Entry 272-2

Mark Menendez – His Chances at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic and Why and How He Fishes Differently

Part 2: Secrets of the Anaconda

Question: Mark, you’ve fished the Rage Anaconda for a long time. What have you learned about this big-tailed bait?

Menendez: I’ve learned two secrets about the Rage Anaconda, including that it’s deadly effective when you fish it shallow and deep. The first time I fished the Rage Anaconda was on Lake Guntersville in Alabama at the Kickin Bass Coaches Charitable Bass Tournament, sponsored by The Orthopaedic Center (TOC) at Huntsville hospital, one of Strike King’s partners. I caught more than 22 pounds of bass with a five-fish limit by swimming the Rage Anaconda through the top of the grass. During that tournament, the bass hadn’t yet left the shallow water and moved out to deep water.

The last group of bass to spawn was just beginning to make its way out of shallow water into the deep water of the river channel. I found little corners and grassy points loaded with bass. I probably caught 20 bass that day that weighed about 4-pounds each. I fished with the Strike King Rage Anaconda with a No. 5/0 hook and a 1/4-ounce slip sinker, casting this bait out and reeling it in, allowing the Anaconda to swim about 1-1/2-feet above the underwater grass.

Question: What color Anaconda did you use?

Menendez: I used a green-pumpkin-colored Anaconda, fishing it on 15-pound-test line. I was really surprised the bass took the bait. I would have thought when I fished a big bait with a lot of action, the bass would explode and inhale the bait. But they didn’t. The bass bite was very light. Once the bass hit the Anaconda, they held onto the bait. The Anaconda is a big meal for bass, and when the bass are in the post-spawn mode, they want to expend as little energy as possible eating baits.

Question: How did you set the hook if the bass bit the bait lightly?

Menendez: As I retrieved the Anaconda, the strike would feel like the lure was hitting a piece of grass. When I felt a different type of tick on the line, I’d stop my retrieve and hold my rod still. If I saw the line move to the left or the right, I knew I had a bass on the line. So, I’d take up the slack and set the hook. I fished the Anaconda the same way you’d fish top-water baits, such as frogs – let the bass inhale the lure, take up the slack and then set the hook. Swimming the plastic worm high in the water column was really a different way for me to fish. But I learned that the big Anaconda just under the surface will pull bass up out of the grass. Since then, I’ve learned to swim the Anaconda not only through grass, but through brush, around docks and any place you’ll normally use swim baits. The big large rib on top of the bait gives the lure a lot of action and really solicits strikes.

Question: Mark, you said you fished the Anaconda deep. How?

Menendez: In the BASS Elite Series on Kentucky Lake, the Rage Anaconda was my go-to bait. During the first couple of days of the tournament, we had low-light conditions. I fished a Junebug-colored Anaconda on 12-pound-test line with a 1/2-ounce sinker and a No. 5/0 hook on drop-offs in 16 to 20 feet of water. I kept the Anaconda up against the bottom. My partners used traditional 10-inch plastic worms and didn’t get as many bites as I did. The Anaconda is a big, bulky bait that moves a lot of water when it swims. This is the size and the type of bait big bass want.

Question: A 10-inch worm intimidates most bass fishermen and bass. How and when do you decide to fish this big worm?

Menendez: When deciding to fish a 10- or a 6-inch worm, I study the lake conditions. If the lake homes a large number of bass that weigh 4 pounds or more, I’ll fish a big worm like the Anaconda because bigger bass prefer larger baits. This isn’t to say smaller bass won’t eat big baits because they will. But really-aggressive smaller bass are the exception rather than the rule. So, by using the big worm, I’ll reduce the number of small bass that take my bait and concentrate my fishing on the larger fish required to win tournaments.

Too, if a lake has a tremendous amount of fishing pressure, I’ll fish the Rage Anaconda. When fishing a lake with heavy pressure, you’ll catch more bass with finesse baits like smaller worms, crankbaits and spinner baits. For many years, we’ve taught that bass on highly-pressured lakes prefer smaller lures to bigger lures. However, I’ve learned that smaller isn’t always better on highly-pressured lakes. If the lake has a lot of cover, such as bushes, laydowns, stumps and grass, the bass still will use ambush points to attack the bait.

Because the bass are sitting on the bushes or the stumps and holding in the obvious places fishermen target, those bass mainly will see small lures, and they won’t have an opportunity to take a big lure. So, with a big worm like the Anaconda, I have a chance to catch bigger bass on high-pressured lakes because big bass want to eat a big meal, but all they’ve seen are little baits. By going against conventional wisdom, I catch the bass other fishermen don’t catch as well as the bigger bass holding on the structure. By fishing with different baits, like the Anaconda, and tactics no one else is using, many times you can catch the bass no one else is catching.

Next: Space Monkey – A New Bait that Combines Many Great Features

Contents:

• Part 1: Me and the Bassmaster Classic
• Part 2: Secrets of the Anaconda
• Part 3: Space Monkey - A New Bait that Combines Many Great Features
• Part 4: Mopping Up with a Red Eye
• Part 5: Don’t Forget the Spit-N-King