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Norman,
OK – No one expects the Elite Series rookies to dominate competition, so they get a mulligan if they struggle on tour. Likewise, if seasoned veterans have a bad year it’s often seen as an aberration. But the second and third year pros who don’t rise to the top of the leader board aren’t given such leeway.
On the whole, the sophomores struggled in 2008. Of the 11 who returned to fish this year, eight finished lower in the standings than they did in 2007. Only three improved. For some, like Casey Ashley and Jason Williamson, respectively, the rise or fall was relatively minor – Ashley, who qualified for his second straight Classic, went from 32nd to 26th and Williamson fell from 44th to 46th – but in some cases the changes were dramatic. Brian Hudgins moved up 49 spots and qualified for the Classic. Matt Sphar, on the other hand, who made the Classic in ’07, dropped 34 places and finished 63rd.
Texas pro James Niggemeyer was one of the majority of sophomores whose 2008 performance fell off from his 2007 campaign. He dropped 31 places, from a middle-of-the-road 44th in 2007 to a barely-requalifying 75th in 2008.
In 2006, Niggemeyer’s career was ascending at an astronomical pace. The California native, who left his left coast home for Lake Fork, won a BFL Regional at Lake Ouachita, a BASS Weekend Series Regional on the Red River, and capped it off by winning the BASS Southern Open points title, thereby earning a spot not only on the Elite Series, but also in the Lay Lake Classic.
In 2007, he tied Williamson for the fourth best overall finish among the rookies in 44th place. Indeed, with seven money finishes and two top twelves, he was likely only one good finish away from making a second straight Classic, but in ’08 he made the money only four times and never cracked the top twenty.
First Half Struggles
“Looking at the schedule, I thought it was going to be great,” Niggemeyer said. “I thought I’d be able to stay shallow and power fish all season.”
But those expectations proved to be unwarranted. Except for Old Hickory, where he finished 30th using a Strike King Bitsy Flip jig, most of his best finishes came using finesse tactics and/or fishing offshore.
“The dropshot came into play,” he explained. “I was always confident with it, being from the west, but I hadn’t relied on it much on tour. I have confidence fishing offshore when I’m familiar with a lake and not under 2 ½ days of practice, but this year I took a step forward with my electronics and GPS and became a lot more confident in that style of fishing at this level.”
But that increased confidence came at a price, particularly early in the year. In the first four events, all in Florida and Texas, he never finished above 76th.
“I don’t want to sound like a complainer because I have no one to blame other than myself,” he said. “But so many things happened that I don’t understand. At the Harris Chain I was in 23rd after the first day and I hadn’t pounded my water. I was fishing right next to Billy Brewer who was in the top five, so I was in the right area, but on the second day I fell apart. I only caught three bass. It was one of two days all year where I didn’t catch a limit or cull. I had culled up to my weight the day before.”
After a 90th at the Harris Chain, he moved up only slightly by finishing 81st at Kissimmee.
“You can say that Florida is hit or miss, hero or zero, and this was a prime example,” he said. “I shared an area with Derek Remitz. He caught exactly five a day and made the cut. I culled every day and finished 81st. He had one 4- to 5-pound bite each day. It was just frustrating. I was around the right fish.”
At the next stop, Falcon, he moved up again, but didn’t make the major leap that he thought was possible, and finished 76th.
“I wasn’t necessarily on the biggest fish, but my mistake is that I misjudged the weights,” he said. “I thought it would take 25 pounds a day. I had a 2 ½ pounder that died early. I probably shouldn’t have put it in the well. I could have culled it out many times. The next day I did better and moved up, but I lost two big fish.”
He was consistently catching reasonable numbers of fish, but “the quality fish were elusive.” At Amistad, he was not far outside of the fifty cut after the first day, so he committed to throwing a swimbait all day in order to make up some ground. “By 1 o’clock I had a limit for 10 pounds (all on the swimbait). I was swinging but I had less weight than the day before. I ended up culling them with deep fish.”
Mid-Season Surge
“After Amistad we had a two week break,” Niggemeyer said. “At Falcon I thought I was at the crest of how mad I could get but after Amistad I knew I couldn’t get any madder. “
He made the trip to Clarks Hill with the attitude that his season was starting over. He had finished 26th there in 2007 and had a decent practice this year, so he was ready to turn things around. After the first day, he was just outside the fifty cut, but on the second day he made a move and pushed himself into the money.
“I lost a four pounder,” he said. “I could’ve had 14 or 15 pounds. I was excited to make the cut, but didn’t know if I had enough (for another day). That was where I started to ask what’s wrong. You think you’ve wiped the slate clean and that happens.”
He ended up in 46th overall, and thereby cashed his first $10,000 check of the year. To some extent, that placated his anger – “After a while you just want to make a check,” he said. “You have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run.” – but he also noted that “top 12 cuts are where the points are.”
During the subsequent week off, he flew home, spent some time with his family and tried to mentally regroup. That seemed to pay dividends at Lake Murray, where he ended up 21st in the standings. But even that tournament was a roller coaster of emotions.
“I found the fish on the first day of practice,” he said. “ I thought I could have 15-17 pounds a day. On the first day of the tournament I was in the top 30, then on the second day I fell apart. All I could think was ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ I barely squeaked into the cut. “
Then, on the third day, he weighed in a big bag and vaulted back up. “I made an adjustment and it turned out to be huge. That provided a huge boost of confidence. I wanted to figure out why I wasn’t making them sooner, but I didn’t want to analyze it too much. Then you end up with paralysis by analysis. “
At Wheeler he was able to catch fish “almost at will,” but quality was again lacking. He ended up leaving an area that was later used by another competitor to finish in the top 12 and nearly win. “John Murray told me I had left the winning hole,” Niggemeyer said. “I guess I underestimated it or was too preoccupied with what was going on down the lake.” He regressed to a season’s worst 93rd place finish.
Mixed Bag Stretch Run
While Niggemeyer had his second best finish of the season at Kentucky Lake, where he finished 23rd in the year’s eight event, that tournament was another example of the mental pressures that can make or break a year.
“On the first day another competitor worked close, then left,” Niggemeyer said. “On the second day, he was sitting right on it, catching those fish. It was hard to take and kind of spun me out.”
At 1 o’clock he didn’t have a keeper in the boat, but rallied in the last hour to move inside the fifty cut in a three-way tie for 48th place with Gary Klein and Jason Quinn.
He tried to get on a spot but was met there by Mike McClelland. “We could both fish and duke it out, but I decided to leave. He had a shot for Angler of the Year. He was very gracious and thanked me. I would hope someone would do the same thing for me.” McClelland ended up making the top twelve.
Looking back on the season, he said that “the common denominator is that I could find them, I was around them all year, but my decision making wasn’t right. I don’t know what was going through my head. I was finding them, which is wonderful, but I wasn’t capitalizing.”
He followed up the good finish at Kentucky Lake with another one at Old Hickory, where he ended up 30th, but he could not keep the momentum going at Erie, where he fell just outside of the top 50 cut.
“It looked like things were rallying. I was trying to get my ship right. I felt like I was on the right fish (at Erie) but I only caught 12 pounds the first day. I was shocked. I felt I was around the quality to finish 35th to 40th but I never found the right size schools that day.”
On the second day, Niggemeyer rallied with an 18-pound bag, but it wasn’t enough, as he missed the cut by a mere 11 ounces. “I figured I’d catch 15 pounds a day, and with a couple of 4 pound bites I could end up in the high teens,” he said. “Sometimes you leave everything on the lake and it’s not enough.”
The season ended on a sour note at Oneida, where he finished 91st. Battery problems severely limited his practice, but he figured he could catch 10-12 keepers a day that might total 12 pounds.
“Then on the first day I didn’t have a limit, one of two days all year that happened,” he said. “I lost my 5th and a 6th fish. I was in 101st with 7 pounds. At that point it was just about maximum density for me. My co-angler and I both had the identical bait on 8-pond fluorocarbon. He had three for 10 pounds and culled two 3-pounders. He could’ve had 16 pounds. The next day I had 10 pounds of smallmouths and went looking for largemouths, but it never happened.”
Season in Review
Looking back on 2008, he stated that Wheeler was a definitely low point. “That was the crater,” he said. “At that point I thought it still could happen, but I knew that the Classic was pretty much gone.”
“Not that I ever gave up,” he continued. “I’ve seen some incredible things happen in my life and for other anglers.”
He said that he never feared that he wouldn’t requalify for the Elites, but admitted to being a little concerned after the 91st place finish at Oneida. “Can I possibly fall that far?” he remembered wondering.
Niggemeyer also noted that he took a “pretty hard (financial) hit, harder than I’d ever like to.”
Despite those setbacks, he said that he will certainly be out on tour for a third season next year: “My intention is completely to fish next year,” he said. He cited sponsors such as Strike King,
Ditch Witch, Bass Edge, BassCat and Mercury as enabling him to do so despite what he believes was a subpar campaign. “They invest in a person, a personality that they believe in. They understand that this is fishing and it can happen. I think they hurt for me the way I hurt, so I’ll continue to work towards being effective for my sponsors in other ways.”
In addition to representing his sponsors throughout the offseason, he’s making a major effort to get himself mentally in shape to fish next year.
“My best friend in the world, he was the best man at my wedding, he told me that I have a tendency to wake up the next day and shake it off. I want to rekindle that fire and get back out.”
“I am one of the most blessed people to be able to have the opportunity to pursue this dream. I am as excited to do it as I have ever been. I absolutely love to do what I do.”
Most importantly, he’s been able to learn from the struggles and rely upon the taste of success that he had in 2006 and 2007, particularly his Classic appearance.
“Once you have the taste of the Classic, if you’re not fired up to make it again, something is wrong with you. That’s the benchmark for all of us as anglers.”
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