Upscaling of Your Luress Doesnt Mean You Have to Change Your Fishing Area

Upsize Your Goods with Mark Menendez by Dan OSullivan

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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.” •