By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Scott Martin makes a few bucks via sponsorships. That's clearly evident from a look at his tournament jersey, which is home to more signage than the Las Vegas Strip.
The Floridian also earns a good bit of moola on the water, however, through successful wielding of rods and reels. In fact, it's been quite some time since he's departed an FLW Tour event empty-handed.
The circuit's reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) last missed a paycheck at Smith Lake in 2013. He's left the previous 21 derbies with at least $4,000 (and usually considerably more) with which to pad his bank account.
How did Martin become such a proficient money-maker? He quit being such a gambler.
"If you look back over my career stats, you'll see quite a few finishes of 80th or 100th or whatever, and those were events where I tried to find something to win," he said. "When you just focus on winning, you're going to hit some roadblocks.
"Last year I was really focused on winning the AOY, but that hadn't been the case in the past. I always had that win, win, win mentality, and a lot of times I took risks to try to win because I knew what I was on (in practice) wasn't going to win. There were times it worked out for me, but other times it didn't."
Bigger Repertoire Now
The 41-year-old Martin once had a glaring weakness in his game – deep water. That was on full display in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Lanier, where his 77th-place finish was just one position up from the very bottom of the standings.
That wasn't an enjoyable experience and he vowed that it wouldn't happen again.
"I knew I had to develop better offshore tactics, whether it was swimbaits, cranking or dropshotting," he said. "The first time we went to Lanier for the Cup and I did terrible, I didn't know how to dropshot and I didn't feel comfortable with it. I made my mind up that I was going to improve in that whole area."
He won the Cup the next year at Lake Ouachita from 20-plus feet of water throwing swimbaits, big worms and dropshots. When the event returned to Lanier the following year, he was much more prepared.
"Leading up to that one, all the hype was about Brent Ehrler and Cody Meyer and all these deep-water gurus. I wanted to win that tournament, but I had a little extra motivation because I wanted to beat those guys and prove that I could play that game, too. I was fishing right out there in the mix with all of them every day and I ended up finishing 4th. I was real happy with that."
For the record, Meyer finished 11th and Ehrler was 20th.
"Things like that have helped me develop more skills and build confidence in different techniques. Honestly, I don't have a favorite way to fish anymore – I can have just as much fun catching them in 30 feet of water as I can slinging stuff around a mat with 80-pound braid.
"I'm not the best at any of them, but I'm pretty good at a lot of them."
Cut Comes First
Martin, who has five tour-level wins on his ledger (the most recent at the Potomac River in May of 2012), said his long run of paydays hasn't lessened his hunger for victories. He believes his current modus operandi of finding enough fish in practice to make the 20-cut and then worrying about winning thereafter will result in additional trophies and six-figure checks.
"I feel confident now with enough patterns and techniques that I think I'll have a chance to develop something in the tournament that could win," he said. "I think winning is still very possible with that mentality.
"I've still got more to learn and more pieces of the puzzle to put together, but I'm confident enough that I don't feel scared by any technique anymore. If I need to switch gears and start fishing in 40 feet of water, I feel like I can do that. I can stay focused on a pattern that'll get me into the Top 20 or Top 10, and I feel like I can eventually make an adjustment to put me in contention to win."
He knows that his check-cashing streak will end at some point, but he plans to keep enjoying it while it lasts. He's also eager to make a run at his second straight points crown (he's 8th on that list after finishes of 23rd at Okeechobee and 18th at Hartwell).
"I know it's going to be harder this year because (leader and 2015 runner-up) John Cox and some other guys are really hungry for that title. I've made good decisions thus far and all I can do is fish hard, stay focused and do the best I can. I've got a great opportunity to achieve something that doesn't happen that often.
"I got into this sport 20 years ago with the hopes of becoming one of the best to ever fish. I know I'll never be as good as my dad (9-time Bassmaster AOY Roland Martin), but hopefully 20 years from now people will say that I was a pretty good fisherman."
