June 29, 2026 • 36 mins
Million Dollar Winning Bass Pro Mark Menendez on tonight's show. Mark gave an outstanding tutorial on summertime bass fishing, tips and techniques.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
News Radio eight forty whas welcomes you to Jim Straighter Outdoors,
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(00:23):
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(00:44):
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Outdoors on news Radio eight forty whas.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Good evening, everybody dem Straighter here and boy Scott cron
and I have a fantastic bass fishing special lined up
for you folks tonight. We've got Kentucky pro angler Mark
Menendez on with us. He's been on the program with
us before in the springtime, and due to popular command,
(01:25):
he's back with us tonight and we're doing a summertime
bass fishing special. Most of y'all probably realize how successful
Mark has been through the years. He's in his thirty
fifth years an Elite Series angler. He has just done
(01:45):
fantastically on the pro tour for a long time, three
time classic qualifier, and he's won over a million dollars
on the professional bass fishing circuit. And very important, he
is a Kentuckian. So what he's going to talk to
you about tonight, no doubt, will be very very helpful
(02:08):
to you folks out there. So it's going to be
a great show. He's going to talk about the conditions
at Barkley, Kentucky is two home lakes. There's some changes
there of note, and he's right on top of that.
We'll be discussing that. And another interesting aspect about Mark
is he is a fisheries biologist by training in addition
(02:32):
to be a pro angler, so he has a depth
of knowledge that's almost in incomparable from my perspective, and
he's willing to share his secrets with us tonight, So
you stick with us. We'll be right back after this break.
The break is presented by SMI Marine StarCraft pontoons, trattoons
(02:55):
and fiberglass deck boats, smoker Craft, aluminum fish boats, viper boats,
and all kinds of deep bees. The smoker Craft line
is brand new for them, so go see them. They'll
be glad to showcase them. And remember you never get
soaked by my friends at SMI Marine. God, I know
(03:15):
yours excited about Goodnight's interview with Mark Menendez as I am.
He sees a great guest, isn't he? He sure is.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And when the weather's hot, fishing can be hot too.
Sometimes we don't always go out when the conditions challenge us,
and fishing can be challenging in the summertime. But understanding
what these bass want to eat and where they're hiding out,
they're not on vacation. They're out there surviving each and
every day. And depending on what type of hook you
(03:45):
got tied onto, the line can reward you in so
many different ways, no matter if you're a tournament fisherman,
or somebody that just gets more time in the summer
to fish because of your work schedule or maybe the
fact that you're doing some traveling with family vacation. And
that's going to be a great program. Because the good
thing about Mark is no matter what his resume, can
(04:10):
stand up and shine and do and it's all earned.
He always has interest in making sure people have a
good experience when they're out fishing. And that's for all
age groups, just not kids. He's wanting to see people
catch fish and put them on the boat or bring
them up to the bank. And that's the great thing
about Mark. There's always something to learn no matter what
your skill level is with bass fishing.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Absolutely well, Mark, welcome aboard. Can you hear It's.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Okay, I can hear you guys, Just fine, Thank you
all for having me.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, it's always a delight And you and I go
back a long long time, and speaking a long times, Mark,
I think it's fair to say that you are justifiably
proud of your What is this now your thirty fifth
year on the Elite series?
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yes, this is this marks my thirty fifth year.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Somehow, Jim, over the years, I'm now the oldest elite
guy out there. So I don't know where all that
time has gone, but I've enjoyed just about every minute
of it, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, the fact that you are there and had been
there that long, that's testimony to how dependable you are
or how consistent you are as an angler, and an
elite series is pretty unique because you have to qualify
every year. I know you're in pretty good standings right now,
aren't you.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm on.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I'm above the cut line and had a real good
tournament here the other day. We just got home from
one of the most unique fisheries that I've been to
in a very long time, which which was the Outer
Banks from North Carolina. Jim the album All Sound, and
so we spend a lot of time running through salt
water to get to fresh water, long massive runs that
(06:00):
it's some of the most angry water I've ever been on.
But I managed to wrestle fifteen bass and finish in
the top forty of the event, and the final day
of the event, Jim, I gained eleven more angular to
your points. That moved me up considerably and gave me
a little bit of a cooch and over getting into
getting back requalified. So it was really a tough tournament
(06:21):
and I was really pleased to be able to pull
that out.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Cool. Yeah, I think most folks don't understand it's very,
very difficult with the talent that's out there nowadays to
do what you've been able to do for as long
as you have. And speaking a long time involvement, You've
been with Yamaha Strike King and Lose the sponsors for
(06:45):
decades now, haven't you.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, there's been longtime relationships there. In twenty five years
with Yamaha Strike King about the same, lose.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
About the same, And it's really.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Great having those people in your corner, building things that
I can depend on. You know, as a professional angler, Jim,
I'm really nothing more than a risk manager. I have
to manage, you know, the electricity in my boat with
great batteries. I have to make sure I've got plenty
of gas in the boat. I've got to make sure
(07:21):
my boats maintain to get me from point A to
point B. And those twenty five years with the Yamaha
behind me, with the reliability and dependability of the outboard,
it's never left me stranded. So that's a good feeling.
Whether I'm going out on our family pontoon with our
Yamaha two hundred on it, or I'm making one hundred
mile round trip run in a bass Master Elite series.
(07:42):
Knowing that I'm able to get there and back is
just a big, big plus.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And I know you're excited about your new boat. Tell
us about your new ride.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Well, I'm running a new boat. It's a company that
has been around for a few years, and it's kind
of getting the band back together, so to speak. Two
of the principal owners of Falcon Bass Boats in Newbury,
South Carolina used to rig my boats back in the
OEMC days in the early nineties, and we had an
(08:13):
opportunity to get back together and they got me the
biggest boat that is on the bass Master Elites heres.
I'm running a twenty one foot Predator. We've got several
Kentucky dealers that dealing in the Falcon boats and dog Onet.
This thing is so big, it rides so good, it
fishes so well. I have yet jim to take and
to drop a water over the bow of that boat
(08:35):
with my trolling motor down, which I can't say that
for other boats. That I've been in, But this darned
thing really takes care of me. It makes the pounding
of those long runs and that big water so much better.
I'm just proud to say that I landed in the
bird's nest and old big bird takes really good care
of them in that twenty one foot falcon.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
That is so cool. Well, Mark's let's kick things off
talking a little bit about bast behavior in the summertime,
because it is a totally different nitch really, and I
know you're very well versed in those differences. Can you
kind of take people through, you know, this June July
(09:16):
out of this period and discuss maybe what they're going
to see, and then we'll talk about tips and techniques
and what have you.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Sure you know I'm standing here, I'm overlooking Kentucky Lake
right now. We've got a nice little breeze going on
right now, and we've got a little bit of extra
water in the lake we've had. Jim, last night, my
phone kept going off because of bad weather alerts. I
had tornadoes to the north of me, and I had
tornadoes to the south of me, and we haven't had
(09:47):
a lot of water through the system here on the
Tennessee River on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, But that always
helps the fishing. And in the summer, you have to
realize that bass are cold blooded creatures, and what I
mean by that is their body temperature is the same
(10:07):
temperature as the water that they're swimming in.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
Where you and I in the cold, we want to get.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
In the heat, and in the in the hot, in
the heat, we want to get in the cold. These
guys stay out there, and there's some physiological changes that
go on with the fish as water temperatures rise, and
those become very very important when we start getting to
the end of June, like we have here July in
(10:32):
the first of August, but early June is one of
my favorite times to be out here. The spawn is
finishing up, the bass.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
Are starting to move out towards the main lake.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And interestingly enough, Jim, this year, I found that Kentucky
Lake and Barkley Lakes and pretty much everywhere across the
United States was about three weeks behind on the spawn,
and I find that to be very odd, and the
fish really didn't get out there good for a bass
(11:05):
Master Open tournament that we had here on Kentucky Lake,
and it was very strange being out there at the
end of June into May, first of June and winding
a big six x D in a ten XD and
not getting very many bites. But since then, they've moved
out there in great numbers, and the water's moving because
(11:26):
we've had a little bit of high water, and water
flow really dictates everything on a big reservoir this time
of year. Jim, you need that water moving. It puts
bass in predictable places as to the structure that we're
out there fishing.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
It also.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Moves the bait fish and whatever else they're trying to
eat out there across those same places. So, Jim, you know,
a bass is just like us, just like me and you.
When we go to the buffet restaurant, we're gonna sit
as close to that buffet as we can because we're
big and lazy and we don't want to have to
chase that meal down. But we've got to find those
(12:09):
places where those bait fish are prevalent.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, I've been quoted a lot. I say on the
show a lot no bait, no fish, and and what
I mean by that is if I'm not seeing much bait,
I'm moving you know why spend time where there is
no consistent food available when you can go to prime
spots where the feedbag is on. I mean that it
(12:34):
sounds simple, but a lot of anglers, you know, they
get tied to geography instead of paying attention to the biology.
Is the way I like to say.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
That, well, sense and I know I was right that
you like to sit close to that busfet because we
all do. In a bass is no different, you know,
as they as we get into that time period where
water tim are starting to get to that sixty eight
seventy seventy two consistent water temps, we get numbers of
(13:09):
movements and we can find fish that are bunched up
in groups. And that's what I really like to find
is where I can have you know, six or seven, six,
eight or ten xds tied on and utilize them as
fast as I can and get into a scrape with
(13:29):
these fish and catch multiples of them as fast as possible.
And it's really interesting, Jim, when those fish gets schooled
out there on the first good drop off adjacent to
the spawning area. We know where they were spawning. We
know they were in the backs of the coast big flats,
things like that. That's where they're gonna spawn. You just
(13:51):
need to back out and find the first significant drop
off adjacent to that. Now, that could be one hundred
yards from that flat, that could be half a mile
from that flat. But the biggest population is going to
be coming from that shallow water moving on out there
to that deep water. And what I'm looking for are
irregular features, whether it's a natural corner where the contours
(14:16):
drop off, a creek channel, bend, the end of a
bluff where it's flat on both ends on the inside
the bluff and coming on around to the outside of
the bluff. Anywhere that I can find that flat spot
for those fish to rest that has some current available
to them. Could be wind current on some reservoirs, it
(14:39):
could be man made current on others. And what you'll
do is you'll find groups of those fish out there.
I tend to like to throw that crank bait because
it is so fast, but once I start catching those
fish and pulling them to the boat, you'll kind of
break the school up and you'll need some other baits
(15:01):
to drag to mop up on that school that will
be coming back to the little piece of corner that
they were on on that gravel bar, on that shell bed,
and I'll drag a big football jig and or a
big ten inch worm of some sort with a very
(15:21):
slow presentation, and that'll get me a couple more bites.
Then I'll actually step down, Jim, to more of a
finesse bite with either a ned rig, a little small
ned rig, or a drop shot rig, and continue milking
that spot. Now, when you find a place like that, Jim,
don't worry about ketching them all. We're not that good
(15:42):
a fishermen and we're not gonna catch every one of
those fish. But leave it for about thirty or forty
minutes and you can come back. They'll gather back up,
they'll get back in position, and they'll become catchable again,
and you may be able to milk another half a
dozen or a dozen bass off that same spot. So
the one thing that I will say about this time
(16:03):
of year, timing is everything, And you may I can't
tell you how many times I've had tournaments here on
Kentucky Lake and I would find five or six places
that had good schools of fish on them, and I
would rotate through them one two, three, four, five, six,
one two three, four, five, six, and Jim late in
the day, I would finally connect with one of those
(16:24):
schools of fish that had moved up in position late
in the day to you know, thirty minutes before way
in and have a big sack of fish, and all
day long thinking, you know, I might not catch any
and not do well in this event, and then in
fifteen or twenty minutes it looked like I knew what
I was doing the whole day.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yeah, all right, we'll return to that theme after
this break. I want to continue that discussion about you
know what the best do is they transition into counter
spots that they look for consequently where you try to
target them. All right, folks, the break is present by
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(17:06):
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Go see the guys over there. They'll take great carry you.
And remember you never get soaked by my friends at
S and my marine Mark. I want to continue your
(17:28):
discussion about these behavioral changes that bass go through if
you would take us down that road, and then we're
gonna talk a little top water.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Well, one of the things that happens is as the
summer warms up. You know, I made mentioned earlier that
the bass or cold blooded creatures, so that the same
temperature as the water is as water temperatures actually get
above eighty which we have a lot in the Bluegrass State.
Bass activity or their willingness to chase allure surely goes.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Down, Jim.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
They get hot, they get lazy, and they still have
the need to feed, so they don't want to chase
as much. And we'll start seeing that, you know, about
the end of June, the first of July, water temperatures
will exceed eighty five to ninety degrees here in the
blue Grass State. Fish are still catchable, but you do
(18:25):
have to change that big six x D crank bait
is not as valuable a was it once was, but
a bottom bouncing lure really becomes more of a bait
that bass are still willing to eat.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Now.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
The one thing that happens is their metabolism is going.
Like the little engine that could, it keeps having the
need to feed, the need to feed but they don't
want to chase, So I upsize my lure. I make
sure I'm throwing a big jig with a big plastic
trailer on it, a ten or a twelve inch worm,
(18:59):
like a big bullworm that to strike king makes so
that they can get a steak dinner with one opportunity
to eat, instead of having to go by the drive
through multiple multiple times just to get some French fries.
So cover becomes extremely important on those deep structure elements.
(19:20):
Your schools kind of break up and they become homebodies,
and those pieces of cover, whether it's a brush pile,
whether it's a stump, whether it's a big rock, kind
of become condominiums and those fish stay in those areas,
still going to have a little current flow there to
bring them a bite to eat, but they're not going
to run down and chase anything. So it's very critical
(19:41):
that once you find a piece of cover, leave that
lure in that piece of cover as long as possible.
Yo yo it up and down in that brush pile.
May I may keep that big worm in their gym,
you know, two minutes. Sometimes lift it up, set it down.
You know, you lift it up six inches, you set
it down six inches. You know, thirty seconds later you
(20:02):
lift it up again, you set it back down, but
the bait only goes down three.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Inches instead of six inches.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
You just got to bite, So you have to be
very cognizant of what's going on. You've got to have
very sensitive line.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I use.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Cigar and viz X most of the time, twelve to
fifteen pounds when I'm doing this, and you almost have
to coax them just like a dog to eat.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Okay, very very happily put So, what are your main
targets in terms of this deep water structure, what's your
favorite and what puts one at a premium as opposed
to maybe some of the others. Because I know you're
real big on developing what we call milk runs. You
(20:48):
know where you're gonna hit this target in this one
and this one. But how do people kind of narrow
down what really turns you on in terms of a
spot versus some of the others that might be more
popular with other folks.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Well, what I really want is to have that current availability.
So I'm looking for any corner, any turn, any point
that sticks directly into the current that on Kentucky and
Barkley Lakes.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
You know, we basically have lakes that run from the south.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
To the north. I want something that is pointing to
the south, that is the direction in which that current
is continually tumbling. And when I can find something that
points into that current, I find something generally unique their gym,
and that's a shell bed, a big muscle bed that
has three ridge and maple leaf shells on It feels
(21:43):
like rock when you're coming across its, except those are
areas in which the current is higher. So those shells
deposit there because they're filter feeders and they're getting every
little bit of plank that they can get. But the
one thing that does is it creates an eddy and
underwater ag there. The fish get into that that little
eddy to be a mobile where they're not having to
(22:06):
work as hard in that current, and then the bait
fish comes through there because that higher current flow pushes
and pushes them to those areas. That's why shell beds
are so really really unique and so interesting. Those are
the ones that I really like. Now, all shell beds
face into the current perfectly on the south. But if
(22:28):
you find something that is sticking outwardly that has a
ninety degree turned to it, or is pointing due south
on Kentucky, Like, there's a pretty darn good chance that
there's a shell bed on there if it's in twelve
to twenty feet of water on top of it.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Okay, mark and lakes like say like oh for instance,
Rough River or nolling In or Green you know some
of the other lakes where the current drawing many times
is evident or is pervation. I guess maybe I should say,
is it would be a Kentucky in Berkeley talk us
(23:05):
through that. I know you still prefer channel backs, et cetera. Right,
you're still looking for that that area where the river current,
whatever small it may be, is still a draw right.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Have is less of a corp of engineer's influence and
more of a wind influence that moves that water down
the river at Rough River, down the river at no Land,
same way with Green River Reservoir. And what I'm looking
for there is areas in which deep water butts up
(23:40):
against the bank such that there will be a little
flat just like a just like a like a bluff bank.
But I want that little bit of flat on either
side of that, and those fish will migrate to that edge.
Get to that edge because they understand that when that
current is running, when that wind is moving water, that
(24:00):
things are going to be brought to them. They're going
to get something to eat just by being still on
a good ambush point, whether it's behind a lay down log,
behind a big rock, whatever it may be, they know
that with that water moving, their chances are really good
to get a good bite to eat.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
So we'll pay.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Real close attention. One of the things that I do
Jim on tour when I'm on a body of water
that I'm not really that familiar with, is I really
pay attention to the wind. And one of the good
things that technology has done is there are several good
weather apps that show wind and you can actually kind
(24:38):
of back up on there and look what was happening
during the evening before or the day before to see
if there's a predominant way that wind is blowing and
what the prediction is going to be the next day.
So one of the ones I use is called the
wind Finder app, and it is really really good about
telling me past, present and future predictions of what that
(25:03):
wind is going to do, and then it allows me
to target a wind blown bank, a straight section of
the river that the wind's blowing right down the middle
of I can kind of kind of gives me a
clue of where I need to be just by knowing
what the wind's doing on those reservoirs where power generation
is not as big as it is here on the
(25:23):
Tennessee River.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Cool. That's I will certainly be looking that app up
when we get off there, because I'm a big proponent
of playing the wind. It's such a factor, as you mentioned,
especially during times like the summer when water can get
a little stagnant and without wind it could be a
(25:45):
lot tougher than maybe it would have otherwise. Any other
particular things about how the fish behave this time of year,
one I guess we ought to talk about a little
bit is open water school. As the sheds start to
gather out on the mouths of the bays and on
the channels. You want to speak to that a little bit.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
Well.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Ad spawn will happen sometime a little bit after the
bass spawning, before it really gets hot, and you can
spend if you go to the reservoir and just take
ten minutes to ride around a little bit, it can
shorten your success rate by finding where all the big
birds are standing. All your white egrets and your great
(26:32):
blue herons will be along the bank. And if they're
standing on the bank somewhere, all lined up like fishermen
below the dam, that's what they're doing, and they're fishing
for their breakfast. And the shad spawn will be going
on that time of the year, and it doesn't last long, Jim.
It lasts so anywhere from thirty minutes to sometimes as
much as an hour and a half or two hours
(26:53):
after the break of day, and top water fishing is
a great way to do that. When you these conditions,
you will see birds lined up down the bank. You
may see ten or fifteen in one area and look
down the bank and see another ten or fifteen and
another ten or fifteen down through there, and that will
be a pretty good indication that that's where you need
(27:15):
to start looking. If that shad spawn's going on right there,
now gone it get ready gets you a walking bait
like a sexy dog, a popping bait like a splash,
and utilize those baits in a relatively clip quick manner.
One of the things that happens that time of the
(27:37):
year you get some schooling action fish busting on those menace.
And what I don't understand about that, Jim, is why
is it that when you go down the bank they
start blowing up behind you? You know, you just went
down that stretch of bank and they start blowing up
behind you. It happens every darn time you go. So
one of the things I do to combat that is
(27:59):
I'm actually fishing my top water lures with Brady line.
I'd take my drag off a little bit, back it
down a little bit, but braided line, I can make
tremendously long, accurate casts and get that bait close to
where I saw those fish breaking and have success in
(28:19):
that manner. The one negative gem to Brady's line is
it really likes to wrap around your hooks. It likes
to wrap around your prop blades on baits like a
devil horse or a Gilmore jumper or something like that.
So the way I combat that is I actually take
barber stoppers and line those up on my line, put
(28:42):
two or three in front of my line, and that
kind of and put them all sequentially right next together,
and that kind of makes that line stick out from
the eye of the hook that Brady's line, So it's
kind of rigid there with those barber stops on there,
and that really slows down how often my braided line
gets wrapped up on my hooks. So that's one of
(29:03):
the little pro tips that I've learned over the years
dealing with top water fish and trying to chase these
these fish that are really keyed in hard on spawning.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Chad Cool Cool. I want you to continue talking about
top water times a day, the different types the top
water lures that you use. After this break, if you will,
Break is presented by SMI Marine. Go see their StarCraft pontoons,
deck boats and trattoons and their new line of smoker
(29:34):
Craft aluminum boats. They've got them in all kinds of configurations,
everything from baths to catfish to crappie models. And remember
you never get soaked by my friends at SMI. Okay, Mark,
we started a little bit on top order and it's
ever since I was a kid saw my first bass
hit a top orter bait, I was hooked for life,
(29:57):
as I like to say, kind of a that's always
fascinated me. And one of the things I like about
top water is it looks so much like a crippled
fish in most cases. Of course, it imitates other things,
some of the lures, but I guess it's, in my estimation,
a little harder for a fish to tell it's unnatural
(30:20):
than some of the other underwater based But like your
thoughts on that, and then talk as though your your
charges when they use them and why you use them.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Well, there's one thing about top water, Jim. It's visual.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
You can see the fish get it. If you think
about how a bass's mouth is shaped, it's kind of
groomed to feed in an upward motion. So that's why
top water can be so good. One of the things
that I really love about top water is it seems
to catch really big fish. It attracts really big fish.
(30:57):
We were an event a couple of years ago that
I that I finished second place in at Santee Cooper
and I kind of let them the oh, I let
the I let it out of the bag. A really
good friend of mine had passed away and he loved.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
This one top waterlore. And uh, I.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Was fortunate enough to get those baits after my friend
passed away. And it's a it's a big double prop bait,
and uh it makes a it makes the most awful racket.
It makes kind of a metallic chopping kind of sound
like a and those bass could hear that for.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
A long long way away.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
And I caught some of the most unbelievable strikes under
cypress trees at Santee Cooper. These were fish that were
protecting their fry, to protecting their young of the year babies,
and uh they did it with a vengeance and it
was really really exciting. One of the ones that I
(31:56):
really like, and they're a little hard to find as
a bait called a guilt More jumper. A little company
in Arkansas made them for years. I don't even know
if they're still in business. Gym, but baits like a
devil Horse or great baits as well, and it just
is a big topwater bait. The big Gilmore jumper is
(32:17):
about five inches long and it's probably two to two
and a half inches around, so it displaces a lot
of water. And those blades help keep it in the
proximity near a piece of cover, so you could twitch
that bait and it not move a long distance forward.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Man.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
I learned about this bait here on Kentucky Lake eons ago,
and I have caught so many big fish with that bait.
Speaker 5 (32:44):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
But I want to back up to one thing that
I don't care what lake it is in the Bluegrass,
when top water really shines, Jim, and these little pesky
critters that come out, you know, for twenty four hours.
They live in the mud all their lives. They come out,
they live about twenty four hours, they breed, and then
(33:05):
they die. But the blue gill and all the fish
in the lake absolutely love them. And that's a mayfly,
a whillifly hatch that can go on this time of year.
Anytime you can find a wheelifly hatch, I highly recommend
that you get some kind of a top water bait
in there, particularly like a top water popper like a
(33:26):
KVD splash that's got feathered trebles on it. Right now,
we're having some small whellowfly hatches on Kentucky Lake. And
I got out the other day and running down the bank,
and of course you know me, Jim, I want to
be out there in the middle of the durned lake
cranking that big plood or throwing that big worm. And
I'm running down through here and all of a sudden,
(33:46):
I'm getting pelted by these durned whilliflies and I pull
over to the bank and it's on the main lake,
and the wind was real calm, and I'm watching these
bluegill eat all these whilliwflies. And I picked up a
half ounce k TV splash and popped at about three times,
and a great, big, large mouth just killed this thing.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Well.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I went another twenty five yards and I saw a
little ripple into water where a fish moved. I pitched
over there, and I low and behold, I'm on with
about a four pound small mouth, jumping and carrying on
as they do. And I had a wonderful stretch down
through there for about one hundred yards and caught numerous
bass on that top water. And then all of a sudden,
(34:26):
the willow flies kind of quit what they were doing,
and then the fishing quit. So always watch for that
willowfly hatch, willow mayfly hatch this time of year, dog gone.
Then you can really catch a lot of fish quick
like that.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yes, sir, what you know? There's so many types of
topwater baits. How would you break them down in terms
of what makes you reach for Let's say, a prop
bank versus one like a rapa flooring power, or you know.
I'd go on and on it Zara spoof. What what?
(35:03):
What are your thoughts on those baits and when they
use them?
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Well, I use those baits very much like a mechanic
would use a set of wrenches. A popping style bait.
I want it to be around a piece of cover,
whether it's a stump or a lay down or a
boat dock, a grass line. I want that bait to
be very close to the proximity to the cover. A
(35:28):
walking bait like a sexy dog or a Zara spoof.
That's one I'm throwing over the ends of points, rocky
points and things like that. So and then again, your
your prop baits are ones that I want around some cover.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, very very good, all right, I got to go
to break here. It's presented by s M MY Marine.
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(36:06):
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Outdoors on news Radio eight forty whas.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Good evening, everybody dem Straighter here and boy Scott cron
and I have a fantastic bass fishing special lined up
for you folks tonight. We've got Kentucky pro angler Mark
Menendez on with us. He's been on the program with
us before in the springtime, and due to popular command,
(01:25):
he's back with us tonight and we're doing a summertime
bass fishing special. Most of y'all probably realize how successful
Mark has been through the years. He's in his thirty
fifth years an Elite Series angler. He has just done
(01:45):
fantastically on the pro tour for a long time, three
time classic qualifier, and he's won over a million dollars
on the professional bass fishing circuit. And very important, he
is a Kentuckian. So what he's going to talk to
you about tonight, no doubt, will be very very helpful
(02:08):
to you folks out there. So it's going to be
a great show. He's going to talk about the conditions
at Barkley, Kentucky is two home lakes. There's some changes
there of note, and he's right on top of that.
We'll be discussing that. And another interesting aspect about Mark
is he is a fisheries biologist by training in addition
(02:32):
to be a pro angler, so he has a depth
of knowledge that's almost in incomparable from my perspective, and
he's willing to share his secrets with us tonight, So
you stick with us. We'll be right back after this break.
The break is presented by SMI Marine StarCraft pontoons, trattoons
(02:55):
and fiberglass deck boats, smoker Craft, aluminum fish boats, viper boats,
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(03:15):
yours excited about Goodnight's interview with Mark Menendez as I am.
He sees a great guest, isn't he? He sure is.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And when the weather's hot, fishing can be hot too.
Sometimes we don't always go out when the conditions challenge us,
and fishing can be challenging in the summertime. But understanding
what these bass want to eat and where they're hiding out,
they're not on vacation. They're out there surviving each and
every day. And depending on what type of hook you
(03:45):
got tied onto, the line can reward you in so
many different ways, no matter if you're a tournament fisherman,
or somebody that just gets more time in the summer
to fish because of your work schedule or maybe the
fact that you're doing some traveling with family vacation. And
that's going to be a great program. Because the good
thing about Mark is no matter what his resume, can
(04:10):
stand up and shine and do and it's all earned.
He always has interest in making sure people have a
good experience when they're out fishing. And that's for all
age groups, just not kids. He's wanting to see people
catch fish and put them on the boat or bring
them up to the bank. And that's the great thing
about Mark. There's always something to learn no matter what
your skill level is with bass fishing.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Absolutely well, Mark, welcome aboard. Can you hear It's.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Okay, I can hear you guys, Just fine, Thank you
all for having me.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, it's always a delight And you and I go
back a long long time, and speaking a long times, Mark,
I think it's fair to say that you are justifiably
proud of your What is this now your thirty fifth
year on the Elite series?
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yes, this is this marks my thirty fifth year.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Somehow, Jim, over the years, I'm now the oldest elite
guy out there. So I don't know where all that
time has gone, but I've enjoyed just about every minute
of it, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Well, the fact that you are there and had been
there that long, that's testimony to how dependable you are
or how consistent you are as an angler, and an
elite series is pretty unique because you have to qualify
every year. I know you're in pretty good standings right now,
aren't you.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm on.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I'm above the cut line and had a real good
tournament here the other day. We just got home from
one of the most unique fisheries that I've been to
in a very long time, which which was the Outer
Banks from North Carolina. Jim the album All Sound, and
so we spend a lot of time running through salt
water to get to fresh water, long massive runs that
(06:00):
it's some of the most angry water I've ever been on.
But I managed to wrestle fifteen bass and finish in
the top forty of the event, and the final day
of the event, Jim, I gained eleven more angular to
your points. That moved me up considerably and gave me
a little bit of a cooch and over getting into
getting back requalified. So it was really a tough tournament
(06:21):
and I was really pleased to be able to pull
that out.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Cool. Yeah, I think most folks don't understand it's very,
very difficult with the talent that's out there nowadays to
do what you've been able to do for as long
as you have. And speaking a long time involvement, You've
been with Yamaha Strike King and Lose the sponsors for
(06:45):
decades now, haven't you.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, there's been longtime relationships there. In twenty five years
with Yamaha Strike King about the same, lose.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
About the same, And it's really.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Great having those people in your corner, building things that
I can depend on. You know, as a professional angler, Jim,
I'm really nothing more than a risk manager. I have
to manage, you know, the electricity in my boat with
great batteries. I have to make sure I've got plenty
of gas in the boat. I've got to make sure
(07:21):
my boats maintain to get me from point A to
point B. And those twenty five years with the Yamaha
behind me, with the reliability and dependability of the outboard,
it's never left me stranded. So that's a good feeling.
Whether I'm going out on our family pontoon with our
Yamaha two hundred on it, or I'm making one hundred
mile round trip run in a bass Master Elite series.
(07:42):
Knowing that I'm able to get there and back is
just a big, big plus.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And I know you're excited about your new boat. Tell
us about your new ride.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Well, I'm running a new boat. It's a company that
has been around for a few years, and it's kind
of getting the band back together, so to speak. Two
of the principal owners of Falcon Bass Boats in Newbury,
South Carolina used to rig my boats back in the
OEMC days in the early nineties, and we had an
(08:13):
opportunity to get back together and they got me the
biggest boat that is on the bass Master Elites heres.
I'm running a twenty one foot Predator. We've got several
Kentucky dealers that dealing in the Falcon boats and dog Onet.
This thing is so big, it rides so good, it
fishes so well. I have yet jim to take and
to drop a water over the bow of that boat
(08:35):
with my trolling motor down, which I can't say that
for other boats. That I've been in, But this darned
thing really takes care of me. It makes the pounding
of those long runs and that big water so much better.
I'm just proud to say that I landed in the
bird's nest and old big bird takes really good care
of them in that twenty one foot falcon.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
That is so cool. Well, Mark's let's kick things off
talking a little bit about bast behavior in the summertime,
because it is a totally different nitch really, and I
know you're very well versed in those differences. Can you
kind of take people through, you know, this June July
(09:16):
out of this period and discuss maybe what they're going
to see, and then we'll talk about tips and techniques
and what have you.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Sure you know I'm standing here, I'm overlooking Kentucky Lake
right now. We've got a nice little breeze going on
right now, and we've got a little bit of extra
water in the lake we've had. Jim, last night, my
phone kept going off because of bad weather alerts. I
had tornadoes to the north of me, and I had
tornadoes to the south of me, and we haven't had
(09:47):
a lot of water through the system here on the
Tennessee River on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, But that always
helps the fishing. And in the summer, you have to
realize that bass are cold blooded creatures, and what I
mean by that is their body temperature is the same
(10:07):
temperature as the water that they're swimming in.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
Where you and I in the cold, we want to get.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
In the heat, and in the in the hot, in
the heat, we want to get in the cold. These
guys stay out there, and there's some physiological changes that
go on with the fish as water temperatures rise, and
those become very very important when we start getting to
the end of June, like we have here July in
(10:32):
the first of August, but early June is one of
my favorite times to be out here. The spawn is
finishing up, the bass.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
Are starting to move out towards the main lake.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And interestingly enough, Jim, this year, I found that Kentucky
Lake and Barkley Lakes and pretty much everywhere across the
United States was about three weeks behind on the spawn,
and I find that to be very odd, and the
fish really didn't get out there good for a bass
(11:05):
Master Open tournament that we had here on Kentucky Lake,
and it was very strange being out there at the
end of June into May, first of June and winding
a big six x D in a ten XD and
not getting very many bites. But since then, they've moved
out there in great numbers, and the water's moving because
(11:26):
we've had a little bit of high water, and water
flow really dictates everything on a big reservoir this time
of year. Jim, you need that water moving. It puts
bass in predictable places as to the structure that we're
out there fishing.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
It also.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Moves the bait fish and whatever else they're trying to
eat out there across those same places. So, Jim, you know,
a bass is just like us, just like me and you.
When we go to the buffet restaurant, we're gonna sit
as close to that buffet as we can because we're
big and lazy and we don't want to have to
chase that meal down. But we've got to find those
(12:09):
places where those bait fish are prevalent.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, I've been quoted a lot. I say on the
show a lot no bait, no fish, and and what
I mean by that is if I'm not seeing much bait,
I'm moving you know why spend time where there is
no consistent food available when you can go to prime
spots where the feedbag is on. I mean that it
(12:34):
sounds simple, but a lot of anglers, you know, they
get tied to geography instead of paying attention to the biology.
Is the way I like to say.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
That, well, sense and I know I was right that
you like to sit close to that busfet because we
all do. In a bass is no different, you know,
as they as we get into that time period where
water tim are starting to get to that sixty eight
seventy seventy two consistent water temps, we get numbers of
(13:09):
movements and we can find fish that are bunched up
in groups. And that's what I really like to find
is where I can have you know, six or seven, six,
eight or ten xds tied on and utilize them as
fast as I can and get into a scrape with
(13:29):
these fish and catch multiples of them as fast as possible.
And it's really interesting, Jim, when those fish gets schooled
out there on the first good drop off adjacent to
the spawning area. We know where they were spawning. We
know they were in the backs of the coast big flats,
things like that. That's where they're gonna spawn. You just
(13:51):
need to back out and find the first significant drop
off adjacent to that. Now, that could be one hundred
yards from that flat, that could be half a mile
from that flat. But the biggest population is going to
be coming from that shallow water moving on out there
to that deep water. And what I'm looking for are
irregular features, whether it's a natural corner where the contours
(14:16):
drop off, a creek channel, bend, the end of a
bluff where it's flat on both ends on the inside
the bluff and coming on around to the outside of
the bluff. Anywhere that I can find that flat spot
for those fish to rest that has some current available
to them. Could be wind current on some reservoirs, it
(14:39):
could be man made current on others. And what you'll
do is you'll find groups of those fish out there.
I tend to like to throw that crank bait because
it is so fast, but once I start catching those
fish and pulling them to the boat, you'll kind of
break the school up and you'll need some other baits
(15:01):
to drag to mop up on that school that will
be coming back to the little piece of corner that
they were on on that gravel bar, on that shell bed,
and I'll drag a big football jig and or a
big ten inch worm of some sort with a very
(15:21):
slow presentation, and that'll get me a couple more bites.
Then I'll actually step down, Jim, to more of a
finesse bite with either a ned rig, a little small
ned rig, or a drop shot rig, and continue milking
that spot. Now, when you find a place like that, Jim,
don't worry about ketching them all. We're not that good
(15:42):
a fishermen and we're not gonna catch every one of
those fish. But leave it for about thirty or forty
minutes and you can come back. They'll gather back up,
they'll get back in position, and they'll become catchable again,
and you may be able to milk another half a
dozen or a dozen bass off that same spot. So
the one thing that I will say about this time
(16:03):
of year, timing is everything, And you may I can't
tell you how many times I've had tournaments here on
Kentucky Lake and I would find five or six places
that had good schools of fish on them, and I
would rotate through them one two, three, four, five, six,
one two three, four, five, six, and Jim late in
the day, I would finally connect with one of those
(16:24):
schools of fish that had moved up in position late
in the day to you know, thirty minutes before way
in and have a big sack of fish, and all
day long thinking, you know, I might not catch any
and not do well in this event, and then in
fifteen or twenty minutes it looked like I knew what
I was doing the whole day.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yeah, all right, we'll return to that theme after
this break. I want to continue that discussion about you
know what the best do is they transition into counter
spots that they look for consequently where you try to
target them. All right, folks, the break is present by
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(17:06):
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And remember you never get soaked by my friends at
S and my marine Mark. I want to continue your
(17:28):
discussion about these behavioral changes that bass go through if
you would take us down that road, and then we're
gonna talk a little top water.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Well, one of the things that happens is as the
summer warms up. You know, I made mentioned earlier that
the bass or cold blooded creatures, so that the same
temperature as the water is as water temperatures actually get
above eighty which we have a lot in the Bluegrass State.
Bass activity or their willingness to chase allure surely goes.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Down, Jim.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
They get hot, they get lazy, and they still have
the need to feed, so they don't want to chase
as much. And we'll start seeing that, you know, about
the end of June, the first of July, water temperatures
will exceed eighty five to ninety degrees here in the
blue Grass State. Fish are still catchable, but you do
(18:25):
have to change that big six x D crank bait
is not as valuable a was it once was, but
a bottom bouncing lure really becomes more of a bait
that bass are still willing to eat.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Now.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
The one thing that happens is their metabolism is going.
Like the little engine that could, it keeps having the
need to feed, the need to feed but they don't
want to chase, So I upsize my lure. I make
sure I'm throwing a big jig with a big plastic
trailer on it, a ten or a twelve inch worm,
(18:59):
like a big bullworm that to strike king makes so
that they can get a steak dinner with one opportunity
to eat, instead of having to go by the drive
through multiple multiple times just to get some French fries.
So cover becomes extremely important on those deep structure elements.
(19:20):
Your schools kind of break up and they become homebodies,
and those pieces of cover, whether it's a brush pile,
whether it's a stump, whether it's a big rock, kind
of become condominiums and those fish stay in those areas,
still going to have a little current flow there to
bring them a bite to eat, but they're not going
to run down and chase anything. So it's very critical
(19:41):
that once you find a piece of cover, leave that
lure in that piece of cover as long as possible.
Yo yo it up and down in that brush pile.
May I may keep that big worm in their gym,
you know, two minutes. Sometimes lift it up, set it down.
You know, you lift it up six inches, you set
it down six inches. You know, thirty seconds later you
(20:02):
lift it up again, you set it back down, but
the bait only goes down three.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Inches instead of six inches.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
You just got to bite, So you have to be
very cognizant of what's going on. You've got to have
very sensitive line.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I use.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Cigar and viz X most of the time, twelve to
fifteen pounds when I'm doing this, and you almost have
to coax them just like a dog to eat.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Okay, very very happily put So, what are your main
targets in terms of this deep water structure, what's your
favorite and what puts one at a premium as opposed
to maybe some of the others. Because I know you're
real big on developing what we call milk runs. You
(20:48):
know where you're gonna hit this target in this one
and this one. But how do people kind of narrow
down what really turns you on in terms of a
spot versus some of the others that might be more
popular with other folks.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Well, what I really want is to have that current availability.
So I'm looking for any corner, any turn, any point
that sticks directly into the current that on Kentucky and
Barkley Lakes.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
You know, we basically have lakes that run from the south.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
To the north. I want something that is pointing to
the south, that is the direction in which that current
is continually tumbling. And when I can find something that
points into that current, I find something generally unique their gym,
and that's a shell bed, a big muscle bed that
has three ridge and maple leaf shells on It feels
(21:43):
like rock when you're coming across its, except those are
areas in which the current is higher. So those shells
deposit there because they're filter feeders and they're getting every
little bit of plank that they can get. But the
one thing that does is it creates an eddy and
underwater ag there. The fish get into that that little
eddy to be a mobile where they're not having to
(22:06):
work as hard in that current, and then the bait
fish comes through there because that higher current flow pushes
and pushes them to those areas. That's why shell beds
are so really really unique and so interesting. Those are
the ones that I really like. Now, all shell beds
face into the current perfectly on the south. But if
(22:28):
you find something that is sticking outwardly that has a
ninety degree turned to it, or is pointing due south
on Kentucky, Like, there's a pretty darn good chance that
there's a shell bed on there if it's in twelve
to twenty feet of water on top of it.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Okay, mark and lakes like say like oh for instance,
Rough River or nolling In or Green you know some
of the other lakes where the current drawing many times
is evident or is pervation. I guess maybe I should say,
is it would be a Kentucky in Berkeley talk us
(23:05):
through that. I know you still prefer channel backs, et cetera. Right,
you're still looking for that that area where the river current,
whatever small it may be, is still a draw right.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Have is less of a corp of engineer's influence and
more of a wind influence that moves that water down
the river at Rough River, down the river at no Land,
same way with Green River Reservoir. And what I'm looking
for there is areas in which deep water butts up
(23:40):
against the bank such that there will be a little
flat just like a just like a like a bluff bank.
But I want that little bit of flat on either
side of that, and those fish will migrate to that edge.
Get to that edge because they understand that when that
current is running, when that wind is moving water, that
(24:00):
things are going to be brought to them. They're going
to get something to eat just by being still on
a good ambush point, whether it's behind a lay down log,
behind a big rock, whatever it may be, they know
that with that water moving, their chances are really good
to get a good bite to eat.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
So we'll pay.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Real close attention. One of the things that I do
Jim on tour when I'm on a body of water
that I'm not really that familiar with, is I really
pay attention to the wind. And one of the good
things that technology has done is there are several good
weather apps that show wind and you can actually kind
(24:38):
of back up on there and look what was happening
during the evening before or the day before to see
if there's a predominant way that wind is blowing and
what the prediction is going to be the next day.
So one of the ones I use is called the
wind Finder app, and it is really really good about
telling me past, present and future predictions of what that
(25:03):
wind is going to do, and then it allows me
to target a wind blown bank, a straight section of
the river that the wind's blowing right down the middle
of I can kind of kind of gives me a
clue of where I need to be just by knowing
what the wind's doing on those reservoirs where power generation
is not as big as it is here on the
(25:23):
Tennessee River.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Cool. That's I will certainly be looking that app up
when we get off there, because I'm a big proponent
of playing the wind. It's such a factor, as you mentioned,
especially during times like the summer when water can get
a little stagnant and without wind it could be a
(25:45):
lot tougher than maybe it would have otherwise. Any other
particular things about how the fish behave this time of year,
one I guess we ought to talk about a little
bit is open water school. As the sheds start to
gather out on the mouths of the bays and on
the channels. You want to speak to that a little bit.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
Well.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Ad spawn will happen sometime a little bit after the
bass spawning, before it really gets hot, and you can
spend if you go to the reservoir and just take
ten minutes to ride around a little bit, it can
shorten your success rate by finding where all the big
birds are standing. All your white egrets and your great
(26:32):
blue herons will be along the bank. And if they're
standing on the bank somewhere, all lined up like fishermen
below the dam, that's what they're doing, and they're fishing
for their breakfast. And the shad spawn will be going
on that time of the year, and it doesn't last long, Jim.
It lasts so anywhere from thirty minutes to sometimes as
much as an hour and a half or two hours
(26:53):
after the break of day, and top water fishing is
a great way to do that. When you these conditions,
you will see birds lined up down the bank. You
may see ten or fifteen in one area and look
down the bank and see another ten or fifteen and
another ten or fifteen down through there, and that will
be a pretty good indication that that's where you need
(27:15):
to start looking. If that shad spawn's going on right there,
now gone it get ready gets you a walking bait
like a sexy dog, a popping bait like a splash,
and utilize those baits in a relatively clip quick manner.
One of the things that happens that time of the
(27:37):
year you get some schooling action fish busting on those menace.
And what I don't understand about that, Jim, is why
is it that when you go down the bank they
start blowing up behind you? You know, you just went
down that stretch of bank and they start blowing up
behind you. It happens every darn time you go. So
one of the things I do to combat that is
(27:59):
I'm actually fishing my top water lures with Brady line.
I'd take my drag off a little bit, back it
down a little bit, but braided line, I can make
tremendously long, accurate casts and get that bait close to
where I saw those fish breaking and have success in
(28:19):
that manner. The one negative gem to Brady's line is
it really likes to wrap around your hooks. It likes
to wrap around your prop blades on baits like a
devil horse or a Gilmore jumper or something like that.
So the way I combat that is I actually take
barber stoppers and line those up on my line, put
(28:42):
two or three in front of my line, and that
kind of and put them all sequentially right next together,
and that kind of makes that line stick out from
the eye of the hook that Brady's line, So it's
kind of rigid there with those barber stops on there,
and that really slows down how often my braided line
gets wrapped up on my hooks. So that's one of
(29:03):
the little pro tips that I've learned over the years
dealing with top water fish and trying to chase these
these fish that are really keyed in hard on spawning.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Chad Cool Cool. I want you to continue talking about
top water times a day, the different types the top
water lures that you use. After this break, if you will,
Break is presented by SMI Marine. Go see their StarCraft pontoons,
deck boats and trattoons and their new line of smoker
(29:34):
Craft aluminum boats. They've got them in all kinds of configurations,
everything from baths to catfish to crappie models. And remember
you never get soaked by my friends at SMI. Okay, Mark,
we started a little bit on top order and it's
ever since I was a kid saw my first bass
hit a top orter bait, I was hooked for life,
(29:57):
as I like to say, kind of a that's always
fascinated me. And one of the things I like about
top water is it looks so much like a crippled
fish in most cases. Of course, it imitates other things,
some of the lures, but I guess it's, in my estimation,
a little harder for a fish to tell it's unnatural
(30:20):
than some of the other underwater based But like your
thoughts on that, and then talk as though your your
charges when they use them and why you use them.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Well, there's one thing about top water, Jim. It's visual.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
You can see the fish get it. If you think
about how a bass's mouth is shaped, it's kind of
groomed to feed in an upward motion. So that's why
top water can be so good. One of the things
that I really love about top water is it seems
to catch really big fish. It attracts really big fish.
(30:57):
We were an event a couple of years ago that
I that I finished second place in at Santee Cooper
and I kind of let them the oh, I let
the I let it out of the bag. A really
good friend of mine had passed away and he loved.
Speaker 5 (31:11):
This one top waterlore. And uh, I.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Was fortunate enough to get those baits after my friend
passed away. And it's a it's a big double prop bait,
and uh it makes a it makes the most awful racket.
It makes kind of a metallic chopping kind of sound
like a and those bass could hear that for.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
A long long way away.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
And I caught some of the most unbelievable strikes under
cypress trees at Santee Cooper. These were fish that were
protecting their fry, to protecting their young of the year babies,
and uh they did it with a vengeance and it
was really really exciting. One of the ones that I
(31:56):
really like, and they're a little hard to find as
a bait called a guilt More jumper. A little company
in Arkansas made them for years. I don't even know
if they're still in business. Gym, but baits like a
devil Horse or great baits as well, and it just
is a big topwater bait. The big Gilmore jumper is
(32:17):
about five inches long and it's probably two to two
and a half inches around, so it displaces a lot
of water. And those blades help keep it in the
proximity near a piece of cover, so you could twitch
that bait and it not move a long distance forward.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Man.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
I learned about this bait here on Kentucky Lake eons ago,
and I have caught so many big fish with that bait.
Speaker 5 (32:44):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
But I want to back up to one thing that
I don't care what lake it is in the Bluegrass,
when top water really shines, Jim, and these little pesky
critters that come out, you know, for twenty four hours.
They live in the mud all their lives. They come out,
they live about twenty four hours, they breed, and then
(33:05):
they die. But the blue gill and all the fish
in the lake absolutely love them. And that's a mayfly,
a whillifly hatch that can go on this time of year.
Anytime you can find a wheelifly hatch, I highly recommend
that you get some kind of a top water bait
in there, particularly like a top water popper like a
(33:26):
KVD splash that's got feathered trebles on it. Right now,
we're having some small whellowfly hatches on Kentucky Lake. And
I got out the other day and running down the bank,
and of course you know me, Jim, I want to
be out there in the middle of the durned lake
cranking that big plood or throwing that big worm. And
I'm running down through here and all of a sudden,
(33:46):
I'm getting pelted by these durned whilliflies and I pull
over to the bank and it's on the main lake,
and the wind was real calm, and I'm watching these
bluegill eat all these whilliwflies. And I picked up a
half ounce k TV splash and popped at about three times,
and a great, big, large mouth just killed this thing.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Well.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I went another twenty five yards and I saw a
little ripple into water where a fish moved. I pitched
over there, and I low and behold, I'm on with
about a four pound small mouth, jumping and carrying on
as they do. And I had a wonderful stretch down
through there for about one hundred yards and caught numerous
bass on that top water. And then all of a sudden,
(34:26):
the willow flies kind of quit what they were doing,
and then the fishing quit. So always watch for that
willowfly hatch, willow mayfly hatch this time of year, dog gone.
Then you can really catch a lot of fish quick
like that.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yes, sir, what you know? There's so many types of
topwater baits. How would you break them down in terms
of what makes you reach for Let's say, a prop
bank versus one like a rapa flooring power, or you know.
I'd go on and on it Zara spoof. What what?
(35:03):
What are your thoughts on those baits and when they
use them?
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Well, I use those baits very much like a mechanic
would use a set of wrenches. A popping style bait.
I want it to be around a piece of cover,
whether it's a stump or a lay down or a
boat dock, a grass line. I want that bait to
be very close to the proximity to the cover. A
(35:28):
walking bait like a sexy dog or a Zara spoof.
That's one I'm throwing over the ends of points, rocky
points and things like that. So and then again, your
your prop baits are ones that I want around some cover.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, very very good, all right, I got to go
to break here. It's presented by s M MY Marine.
Go see them. You'll have new friends by the time
you leave there. That walk you through all the boats
that they're carrying. Now they say StarCraft pontoons, try tunes
and deck boats, and they've got a new line of
smoke or craft aluminum boats as well. Go see them
(36:06):
and remember you'll never get soaked by my friends at
SMI Marine
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