By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Aaron Martens doesn't hesitate when asked whether he'd rather win the Bassmaster Classic or the Elite Series Angler of the Year title in 2015.
"The Classic," he said. "I've got two Angler of the Years and I really need a Classic to go with them. Plus," he added with a laugh, "the Classic pays three times as much money.
"You have to get a lot luckier to win the Classic, though. If it's going to happen, it'll happen. I can't think too much about it – I just have to go fish it."
Everyone who knows Martens is aware that the $300,000 payday for winning the event would be a secondary consideration to him. After four runner-up finishes in the Classic (the last in 2011), he badly wants that trophy.
He spent a total of 8 days at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell before it went off-limits to Classic competitors on Jan. 1. On 4 of those he was accompanied by his brother and nephew, and on the other 4 he was all alone.
During that latter session, he spent most of his time graphing locations on the 56,000-acre impoundment that he didn't explore the previous time the Classic was there in 2008.
"I only went for 4 days (total) the last time and I really only saw a small part of the lake," he said. "I saw a lot more of it this year and I'm really excited about it. It's a really neat lake, but it's just big."
Back to Old Stomping Grounds
Martens, who was 4th in last year's AOY race after copping the crown the year before, is on another pre-fishing excursion this week. The native Californian flew to Arizona to sample Lake Havasu for 4 days with longtime Western tournament competitor Justin Kerr.
"I haven't fished in a week, and that's a long time for me," he said shortly after he and Kerr launched to begin their first day on the water. "Me and Justin have wanted to do this for like 10 years – I've known him since I was a kid and we've been friends ever since.
Martens is looking forward to the two West Coast events on this year's Elite Series schedule.
"I haven't fished here in a long time, but I ran around in the boat one day not that long ago and it looked really healthy. I've won quite a bit here and I like the way it fishes – it's a fun lake, but it can be very challenging, like all the Colorado River lakes can. I know the fishing's a lot better now, but it still probably can beat you up pretty good."
He won't make an early visit to the California Delta, where he won an Elite event in 2007. He'll rely on the 3 days of official practice for that one.
"We're going to lose a lot of time running (from Sacramento) and I've heard it's changed a lot, too. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm excited about it."
Another Shot at the Sabine
One event that Martens has a bit less enthusiasm for is the regular-season opener at the Sabine River. He ended up a dismal 85th there 2 years ago (his second-worst showing since the inception of the Elite Series in 2006) before catching fire and winning the points title in spite that bomb.
He thinks he'll have a better go of it this time around simply because it won't be totally unfamiliar, but he's not banking on finding quality fish at a place where a relatively paltry number of them are spread out over a vast area.
"I was catching like 30 fish a day there, but only one keeper," he said. "I had some equipment problems that kept me from going where I wanted to go – I ruined two props.
"I wouldn't call it a really fun place to fish. It's treacherous and kind of scary and last time it almost ruined my season. This time I want to go there and do good and get that out of my system."
