Entry 256-4
Facing the Ups and the Downs of Tournament Fishing with James Niggemeyer
Editor’s Note: Strike King believes in their fishermen and considers them all winners, regardless of how they fish in tournaments. Forgetting that professional fishermen don’t always catch fish or win tournaments is easy. Fishing success often is based on luck as much as skill. Being a professional fisherman is a tough vocation, and this week, James Niggemeyer of Van, Texas, will tell us about the ups and the downs, the victories and the defeats that take place every year in an angler’s career.
Part 4: Excited about the Wake Shad
Question: James, is there another new lure you’re excited about this year?
Niggemeyer: Yes, I’ve been fishing the Wake Shad, which is a version of the King Shad swim bait, except it has an extremely-shallow running lip that allows the bait to wake on the surface more than the King Shad. As soon as you start running the King Shad on the surface, the bill on that bait causes it to dive down. However, the Wake Shad creates a wake on the surface that looks more like an injured shad.
When you reel in the King Shad, it looks like a healthy, live, active shad. But the Wake Shad resembles a shad that may be sick or injured and can’t get its equilibrium working to get under the water, which makes this a much-easier bait for a bass to eat rather than having to chase a King Shad. Sometimes the bass like an injured or a sick-looking shad better than a lively, active shad. 
Too, the Wake Shad probably doesn’t run 3-inches under the surface. You can slow the bait down, and it will put out a big wake. Or, you can speed the bait up, and it will put out a small wake.
Question: In what kind of places do you fish the Wake Shad?
Niggemeyer: I fish it anywhere I’d normally fish a Strike King Spit-N-King. The Wake Shad is extremely effective around boat houses, boat docks and standing timber. Too, I’ve found the Wake Shad to be highly productive around points when there’s current coming, and bass are fighting baits.
Question: What colors do you like the best for the Wake Shad?
Niggemeyer: I’ve been fishing the Sexy Shad and the green-gizzard Wake Shad.
Question: What makes the Sexy Shad work when other similar-looking baits won’t solicit a strike?
Niggemeyer: Sexy Shad is a very natural-looking color, and it has a chartreuse line down the side of it, which helps the bass spot the bait from greater distances. But the Sexy Shad looks like a big shad swimming in the water, and the Wake Shad appears to be injured.
Contents:
- Part 1: Fishing is a Fickle Business
- Part 2: Lessons Learned This Year
- Part 3: Still Learning about the Shadalicious
- Part 4: Excited about the Wake Shad
- Part 5: Looking Forward From Now to the Classic
