When to fish Lizards:
You can fish lizards all year long but the best time of year to fish them is during or around the spawning season for bass. The Spawn is when the bass make their nest or beds by fanning their tail and fins over a spot in the sand or gravel. They do this until they have a nice bowl shape on the bottom. Usually they fan the bed so much that the bottom of their tail bleeds. Then the female comes to the bed and lays her eggs. The male comes and fertilizes the eggs. The male will guard the nest for about a week or until the fry has emerged. The female will sit on the bed as well. During the spawn bass do not eat. Lizards work tremendously as a bait during this season because real life salamanders and lizards raid the nests and eat the bass eggs. If you pitch an artificial lizard in or near a bass bed, the bass will instinctively hit it. Sometimes they will try to eat it but most of the time they are just picking it up with their mouth's to move it.
If you use this technique during the spawn, for the sake of the fish and it's fry, please release it as soon as possible. I don't even recommend trying to catch a spawning bass because it could disturb the nest. Also, anytime they are away from the bed, the nest is succeptable to predators free of protection. Most states do not issue tournament permits during the spawn because when there is money involved, some fishermen don't care about the next generation of fish. It is a great thing that Sportsmen in Bass Federations lobbied the Politicians and Department heads to implement this window during the spawn for the fish to reproduce.

Other then the spawning period, Lizards catch fish all year long. I often wonder when a bass hits one if they are hitting it out of anger or if they are hungry. They truly have a inherent hate for them. Zoom has been making rubber and soft plastic lures for years, They are trusted by many fishermen. The 5 inch Zoom lizard is the smallest lizard I recommend for largemouth bass. I throw them during a cold front in the spring when the bite is tough or slow. Other wise I like a 9 inch lizard or longer. The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish.

How to use/rig them:

Shallow: When fishing them in shallow or weedy coves, I like to rig mine weedless and weightless. I do this by hooking the lizard Texas Style with the hook buried in the bait. To do this just pass the point of the hook about an eighth of an inch directly into the nose of the bait and point the hook out at this after it has entered the eighth of an inch. Pass the hook all the way through until it reaches the final bend in the hook and then reinsert it into the belly region of the lizard.
When rigging it this way I like to pass the hook all the way through to make a passage way for the hook, then back it up into the rubber so the point is not exposed to catch weeds or anything but a fish. When you see the fish strike or feel it hit, you need to really put a lot of force into the rod and set the hook. After it is rigged properly, just cast it out. Most lizards are buoyant enough to float a 3/0 hook and I like to slowly reel it in. Reeling it slowly allows the lizards legs to give a natural fleeing action and will usually invoke a strike. If you reel it in too fast, it will roll and twist up your line.
Sometimes if you reel it in a couple of feet and give it a delay, reel it in a couple of more feet and repeat this action, you will get even more strikes, Try it out for yourself. If you want to try something really fun while fishing a weightless lizard, toss one or pull one on top of a lilly-pad with just the tail, or an arm hanging over the edge and twitch it a little bit, just enough to move the pad and cause some ripples on the surface of the water. When a bass hits it, the fish destroys the lilly-pad and comes completely out of the water from underneath it, it is very exciting!

Deep: When fishing them in deep water I like to rig mine Texas style with a bullet sinker ahead of the bait. Rig it the same way as mentioned before, but slip on a bullet weight before tying on the hook. Some guys like their weight to remain stationary on the line when fishing it this way, I let it slide. If you want to keep it stationary, just push a toothpick into the opening of the bullet weight and bend it at a 90 degree angle until it breaks off and leaves the point of the toothpick in the weight. When wet, the wooden toothpick will absorb the water and expand, not allowing the weight to slide up and down the line. I also like to paint my bullet weights the same color as my lizards, so they won't be a distraction to a fish just before it is ready to hit my lure. I usually don't fish the lizard in very deep water, I have found a jig or crawfish imitating lure to work better, but you can fish it deep and catch fish, it is up to you.

In Between Depths: Probably the most popular way to fish a lizard is the Carolina Rig. This happens to be my favorite technique for fishing the lizard. You can fish it Carolina style in shallow or deep water. To rig it this way you need a little more hardware then mentioned on previous rigs. First off, tie your line to a swivel. Then tie a second line to the other end of the swivel. On the second piece of line, thread a weight of choice, I like a 1/4 ounce bullet weight, then add some glass beads or brass clickers, then finish this line off with another swivel. The second piece of line measures from swivel to swivel about 4 inches. The final piece of line is up to the fisherman and the depth of water to be fished. The standard last piece is about two feet long, attached from the swivel to the hooked lizard.
The Carolina rig keeps the bait about two feet off the bottom, while the weight and clickers attract the fish in from a long distance with its noisy clicking and churning up of the bottom. If you want to cut out the fuss of tying so many knots, Carolina Quick rigs are sold at the major fishing stores. I tie up a bunch of the middle sections at home with various weights so it takes no time to put one on while out on the water. You also don't have to mess with so many small pieces while out on the water. When a fish hits or takes the lizard on a Carolina rig, the fisherman doesn't feel the standard tap, tap, tap, hit, it feels a lot more like a steady pull or sideways pull. Remember, when setting the hook on a Carolina rig not to just pull back quickly like you would on most lures, you need more of a sweeping long hook set because of the weight is further up the line and there is a little bit of slack between you and the fish.

Colors:
Zoom makes Lizards in just about every color they carry. Watermelon Candy, Black/Red Glitter, Mossy Pumpkin, Electric Blue, Plum, Junebug, Motor Oil/Chartreuse, Chartreuse Pepper, Smoke Purple, Chartreuse Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Blue Flash, Gourd Green, Cherryseed, Watermelonseed, Chameleon, Red Bug, Smokin' Blue, Cotton Candy, Green Pumpkin, Black Emerald, Black, White, Tequila Sunrise, Watermelon Green, Sapphire Blue, Peanu Butter and Jelly, Black/Blue, Baby Bass, Blue Watermelon, Green Pumpkin/Charteuse, Tomato, and Black Ruby. My favorite colors for this lizard are the standard Black, Black/Blue, Junebug and Green Pumpkin/ with a Chartreuse tail. You can never go wrong with any soft plastic with the color black if you are unsure what colors will work. Sometimes just the mystique of a black or dark lure, and the fish not knowing what it is, will draw an inspection or curiosity strike.

Price and Availability:
Zoom 5 and 6 inch lizards come 9 to a pack for about $2.29 per pack, they are fairly inexpensive as far as fishing lures and soft plastics go. They are durable as well. Expect to catch a bunch of fish on one before it is torn up. Most big box stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart carry a full line of lizards, especially in the spring. Of course Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas carry the complete line and will offer the best prices as well. Only problem is, if you don't live close to one, you have to wait for them in the mail.

Click on my other Fishing Reviews:
Lures:
Strike King Premier Spinnerbaits
Strike King Redeye Spinnerbait
Rebel Pop-R, Pop, Pop, SPLASH
Jitterbug, That Old Classic
Storm Wiggle Warts Lures
Gary Yamamoto's The Kreature, Ugly Kreature
Zoom Salty Chunk Trailer
Reels
Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 4600C3
Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500 C3
Abu Garcia Cardinal 500 Series Spinning Reel
Shimano Curado CU-200B5
Shimano Curado CU-200B
Other:
Frabill Vinyl-Coated Minnow Trap
Frabill Sit-N-Fish Bait Container
Berkley Trilene XT
Berkley Trilene XL
Evinrude 15 HP Four Stroke Outboard

Reviews on Bass Boats:
Nitro 929 CDX The Cadillac
Nitro NX 750, A Great Starter Bass Boat

Recommended: Yes