James Niggemeyer – Frustrations and Moving Forward

We’re back from Toledo Bend and getting ready for the second stop on the Bassmaster Central Open schedule at table Rock Lake, and the thought that keeps running through my head about Toledo Bend is how close I was to having a great tournament.

I’ve heard tournament anglers talk in the past about how one or two little changes; a bit here or there was the difference between a good tournament, and bad one, and that was my event at Toledo Bend. I love that lake; it’s one of my favorites in the whole country, and things just kind of happened that turned it into one of my worst events.

I’ve also heard for years that the line between finishing in the top of the standings and out of the money can be a fine one, and that was more vivid to me last week than ever before.

But, despite the fact that it didn’t end the way I wanted it to; there are some good things that I can take away from it. I had a great practice and found a lot of good quality spawning fish that gave me some really high expectations. I won a Central Open at Toledo Bend in 2009 by sightfishing and knowing that was a possibility for me here had me excited. The high expectations are what led to the frustrations afterward, because I had a good practice.

But, those fish were completely gone once the tournament started; all that were left were little males and I had to make an adjustment. I completely changed my game plan midstream on the second day and after getting a little limit, I went fishing. I was cranking a Strike King KVD 1.5, a swimbait and a Premier Pro Model spinnerbait in the high winds and was able to catch 13-2; which was an improvement.

What really felt good was being able to make those adjustments and make a positive move and make the event a little bit better than it first appeared. I ran out of time when I was really starting to put everything together, but that’s just fishing sometimes. Part of fishing is decision making and time management, and that’s what got me on day two; I made a great decision and just ran out of time.

Sandy and I are preparing for our trip to Table Rock; and although I’ve never been there before I understand it’s going to feel a lot like my West Coast roots at Lake Oroville and Shasta with big spotted bass, and a good population of smallies and largemouth to go with it.

This week is about moving forward, and I’m going to do that; the adjustments I made on day two and the positive gains I made are really helpful in changing my focus on the event. Now we’re off to Table Rock I’m looking forward to a great tournament up there.

To learn more about James or for information on booking him for a trip, visit his website at: www.jamesniggemeyer.com