Entry 272-5
Mark Menendez – His Chances at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic and Why and How He Fishes Differently
Editor’s Note: Mark Menendez of Paducah, Kentucky, a long-time Strike King pro, spent a lot of time last season with Strike King’s new lures. Menendez had a very-successful tournament year and still may have a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic. This week, Menendez will tell us about his chances of fishing the Classic and the new techniques he’s learned while testing Strike King’s new lures this fishing season.
Part 5: Don’t Forget the Spit-N-King
Question: Mark, everyone gets excited about new baits, but what Strike King bait do you consider your old reliable?
Menendez: I bet on the Spit-N-King because it has floated on top of the water for several years. Too, there hasn’t been much uproar or publicity about this bait. I used that lure in 2005 after I nearly died with meningitis and won my first Bassmaster tour event. I also used it in 2005 on Lake West Point to win another tournament. I’ve guarded this bait for the last 3 years and haven’t talked about it. The Spit-N-King is longer and wider than most top-water chugger-type baits. It also has a little rattle in it, which helps me find and catch bass. With the Spit-N-King, I remove the front No. 4 short-shank treble hook and replace it with a No. 4 long-shank Gamakatsu hook, which adds more weight to the front end of the bait than the lure was designed to carry.
This extra weight brings the nose of the bait down and enables me to make better and different splash when I pop it on the surface. 
By adding the extra weight and pulling the nose of the Spit-N-King down, I can make the Spit-N-King walk the dog the way you expect a walking bait to move. This gives me a walking bait that’s completely different from any other walking bait because it has a cupped nose instead of a round nose. Plus, the Spit-N-King has a feathered tail hook - unlike any other walking bait. The feather has a drag on the bait, which doesn’t allow the bait to glide as far as most walking baits glide. By making the bait walk instead of pop, I can keep it in the strike zone of the bass longer than I can most walking baits.
Question: What color Spit-N-King do you like?
Menendez: As long as the belly is white, the color of the bait isn’t important. The white belly is the key to catching bass. Even if the Spit-N-King has sexy-shad or bluegill-colored sides, as long as the bait has a white belly, I’m confident I can catch bass with it.
Question: On what tackle do you fish the Spit-N-King?
Menendez: I fish it on 15-pound-test Berkley Big Game line on a 6-foot, 6-inch All Star rod with a Pflueger Trion reel.
Question: When do you fish the Spit-N-King?
Menendez: I just recently began fishing it for a longer period than I have in the past. The Spit-N-King is most effective from the post-spawn through late fall. When the bass come off the beds during the post-spawn, the Spit-N-King is easy for the bass to find and eat, and when the water temperature begins to cool and the grass dies-off, I like to fish this bait in the backs of creeks around the dying grass and the isolated cover. I still can get bass to come up and take the Spit-N-King when the water cools to 52 or 53 degrees.
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
