Smith Mountain Lake in VA was host to the Elite Series event called the Blue Ridge Brawl this past April 23rd through 26th.

Four  StrikeKing pros finished in the top ten including Kevin VanDam who took the win with a 4 day total of 61 pounds 13 ounces!
Congratulations Kevin!

Greg Hackney (shown on left) finished in 4th place with a 4 day total of 57 pounds even. Most of Greg’s fish were caught using the soon to be released “Baby Rage Craw” and he was quoted as saying;  “I put a 5/0 hook in it and used it on the bed fish,” he also said. “For whatever reason, the bass like that smaller bait.” Way to go Greg!

Shaw Grigsby finished in 6th place with a 4 day total of 54 pounds 3 ounces.
Nice job Shaw!

And James Niggemeyer (shown on right) ended the 4 day event in 7th place, also with a total of 54 pounds 3 ounces. Niggemeyer who fought his way back from deep in the pack, used a Rage Tail Lizard on Day 3 to catch a 7-02 Largemouth that stood as the tournaments biggest fish.
Congratulations on the tournament’s “Big Fish” James, well done!

Mark Menendez wins BASS Elite Series on Lake Dardanelle!

Armed with his trusty Aluminum boat, 90 hp Yamaha outboard and bags full of Rage Tail Soft Plastic Lizards and Coffee Tubes Mark Menendez of Paducah KY, battled the elements and fished his way to victory by over 2 pounds over fellow Strike King Pro Staff Teammate Kevin VanDam.

“I was fortunate enough to use my aluminum boat this week and get back into an area where no one else had been all week and I basically had the entire place to myself.” “Once I started throwing my Strike King soft plastics around and figured out how the fish wanted the bait, I was able to dial in my presentation and bring home the win.”

Congratulations Mark!!!!!!

Also a big congratulations to all of Team Strike King who placed high finishes this week with Mark placing 1st, KVD 2nd, Denny Brauer 5th and James Niggemeyer in 13th, The entire team is showing its strength early on this season. Good luck guys and Congratulations!

The Rage Tail Lizard is a “next generation” soft plastic 6 ” lizard recently released by Strike King Lure Company.
This lizard is unlike anything ever released to bass fisherman and sure to become a great lure for anglers to entice those big bass. The vibration produced coupled with the great color selection makes it a great choice for any angler.

If you would like to add your feedback and comments about the Rage Tail Lizard, feel free to add them here.

Rage Lizard

• This Lizard is like no other 6 inch Lizard in that its appendages, all 4 legs and the tail all have tremendous action with the slightest movement. Many tournaments have been won on this unique design and many more will follow in the future.The Rage Lizard can be rigged with a variety of hook sizes and styles depending on the type of presentation you are looking for. The most popular is Texas rigged using a bullet weight from 1/8 oz to 1 oz depending on the amount of wind and water depth when fishing. ¼ oz is standard. For casting with a drag and stop, or lift and fall retrieve, an un-pegged weight is very popular. For flipping or pitching in brush or trees, a pegged weight is advised to keep the bait and weight together which helps you to better navigate the structure as well as provide a more vertical presentation.

• Carolina rigged is also very effective using as light of a weight as necessary for the wind and depth conditions. This technique allows the bait to free swim at any and all depths which is very attractive to the fish.

• Fishing the Rage Lizard on a lightweight stand up jig head is another popular technique that is used today. As the lizard falls and touches the bottom, its body and tail is still upright off the bottom and presents an attractive meal for the fish.

• Another up and coming rig is using a keel weighted hook. This allows the bait to fall with a different profile and action and is extremely effective for finicky fish in shallow water and over grass or moss beds. Light or low wind conditions are best for this style of presentation.

• Completely weightless using an EWG hook in the sizes mentioned below is another popular way to fish the Rage Lizards. This technique is very attractive in extremely shallow water or over the grass and moss beds.

Any of the popular hook designs are effective with the Rage Lizard, which includes Standard offset worm hook and EWG hook. Preferred sizes are 3/0 to 4/0 in each.