishing career , years of bouncing in waves and bending down to land fish exacerbated the wear on them .
“ We do take a beating in the boat , especially when we go up north ,” Scroggins said . “ We get out there , get jarred around over and over and over , and the practice days are so long . They ’ re 14 , 15 hours , sometimes longer than that — just however long you want to stay out there . And it does , it pays a toll on you . I don ’ t care if you ’ re 20 years old or 50 , over time , it ’ s going to get you .”
playing through pain
Out of all the ailments he ’ s experienced , the one that scared Davis most , that he wasn ’ t sure he could endure , was the least painful .
Davis started the first morning of a 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series event at Oneida Lake dragging a jig offshore . After setting the hook on a sizable smallmouth , he tried to fight the fish , but his fingers wouldn ’ t cooperate . He felt no pain , yet he couldn ’ t get a strong enough grip to turn the handle of his baitcasting reel . The bass eventually threw the jig , and Davis panicked , thoughts of ALS or some other career-threatening disorder creeping into his mind .
“ I just was sitting there in the boat , and it dawned on me , something is bad wrong with me , and I don ’ t know what it is ,” Davis said . “ In your mind , you start thinking , oh my gosh , I have Lou Gehrig ’ s Disease . I ’ ve got who knows what wrong .”
Ultimately , Davis found out he had three degenerative vertebrae in his neck , resulting in pinched nerves , which necessitated another operation . But first , he switched entirely to spinning tackle and finished the tournament ( finishing 26th out of 97 competitors ), plus fished the MLF Summit Cup on Chautauqua Lake the following week .
Davis ’ multiple surgeries haven ’ t prevented him from competing at a high level on the Bass Pro Tour .
BPT pro Terry Scroggins had both knees replaced within the past three years .
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 33