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Winter 2019
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mimic them,” he said. “I really wish that they weren’t here, but I realize that I have to understand them in order to capitalize on their presence as an angler to try and win.”
IMPORTANT TIPS
Menendez said that anglers need to be prepared to work very hard with these lures.
BIG BAIT
“All of these are heavy, or they pull very hard in the water,” he said.
BEGINNINGS
The Paducah pro revealed that he had a hint of what was to
“You may have to work your way up to being able to throw them all day, but the upscaled equipment will also help keep stress off of your joints and muscles.”
come early in his career, but never
He also said that it may take a while to truly get comfortable committing
really took full advantage of what
to these tactics.
he had found.
“I threw bigger jerkbaits than anyone else for a long time, as well as spinnerbaits with large size six, or seven willow leaf blades on them, and caught my
“These are the kinds of lures that you can go a long time between bites, so you have to prepare yourself mentally to stick to it,” he said. “It’s very easy to give up on these, but if you keep working at it, eventually, you will learn how effective they are, and you will be glad you did.”
fair share of big fish,” he said. “My
first National tournament win was
on a 6-inch jerkbait, when most of
the
the field was using smaller baits. I didn’t realize it fully then, KVD Mega Dawg topwater bait; they have really helped me
but this approach has been a part of my career going way
have a top to bottom approach with larger bait selection.”
back to the beginning.”
In the early spring to the post-spawn, Menendez said
As he continued his classroom education and began
he likes to use the 4.0 and 8.0 squarebills; because, it gives
noticing the phenomenon in his field experiments and while him the ability to appeal to the larger fish, and the ability
fishing, bass eat larger forage than most people realize.
to slow roll the lures with line size and reel speed. As the
“A bass can handle prey that is approximately a third of post-spawn wears into summer, he turns to the 10XD deep
its length,” he said. “A 12-inch bass can easily handle a four- diving crankbaits along with big jigs and worms. Later in the
inch fish, and a 24-inch bass can handle an eight-inch meal, summer he adds in the Mega Dawg topwater baits and uses
so I began to realize I was on to something.”
them through the fall.
As he paid closer attention, situations to capitalize on
He also said that he must scale up his equipment to
his findings began to show themselves.
handle them.
“With the squarebills, I turn to a 7’3” heavy action Lew’s
CURRENT LURE SELECTION AND GEAR
Football Jig rod and either a Lew’s BB1 with a 5.1:1 retrieve in cold water or 6.8:1 Team Lew’s Lite in warmer water; I fill them with 15 to 17-pound-test Seaguar InvizX.”
Menendez revealed the likes the same types lures that
For the big crankbaits, he prefers to use the 7’6”
are traditional favorites of bass anglers; however, he does
medium-heavy David Fritts Palmer Grip crankbait rod with
prefer to choose a larger sized version of them.
a 5.1:1 retrieve speed BB1 reel spooled with 15-pound-test
“Some we’ve had for a while, and others we’ve only
InvizX. The big topwater choice is a Custom Pro 7’2” heavy
had for a couple of months, but I like larger crankbaits and
action Magnum Hammer rod and 6.8:1 Team Lew’s Lite
topwaters to generate bigger strikes,” he said. “It all started spooled with 50-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown Braid.
WHERE TO LOOK
with the 10XD crankbait, then we got the 8.0 KVD Squarebill, and now Strike King has added the 4.0 KVD Squarebill and
Menendez said that the upscaling of the lures does
not require changing areas. He said that looking at
textbook seasonal patterns will provide anglers plenty of
opportunities to connect with larger bass.
“I look for rip-rap areas, docks or big rock leading into
and out of spawning areas in spring,” he said. “In post-
spawn through summer, I pick the largest creek arm I can
and follow the creek channel all the way out to the main
river ledge until I find the fish, and in the fall, I begin looking
for the bass on the flats and creek channel bends that lead
into the tributaries. You don’t have to spend time looking
for a whole new sort of area, you just have to find the bigger
baitfish and present them larger lures.” •