Entry 305-3
I Really Got Tired of Catching Bass at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville with Mark Menendez
Editor’s Note: On May 10, 2009, Mark Menendez of Paducah, Kentucky, finished sixth in the BASS Elite Series Southern Challenge Pro Tournament held at Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, moving up to eighth place in the race for the Angler-of-the-Year title and taking home his third top-10 finish this season. The previous week, Menendez had finished second in the BASS Open Division Southern Open Tournament held at Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. This week, you’ll learn the techniques Menendez uses to get tired of catching bass.
Part 3: The Second Competition Day – Wind ‘Em as Fast as You Possibly Can Wind Them
Question: Mark, what boat number were you leaving the launch site on the second day?
Menendez: I was boat No. 32, so there only was half as many people ahead of me leaving the launch as there had been on the previous day. I decided not to fish the grass, but instead went straight to a point with a little crook in it that I’d found in practice. I left the launch site at 6:05 am. I had a 15-minute run to the place I was going to fish, and by 6:30 am, I had 26 pounds and 12 ounces of bass in my live well.
Question: What happened on that spot to make it so productive?
Menendez: Every cast I made, I caught a bass on the Strike King Series 4S and Series 5 crankbaits. 
I learned that the faster I reeled these crankbaits, the bigger the bass would be that I caught. I also learned that the slower I retrieved those crankbaits, the more opportunity I gave the smaller bass in the school to catch and eat the crankbait. So, I was reeling the Strike King crankbaits as fast as I possibly could, which was a key to my success in the tournament. Not only did I have to find the place holding a number of bass, but I had to reel the bait as fast as I could to catch the biggest bass in the school.
Question: What rod, reel and line did you use?
Menendez: I fished with a 7-foot Power Tackle rod with a Pflueger Trion Reel and 20-pound-test line.
Question: How many bass did you catch on the second competition day?
Menendez: I probably caught 150 bass with 65 to 70 of those bass weighing over 4 pounds. On the second day, I caught two, 6 pounders and one, 5 pounder. I couldn’t believe the number and the size of the bass I caught. I stayed on that one hole and caught bass until I got tired of catching bass. It was a phenomenal day of fishing since I couldn’t get any bigger-sized bass. 
I left the biting bass and found three more places where I thought I could catch bass the next day of competition. On one of those sites, I caught 35 or 40 bass and 30 of those bass were 4 pounders. I just couldn’t catch a 6-pound bass. In the entire tournament, I only caught three bass that weighed 5 pounds or better.
Question: Okay, in what place were you at the end of the second day of competition?
Menendez: I moved up to 12th place, making the 50 cut.
Question: So, what was your game plan for the next-to-last day of competition?
Menendez: I planned to target that big bunch of bass I’d found on the second day of the tournament.
Next: Steppin’ It Up
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
