Entry 285-2
How to Make Decisions That Help You Catch More Bass with Mark Menendez
Editor’s Note: Mark Menendez of Paducah, Kentucky, a long-time Strike King pro, is one of Strike King’s most-consistent pros. This week, Menendez will tell us how he makes the critical decisions in a tournament that helps him catch more bass.
Part 2: Deciding to Change Lures
Question: Mark, how do you make a decision to change lures?
Menendez: I have basic principles I usually follow based on past knowledge. On overcast days, bass tend to bite moving lures better than non-moving lures, and on high, bluebird sky days, bass bite lures that aren’t moving as fast as the lures you fish on overcast days. The exception to these rules is when you calculate the wind and the current into the equation. If I have wind on a bright, sunny day, I still can get bass to bite moving lures, because the bass will concentrate behind a rock or a stump facing into the wind. 
The same is true if I have current coming through the river on a bluebird day.
I also make lure choices and changes, depending on the type of cover I’m fishing, and how the fish are holding in the cover. If I’ve been fishing a crankbait around the outside edges of a really-thick bush, and I’m not catching bass, I may use a flipping or a pitching rod with a Strike King Denny Brauer jig or a new Strike King creature bait, flipping into cover because these lures are more productive when fishing vertically through cover.
Too, I may change lures when the bass stop hitting the lure I’m fishing. If the bass are hitting a big, deep-diving crankbait and for some reason, they stop taking that bait, I may change to a Carolina rig, a worm, a spinner bait or some other lure I can fish in that same water depth, but presents a different profile and action from the lure I’ve used to catch the bass. 
Another factor is the water color.
If I’ve been fishing stained, muddy or dingy water, and suddenly I find a clear spring run-off or a clear creek, I may want to change the color or the style of my lure to reflect the change in the water color. Changing lures allows fishermen to adapt their fishing techniques to the subtle changes in the fish’s environment. Strike King makes a wide variety of lures that allow fishermen to make changes in size, color or even types of lure to elicit more strikes and catch more bass.
Contents:
- Part 1: Stay Close or Run Far
- Part 2: Deciding to Change Lures
- Part 3: Why and When to Leave Biting Bass
- Part 4: I Don't Like Lightning
- Part 5: Leading the Last Day
