Entry 322-1
2009 Angler-of-the-Year Contender Mark Menendez
Editor’s Note: Mark Menendez of Paducah, Kentucky, finished fifth in the Angler-of-the-Year points, after winning the Lake Dardanelle tournament on the BASS Elite Series and enjoying several top-10 finishes in 2009. He’s earned at least $200,000 in tournament winnings this season, which makes 2009 one of his best years as a competitive bass fisherman. This week, Menendez will be fishing for the Angler-of-the-Year title with the top-12 other qualified pros, including Strike King pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the two Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year tournaments being held September 12-18 on Lake Jordan in Wetumpka, Alabama, and the Alabama River near Montgomery, Ala. We caught-up with Menendez to find out why he’s had such a spectacular season, how he plans to fish these two tournaments, and what advice he’ll give to help us all become better bass fishermen.
Part 1: How and Why I’ll Fish the Next Two Tournaments
Question: Mark, what has to happen for you to win the Angler-of-the-Year title in these next two tournaments?
Menendez: If I can be first or second in both these tournaments, and Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese both stub their toes and don’t do very well, then I’ve got a real chance to win Angler of the Year.
Question: What are the money prizes for competing in these two tournaments?
Menendez: I think 12th place in the Angler-of-the-Year race pays $14,000, so the worst amount of money I can walk away from these two, 2-Part tournaments is $14,000.
Question: What do you know about these two bodies of water?
Menendez: I probably have the best record among the 12 qualifiers for fishing these two lakes. 
I have a third-place finish on the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in 2003 that was held on Lake Jordan. In 2005, I qualified for the Bassmaster Classic in the Open Championships with a fifth-place finish on the Alabama River.
Question: Both of these lakes are river lakes. How will you fish them, and how will you mentally prepare to compete against 11 of the best bass fishermen in the world?
Menendez: Since these bass will be current-oriented, current most likely will be the key to winning this tournament. For me, these two tournaments will play to my strengths and my style of fishing. I’ll have Strike King Series 5 and Series 6 crankbaits tied on several of my rods, and I’ll be planning to fish crankbaits quite a bit. Too, I’ll be flipping little corners, bars, points and drops – any little eddy hole where bass like to school-up. 
More than likely this tournament will be a crankbait tournament for me.
Question: What colors of Series 5 and Series 6 crankbaits do you think you’ll need?
Menendez: Chartreuse Sexy Shad and Sexy Shad will probably be the primary colors I use.
Question: What pound-test line will you be fishing with and what rod and reel?
Menendez: I’ll be using a 6-foot Power Tackle cranking rod with a Pflueger Trion 5.2:1 reel and 10- to 12-pound-test Berkley Big Game monofilament line.
Contents:
- Part 1: How and Why I’ll Fish the Next Two Tournaments
- Part 2: From the Middle of the Pack to a Front Runner
- Part 3: A Ragin’ Season
- Part 4: Flippin’ and Crankin’ in Big-Boy Britches
- Part 5: Prepare to Win
