Entry 329-4

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

Part 4: Fishing the Rage Tail Lizard

Question: What’s another lure that when you look back over the season that you feel played a major role in your winning a berth to the Classic?

Niggemeyer: I remember one particular fish that I caught at Smith Mountain Lake that was responsible for me making the top-12 cut in that tournament and helping me to finish 7th overall there, which in turn played a big role in my having a chance to participate in the Bassmaster Classic. I caught that bass and several other bass that I weighed-in on a Strike King Rage Tail Lizard. I was fishing a watermelon-red Rage Tail Lizard.

I had located this bass the second day of the tournament. She was on the bed, and I wasn’t able to catch her. I fished a lot of different baits to get that bass to bite, including Strike King tubes, the Rage Craw and a wide variety of lizards. I threw every lure in my tackle box that I thought offered me any chance to catch this particular bass, because she was a good one. I noticed that this bass chased away little bluegills trying to come to her nest to possibly feed on her eggs. So, I swam the Rage Tail Lizard right up to the bed. I think the action of all of those appendages drove that bass nuts. When I let it fall, she went down and ate the bait. The fish weighed 7 pounds and was the big fish of the tournament.

The first time I threw the Rage Tail Lizard to her, she made a pass at it. I thought she had it in her mouth, but she didn’t. I reeled back in quickly, made another cast past her, reeled the Rage Tail Lizard up to just above her and dropped my rod tip to cause the lizard to fall. This time, the bass hit the bait so hard that there was no doubt in my mind that she was made. She wasn’t just going to be satisfied with running that lizard out of her bed. She was going to kill it and eat it. On that day in that place with that particular bass, the Rage Tail Lizard proved to be the only bait I had in my boat that would get that bass to bite.

Now even though that fish played a major role in my doing so well in the tournament, I caught a lot of other fish on the Rage Tail Lizard in that tournament that also added to my weight. But I think it’s important to remember here that in just about every tournament, the rest of the Strike King Pros and myself fish many different lures each day and catch bass on a lot of different Strike King lures. Very rarely will you fish an entire tournament or an entire day with only one lure. But what made the Rage Tail Craw so important to me was that that lure on that day with that bass was the only way to get that bass to take a ride in my boat. That’s what makes the Rage Tail Lizard a lure that I consider one of the lures that got me to the Classic.

Next: The Importance of the Game Hawg in 2009

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