“Tony Stacy Catches Summertime Bass on Mister Twister’s Worms and Super Lizards and Crappie on Mepps’ Spinners”

Part 4: Downsize the Super Lizard for Short-Striking Bass

Editor’s Note: Tony Stacy of Andalusia, Alabama, a tournament bass fisherman in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League (WBFL), a part of the Forrest L .Wood (FLW) tournament circuit, is an avid fisherman, who is on lakes and rivers 2 to 3 days every week.

Question: Do you ever fish the Super Lizard?

Stacy: Yes, I do. I’m primarily fishing it, however in the spring of the year. Now I explained yesterday about using the Mister Twister Finesse Jig Worm to catch bass that are short striking, and I do the same thing when I’m fishing the Super Lizard. If the bass are short-striking or dropping the 6-1/2-inch Super Lizard, then I downsize to the 4-inch Super Lizard. Anytime I’m not catching fish, but I’m getting bites, I’ll generally downsize my baits and see an increase in the number of fish I’m catching.

I like the black-and-blue Super Lizard, the watermelon-seed/red flake and the green-pumpkin. But I modify these baits just slightly. I use Spike-It dye and dye the Super Lizards’ tails chartreuse. I’m using these lizards primarily around docks in 2 to 5 feet of water. I also fish them in brush piles and in underwater trees and crawl them over the limbs and along the bottom.

I like to use this Super Lizard in tournaments. I’ve fished it up at Lake Weiss in north Alabama on rocky structure by throwing it into the little pockets behind the rocks. I caught a 6-pound largemouth on the 6-1/2-inch Super Lizard in the green-pumpkin color with a chartreuse tail. I was using 12-pound-test line on a bait-casting reel when the big largemouth attacked. I really like to fish the Super Lizard over structure like rocks and brush. When I caught that 6 pounder about 1:00 pm, I was having a bad tournament. I hadn’t caught a bass all day long.

I threw my Super Lizard up close the shore, and it landed on an underwater rock. When I pulled the lizard off the rock, it started falling, the tail began wiggling, the legs started shaking, and that big largemouth inhaled the bait. My 12-pound-test line started singing as the big largemouth tried to take that Super Lizard all over the lake. When I finally got the fish in the boat and looked at it, she was about 25- to 26-inches long, but apparently already had laid her eggs and spawned-out. I believe that fish would have weighed 8 or 9 pounds if I’d caught her before the spawn. Although she was skinny, that bass was pretty. I also use the Super Lizard when I’m fishing the Carolina rig.