Entry 305-1

I Really Got Tired of Catching Bass at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville with Mark Menendez

Part 1: The Key to the Tournament

Question: Mark, what did you learn in practice that prepared you for competing in this tournament?

Menendez: I caught a number of bass in practice, and I knew that to win this tournament, an angler would have to consistently produce a five-fish limit, weighing a total of 20 to 25 pounds. I thought I’d have to catch about 20 pounds a day to earn a check and finish in the top 50.

Question: How did you fish the first day of practice?

Menendez: I fished offshore and caught two or three limits of bass, weighing 20- to 21-pounds per limit. Most of the bass I caught were a solid 4-1/2-pounds. I learned that I needed to fish shallow ridges off the bank with a mixture of shells and grass on them. I started cranking a Strike King Series 5 crankbait in the Sexy Shad color. Every bass I caught took the bait deep in its mouth. So, I knew I had the right shape and size crankbait to catch enough bass to finish in the top 50.

I wanted to find places where I could catch bass offshore because most of the competitors would be fishing for bass in the grass at Guntersville. If I could locate offshore hot spots, I figured I might be able to catch the bass no one else was targeting. On the first day of practice, the current was running at a moderate rate, and I was catching bass.

Question: What happened on day two of practice?

Menendez: The current increased dramatically. The current was running three times as fast as it was the previous day. I moved from the deep water to the shallow water off the current and started fishing the grass. I had a good day of fishing. I caught one 9-pound bass on a Strike King Anaconda in the green-pumpkin color. I had tons of big-bass bites I didn’t set the hook on, but I could tell the bass really liked that big worm. I also accomplished my goal for the day because I marked 12 or 15 waypoints on my GPS receiver where I identified that bass that were biting.

Question: What happened on day three of practice?

Menendez: Day three was cut short because tornadoes came through the area. However, before I had to leave the water, I found one of my key spots, a main lake point that came from a major spawning area, where I later located bass on the competition days. The bass were coming out of the spawning bay. When they hit the current on the main lake, they’d stop. I found a little underwater break line turn on the corner of a point with shells. This section was loaded with plenty of 4-1/2- to 4-3/4-pound bass.

I returned to check the places where I’d caught bass on day one of practice, but those bass had left that spot because of the intense velocity of the current.So, I knew the speed of the current would determine how and where the bass were positioned on every day of the competition. This fact proved to be a major key to my success in the tournament. I started concentrating on looking for underwater current breaks.

Question: Why did you decide to fish the Series 5 crankbait in the Sexy Shad color in these spots?

Menendez: The Series 5 crankbait runs in that 6- to 10-foot water depth where I found the bass holding on the first two days of practice. On the third day of practice, I the bass were concentrating in 3 to 5 feet of water. So, I moved to the Series 4S crankbait when the bass moved-up more shallow. But the secret of this tournament was finding the depth at which the bass were holding each day because each day the bass were holding at a different water depth than they had on the previous day. The water depth at which the fish were holding even changed during the day.

For instance, if I caught bass in 3 to 6 feet of water in the morning, later in the afternoon, the bass might be holding in 9 to 12 feet of water. I learned that the time of day and the depth of the water determined what baits I needed to use and the depth of water at which the bass would be holding.

Question: So, when you went to bed the night before the first day of competition, what was your game plan?

Menendez: The shallow-water grass bite seemed to be the easiest bass bite to get. I planned to start my day fishing the grass and then move offshore and fish in the current.

Next: Day One of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: The Key to the Tournament
• Part 2: Day One of the Tournament
• Part 3: The Second Competition Day - Wind 'Em as Fast as You Possibly Can Wind Them
• Part 4: Steppin' It Up
• Part 5: I Needed at Least Fifth Place