Mark Menendez – Yesterday was a Tough Day

Yesterday was the first day of Elite Series practice. I am not there for the first time in the history of the Elite Series. I think I am dealing with it fairly well!

My new task is not to fish as much. It is to take care of my wife. Donna is deep into a battle with Pancreatic Cancer. She needs me here as a caregiver and patient advocate. This is a real challenge as my learning curve has been extremely vertical. At this point, I feel as if I am getting more comfortable with my new role. The phone just rang and it is our insurance carrier. I made my heart jump into my throat! Little things like the phone ringing are what are so hard about dealing with this nasty disease. One just never knows what is around the corner. She is making great strides towards the end of her protocol.

It will be hard being on the sidelines for the season as an angler. As a husband and father, I will be miles removed from the actual fishing of the Elite Events. My energy is urgently needed here at home. 100% of my sponsors believe that statement as well! The entire group of companies that I represent have committed to my family that they are along for the ride without me in the Elite field! This is the finest compliment that I have ever been giving in my entire life. For this, I am humbled.

I just returned from having lunch with a collegiate angler that is nearing graduation. He contacted me through my website and asked me for advice about fishing professionally. He drove two hours from his home and is currently headed an additional two hours to attend class. His desire to fish takes me back twenty years! He has a plan for post collegiate fishing and moving towards the professional ranks. I enjoyed spending the time to discuss career options. He really took me back to some of my fondest memories.

The production crew from Strike King will be heading my way in the attempt to film a show for “Pro Team Journal” It is always fun to work with them on filming. I am really going to try to put a high educational value on this show for the viewers. We will try to get deep into the technique and feed more information than just catching fish. I appreciate all of the viewers that have made comments to me at various sports shows about the information they have learned from Strike King’s Pro Team Journal. I promise to do my best to help make your fishing experiences better from this show!

I’ve also been working on some video Vlogs for my sponsor at Tackle Warehouse with Pierce Productions around Donna’s treatments and family needs, here is a video with some action clips that you might enjoy – It’s kind of a “Sizzle Reel” of some of the action while filming those Vlogs.