Scott Martin has been at both ends of the spectrum – and leaderboard – at the Forrest Wood Cup. Last year, he conquered Lake Ouachita and sailed off with the Cup and $601,000 in prize money. He also has a runner-up finish to this credit from the 2004 Cup at Logan Martin Lake.
But he also knows what it feels like to qualify for FLW’s signature event and just plain not catch ‘em. It happened in 2010 at Lake Lanier, site of next week’s Cup. Two years ago, he finished 77th out of 78 boats, weighing just one fish for 1-07.
After a recent 4-day scouting trip, he feels like he’s in a better frame of mind this time around.
“Finding brush wasn’t a problem, but I learned some things there,” he said of his 2010 experience. “I camped out too much and fished some wrong sections of the lake.
“I’m almost glad (I didn’t do well) because it was a shock to me and it has me laser-focused on what I missed. I understand the lake better now and why I didn’t catch them. My confidence is high right now. I’ve figured out a rhythm and how to approach it. I didn’t know what I was getting into 2 years ago.”
Since the ’10 Cup, he’s devoted more time to refining his deep-water finesse skills and even caught a few fish at Ouachita last year on a dropshot. While he thinks he’s got the right mindset for Lanier this time around, fishing a championship-style event with no points on the line also takes a different approach.
“It’s all or nothing,” he said. “Second place is no fun. I’ve been there. I’ve had a lot of opportunities and first place is the only thing that matters. It’s stressful for that reason, but not for a bad reason.
“I was very blessed to win it and I want another one for several reasons. That anxiety of ‘Am I ever going to win one?’ is gone. Some guys have qualified for the first time this year and there’s a different kind of pressure on them. I don’t have any of that. There are a lot of psychological things involved with a tournament like this and I think I might have a bit of an edge in that regard.”
