Entry 329-2

Strike King’s James Niggemeyer and the Lures That Got Him to the 2010 Bassmaster Classic

Part 2: I’d Bet on the Rage Craw

Question: What’s another lure that played an important role in your making the roster for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic?

Niggemeyer: The Rage Craw.

Question: When did you really feel like the Rage Craw played a critical role in your getting a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic?

Niggemeyer: During the last tournament of the year on Lake Oneida, I was fishing a Strike King jig. Although I was catching bass, I wasn’t getting as many bites as I felt like I needed to do well in this tournament. I switched to the Rage Craw, and my bite ratio went straight through the roof. Not only did I start catching more bass on the Rage Craw than I’d caught on the jig, I caught more quality fish on the Rage Craw than I was catching on the jig.

Question: How were you rigging the Rage Craw?

Niggemeyer: I was Texas-rigging it with a 3/4-ounce or a 1/2-ounce bullet weight. I was pitching to the edges of grasslines. What really surprised me was I caught the bass on a wide range of colors, including the double-header color, an amber-green color and green pumpkin.

Question: How did you work the Rage Craw?

Niggemeyer: I was pitching the Rage Craw out to holes in the visible grass or to the edges of the grasslines. The majority of the bites that I got came on the initial drop. I was letting the bait fall from 5- to 12-feet deep, depending on what type of slope I was fishing. If I didn’t get a bite on the initial drop of the bait, I’d hop it once or twice off the bottom, reel it in and make another cast.

Question: Why do you think the bass were taking the Rage Craw on the fall?

Niggemeyer: I think there were several reasons the bass were taking it on the fall. The water was really clear at Oneida, and because I was using a 1/2- or a 3/4-ounce bullet sinker, the bait was moving pretty fast toward the bottom when the bass saw it. I think the bait drew a lot of reaction strikes. Unlike many lures that may be classified as falling baits, the Rage Craw has a lot of action as it falls. The pincers on the Rage Craw really flap like mad as the bait’s falling. So it gives the appearance of a crawfish or a baitfish scurrying to get away from a fish that’s chasing it.

I felt it had the ability to draw bass from a further distance than other falling baits that didn’t have any action or have very-little action. I don’t think that there’s a bait on the market now that kicks and moves as much as the Rage Craw does when it falls. When the bait hits the bottom, although the pincers don’t move as violently as they do on the drop, they still move and give the bait a lifelike appearance. Then when I jerk it up off the bottom and let it fall back, the pincers will really flap a lot and give the bait an excited look.

Question: James, if you’re fishing the Rage Craw on the fall, are you fishing it on a totally-slack line? If so, how do you know when to set the hook?

Niggemeyer: When the Rage Craw hits the water, I start pulling line off my reel to make the bait can fall vertically. Sometimes when the bass takes the bait, the line will jump. At other times, the line will move to the left or right or perhaps not quite make its descent all the way to the bottom. The line may just stop. But sometimes I’ll get a definite thump on the line that I can feel. Once I feel or see what I think is a strike, I’ll start taking-up the slack in my line until I can feel pressure on the line to know I have a direct line to the fish.

When you’re fishing around vegetation, and the bass moves-off to the right or left, if that line hits the vegetation you may have a big bow in your line. Then you won’t get a straight pull on the fish’s jaw. So, I take-up slack, feel the fish on the line and then set the hook. Once again this tournament wasn’t the only one where I fished the Rage Craw successfully. However, this bait at that time on that lake made a dramatic difference in how I fished in that tournament and helped me earn a berth in the Classic.

Next: Pure Poison Proved Deadly

Contents:

• Part 1: Fishing the Ocho
• Part 2: I'd Bet on the Rage Craw
• Part 3: Pure Poison Proved Deadly
• Part 4: Fishing the Rage Tail Lizard
• Part 5: The Importance of the Game Hawg in 2009