The 8-12 brute that Scott Martin caught in the FLW Tour season opener at Texas' Lake Travis was the largest fish weighed during the six-event season and garnered the Florida angler a $5,000 prize for the Snickers Big Bass of the Year.
“I didn’t think that my 8-pound, 12-ounce bass would win the Snickers Big Bass award, but I knew that if I was going to catch a big bass it would be on Lake Travis,” he said. “The funny thing is that I looked at this ledge during practice, but never fished it until day 2 of the tournament, and that’s when I caught the big bass.”
He caught the toad on a 7-foot Kistler rod spooled with 12-pound-test Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon. He was working a 3/4-ounce All-Terrain Tackle Jim Moynagh jig in 25 to 30 feet of water near a steep ledge.
“I didn’t realize how big it was until I reeled it closer to the boat. At first, I thought it was a 5-pound bass, and when I finally pulled it in, I knew it had to be at least 8-pounds.”
Rounding out the Top 5 contenders for the award were co-angler Clint Bridges of Round Rock, Texas, with a 7-11 Travis bass; co-angler Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va., who also caught a 7-11 at Travis; pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., who caught a 7-06 at the Potomac River; and pro Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, who caught a 7-03 at the Potomac.
