Entry 296-1

James Niggemeyer – Bassmaster Champ in March, 2009 on Toledo Bend

Part 1: The Game Plan

Question: James, what did you know about Toledo Bend and how to catch bass there before the tournament?

Niggemeyer: Since I fished a Bassmaster Open Tournament on Toledo Bend in 2002, which took place during the same week as this one, I was familiar with the area. I knew from past experience that because of the time of year, two patterns should produce bass big enough to win – fishing the underwater drains and ditches with either a lipless crankbait or a spinner bait to catch pre-spawn bass moving-up to the shallow water to spawn and/or moving into shallow water to sight-fish for bass that were either spawning or getting ready to spawn.

Question: What did you learn in practice before the tournament?

Niggemeyer: On the first day of practice, I noticed there were females moving into shallow water spawning or preparing to spawn. These early spawners weren’t the biggest bass in the lake. Although I primarily found small bass during practice, I felt this was a good indication that there possibly were bigger bass moving in to spawn, if I could locate them. I caught bass slow-rolling the Strike King Compact Premier Pro-Model spinner bait as well as flipping Strike King’s new Rodent.

Question: Why did you decide to start with the Compact Premier Pro-Model spinner bait?

Niggemeyer: The water was super clear, and I wanted to slow-roll that Compact spinner bait in shallow water. I felt that a small, finesse-type spinner bait in that clear water would cause those bass to bite.

Question: What color Compact Premier spinner bait did you fish, and on what pound-test line?

Niggemeyer: I fished the gold shiner-colored spinner bait on 15-pound-test Sunline fluorocarbon line. I chose the gold shiner-colored Perfect Skirt because it looked more like the bait the bass were eating.

Question: Why did you choose the Rodent as your flipping bait?

Niggemeyer: I was flipping pretty-heavy cover, so I wanted to use a bait that would penetrate the cover and go straight to the bottom.

Question: What color Rodent did you use?

Niggemeyer: I used the Double Header color, which is one of my favorite colors for the Rodent.

Question: What techniques seemed to produce the most and the biggest bass for you during practice?

Niggemeyer: During practice, the Rodent seemed to produce the biggest bass, so at the end of practice, I knew I could catch spawning bass by sight-fishing. Slow-rolling the spinner bait and flipping were the tactics I needed to use to win.

Next: First Day of a Now 2-Day Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: The Game Plan
• Part 2: First Day of a Now 2-Day Tournament
• Part 3: The Second Day of Competition
• Part 4: It's a Tie!
• Part 5: The Last-Day Fish-Off