Entry 272-4

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

Part 4: Mopping Up with a Red Eye

Question: Mark, I know you’re really excited about the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad. Why?

Menendez: When the 1/2-ounce Red Eye Shad was introduced, I eliminated 90% of the lipless crankbaits in my tackle box because I liked the swimming action of the Red Eye Shad as it falls, the different types of vibration and the new colors Strike King produced. When I got its big brother, the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad, I couldn’t wait to fish it. I got the prototypes of this bait before the BASS Elite Series tournament on Wheeler Lake in Alabama. This lure is a tremendous mop-up bait when fished on deep ledges. Normally I fished a Strike King Series 5 crankbait and 10-inch worms and jigs when I’d locate a school of fish holding on those ledges. I’d catch all the bass I could on those baits. Then when the bass refused to take those baits, I’d tie on the big 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad and often caught one or two more bass I wouldn’t have caught on the other lures.

Question: When you locate a school of bass in a tournament, and you catch them using two or three lures like you’ve mentioned, how many extra fish do you catch fishing the Red Eye Shad?

Menendez: In tournament fishing, one extra bass can win me a spot in the Bassmaster Classic, earn me a paycheck and/or be the difference in several thousand dollars between second and third place. The Red Eye Shad will get more bites than other lures when bass are holding in a school. I don’t throw a lipless crankbait on a school of bass the first time I find the fish, unless they’re busting bait on the surface and actively feeding. If I fish the Red Eye Shad on a school of deep bass, often I’ll spook those fish. I’d rather use a crankbait, a worm or a jig to catch a fish, get the fish excited about feeding and then once they’ve stopped feeding, drop the Red Eye Shad to them.

Too, when I use this tactic, I’ll often catch the bigger bass in the school that haven’t bitten the other lures. Many times bigger bass are slower to react to a lure than smaller bass. Oftentimes the big bass in a school will be holding near the bottom, wait for the younger fish to attack, slash and kill bait, and then feed on the cripple bait as it floats to the bottom. Therefore, when I initially start fishing a school of deep bass, the first bass I generally catch are the actively-feeding bass. The bass will chase bait, try to kill bait and oftentimes injure as much bait as they kill and eat.

But when I throw the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad into the school, and it flutters to the bottom like a wounded shad, the bigger bass think they have a crippled baitfish. All they have to do is move over to where the bait will fall and let the Red Eye Shad drop into their mouths. So, the Red Eye Shad under these conditions simulates what occurs naturally when bass feed on bait, and I can get those one or two extra fish out of a school by using this bait after I fish other baits.

Question: What colors of 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad do you like?

Menendez: I like the sexy-shad, the green-gizzard shad and blue-gizzard shad colors on 15-pound-test Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line and a 7-foot All Star cranking rod with a Pflueger President reel.

Next: Don’t Forget the Spit-N-King

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