Martens' 19-15 Is Enough To Keep Reese At Bay

Aaron Martens was off his daily average by nearly 2 pounds per fish today, but the five he weighed were enough to give him his first victory in his adopted home state.

The native Californian caught a 19-15 bag to win the Guntersville Bassmaster Elite Series in Alabama by a little more than 3 pounds over a charging Skeet Reese. His 107-08 total for 4 days secured his second triumph in the 4-season history of the circuit – the first came at the California Delta 2 years ago.

California's Reese sacked 25 pounds in the first hour today and eventually culled his way up to 27-11. It moved him up three spots on the leaderboard and he finished with a runner-up total of 104-04.

Kentuckian Kevin Wirth brought in the day's best stringer (29-03) and climbed nine spots to finish 3rd with 102-03. New Jersey's Mike Iaconelli also broke the century barrier with a 20-15 bag that gave him a 101-01 total that was good for 4th place.

Marty Stone of North Carolina completed the Top 5 with 18-08 today and a 99-05 total. It was his best Elite finish to date and his best tour-level outing since winning a Bassmaster Tour event at Florida's Harris Chain in 2004.

Here's a look at the remainder of the Top-12 field:

6. Mark Menendez: 96-01
7. Mike McClelland: 94-04
8. Byron Velvick: 94-00
9. Jami Fralick: 93-13
10. Matt Reed: 92-09
11. Todd Faircloth: 91-14
12. Alton Jones: 89-03

Martens, the 2005 Bassmaster Angler of the Year and a three-time runner-up at the Bassmaster Classic, had never before won a BASS tournament outside California. He took the top prize in a 2003 FLW Tour event at Lake Wheeler, which sits just downstream from Guntersville on the Tennessee River chain.

Reese's ascent to the No. 2 slot was significant because it gave him additional Angler of the Year (AOY) points. He came into the tournament trailing Kevin VanDam by 65 points, but is now only 5 back after KVD's 20th-place showing here.

The tournament was the fifth in the economy-shortened, eight-event season. The circuit takes a 3-week break before resuming with back-to-back outings at Kentucky Lake and Iowa's Mississippi River in early June, and then is off for 2 months prior to the regular-season finale at New York's Oneida Lake in mid-August.

The Top 12 in the points after Oneida will be back in Alabama the following month for two tournaments that will decide the AOY crown.

Martens' Day 'Scary'

Martens had his way with Guntersville's bass population over the first 3 days, but it was a different story today.

"It's pretty awesome, but it was also pretty scary," he said. "I knew Skeet had a big bag – I thought he had 31 pounds – and that made it a stressful time.

"The first 3 days were like perfect, but today was awful."

He said his starting spot was sabotaged by a local angler who wanted to conserve the fish in it for a tournament he'll compete in next weekend.

"He was putting his motor down and going right over it," he said. "Some spectators chased him off, but I heard he went back in there again after I left."

He caught all of his weight at his second stop. He burned through about 25 keepers and threw back a 4-pounder that was bleeding (he was sure it was mortally injured, and BASS rules prohibit the culling of dead fish).

He focused on rocky areas and shoal points – some with milfoil and some without – and caught most of his fish on a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 DD crankbait. Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

3rd: Wirth Will Take It

Wirth had made just one 50-cut through the first three events and narrowly missed on the other three, so a single-digit fish was a welcome relief.

"I've been having a mediocre year, so just to make the Top 12 was huge," he said. "And then to move up from 12th to 3rd today and make up a lot of that deficit, it boosts your confidence. Everything really fell together."

His day-best bag included a 6-06 specimen that took big-bass honors. All of his fish for the week were enticed by a crankbait.

"I was fishing where the fish were coming to me constantly and tons more wound up out there today, and I just absolutely blitzed them. I had eight or nine places I'd been running, but today I keyed on four or five that were close together, and I just kept going back through them."

5th: Stone Busts Loose

Stone missed the 50-cut at the first three tournaments and was 50th at Smith Mountain Lake, so he was glad to get back to a position he hadn't seen in several years.

"I've been fishing well since the middle of last year, but at the start of this year I just wasn't getting the big bites," he said. "But by God, I got them every day here, and I got a couple of them.

"I didn't see this coming in practice – I really thought that 20 pounds a day would give a guy a good shot at the Top 12. But I've been here enough to know that when they start biting and you back off with 17, 18, 19 pounds, you're going to be down somewhere in the 60s."

He bolted into contention with a 30-pound bag on day 3, but couldn't duplicate it today. He spent the tournament fishing rocky points on the main-river channel.

"Yesterday I went against the grain a little bit because I didn't want to be the guy who weighed 24 pounds and left some out there. I just lit them up."

7th: McClelland Up and Down

McClelland, who spent the first 2 days within a couple of pounds of the lead, had bittersweet feelings about his finish.

"It feels really good to make a Top 12 here, but I'm disappointed about slipping the last 2 days," he said. "I don't feel I adjusted as well as I should have, and I know this is silly, but I really wanted to break 100 pounds. I came up 6 pounds short."

His 17-07 bag today included one fish that went almost 5 pounds. He alternated between War Eagle spinnerbaits (1/2- and 3/4-ounce), a swimbait and a crankbait throughout the tournament. He lost three fish today that likely cost him at least 3 pounds and one place in the standings.

His fortunes turned south when the Tennessee Valley Authority dramatically reduced the amount of current it pulled during the weekend.

"I don't feel like this thing was as difficult as I made it. Most of the fish were caught from 2 to 5 feet all day, every day, and I could catch them like that early, but by spots quit producing after the early morning.

"I tried to go deeper, but I wasn't quite on the right page."

8th: Velvick Feels Good

Byron Velvick was another angler who was higher on the leaderboard prior to the weekend draw-down, but he gladly accepted his second straight Top-12 finish.

"It wasn't too bad of a tournament and it started with a bang," he said. "I feel good about it. I'd feel better if I'd ended up 3rd or 4th, but the points and the money are nice.

"I've been in the Top 30 after the first day of every tournament this year, and I only fell out of two (50-cuts) because of my own idiocy. I made some mistakes that the AOY would never make, and those are things I need to straighten out if I'm ever going to be in that race."

He relied primarily on swimbaits during the first 2 days, but they were less effective after the current slowed. A Berkley 10-inch PowerWorm produced some good fish for him over the final 2 days.

9th: Great Week for Fralick

Jami Fralick's 17-07 bag today was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of his stay at Guntersville was a blast.

"It was a really fun week," he said. "At most lakes you go to this time of year, 17 1/2 pounds is something to get excited about. It's a little disappointing here after averaging 25 pounds a day.

"I still caught the numbers today, but I just never got a big bite."

He concentrated on the front portion of grass lines in rocky areas and caught most of his fish from depths of 5 to 8 feet. An XCalibur One Knocker lipless crankbait did most of his damage.

"I had places where I could catch a 5-pounder or a 6-pounder every day, but today those fish were a 3 1/2- or a 3-pounder. But this was one of the funnest weeks I've ever had. It was great to go someplace other than Texas or California and have a shot at 100 pounds."

10th: Reed had Fun

Matt Reed said he thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, but it had its stressful side, too.

"It was fun, but it was scary going into it because I knew I was going to have to mash 'em," he said. "You knew you were going to have to catch big ones."

He focused on grass edges that were influenced by the current. He moved farther offshore when the flow slowed down, but still keyed on grass.

Most of his fish were enticed by an XCalibur One Knocker lipless crankbait, but a few of the bigger ones were caught on a Yum Money Minnow swimbait.

He weighed 18-12 today. "It was very slow for me today and I probably didn't catch two limits of keepers."

11th: Faircloth Couldn't Re-Connect

Day-1 leader Todd Faircloth ended each day lower in the standings than he started it.

"It was a good tournament, but it wasn't a lot of fun sliding down the ladder the last 2 days," he said. "I lost those fish after the first day and I never could relocate them again.

His primary area was a high spot on a ridge with a contour break next to it.

"The first day the current was just ripping through there and they were loaded up on that high spot. It was as wide open as it could get."

His 17-pound final-day bag consisted of five fish in the 3 1/2-pound class. He caught between 10 and 15 keepers for the day.

12th: Jones Was Committed

Alton Jones, who remained at No. 3 in the AOY race and gained some points on leader VanDam (he's now 58 back), knew he was in trouble early this morning when the ledge he'd been relying on produced just one bite, and he lost it. He ended up weighing just 12-11.

"It was a pretty long day," he said. "I'd been getting a substantial portion of my weight in the first couple hours, and I guess the shad spawn didn't happen there today.

"It's never good when you drop from 6th to 12th, but I've got to remember that there were 87 guys who'd have loved to have been where I was."

He ended up scratching a small limit out of the shallows. He came across Wirth late in the day, and Wirth set him up with a cast that was likely to produce the type of bite that comprised his big sack. He even let him use his rod.

"I only had 5 minutes left and I broke a big one off. But it made me feel good to know that my fellow anglers were willing to do stuff like that."

He said one of the keys to his week was making extremely long casts of an XCalibur One Knocker with his signature series Kistler cranking stick and Ardent reel.

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 12 limits.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, AL -- 20, 107-08 -- 315 $100,000
Day 1: 5, 29-02 -- Day 2: 5, 29-12 -- Day 3: 5, 28-11 -- Day 4: 5, 19-15

2. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 20, 104-04 -- 295 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 25-09 -- Day 2: 5, 24-14 -- Day 3: 5, 26-02 -- Day 4: 5, 27-11

3. Kevin Wirth -- Crestwood, KY -- 20, 102-03 -- 290 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 24-06 -- Day 2: 5, 27-04 -- Day 3: 5, 21-06 -- Day 4: 5, 29-03

4. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, NJ -- 20, 101-01 -- 285 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 27-05 -- Day 2: 5, 27-05 -- Day 3: 5, 25-08 -- Day 4: 5, 20-15

5. Marty Stone -- Fayetteville, NC -- 20, 99-05 -- 280 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 26-15 -- Day 2: 5, 23-13 -- Day 3: 5, 30-01 -- Day 4: 5, 18-08

6. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 20, 96-01 -- 276 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 24-07 -- Day 2: 5, 26-12 -- Day 3: 5, 24-00 -- Day 4: 5, 20-14

7. Mike McClelland -- Bella Vista, AR -- 20, 94-04 -- 272 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 30-10 -- Day 2: 5, 26-13 -- Day 3: 5, 19-13 -- Day 4: 5, 17-00

8. Byron Velvick -- Del Rio, TX -- 20, 94-00 -- 268 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 29-04 -- Day 2: 5, 25-14 -- Day 3: 5, 20-13 -- Day 4: 5, 18-01

9. Jami Fralick -- Martin, SD -- 20, 93-13 -- 264 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 26-11 -- Day 2: 5, 24-11 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00 -- Day 4: 5, 17-07

10. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, TX -- 20, 92-09 -- 260 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 25-12 -- Day 2: 5, 23-08 -- Day 3: 5, 24-09 -- Day 4: 5, 18-12

11. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 20, 91-14 -- 262 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 31-00 -- Day 2: 5, 24-15 -- Day 3: 5, 18-15 -- Day 4: 5, 17-00

12. Alton Jones -- Waco, TX -- 20, 89-03 -- 254 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 28-12 -- Day 2: 5, 22-15 -- Day 3: 5, 24-13 -- Day 4: 5, 12-11

Big Bass

Day 4: Kevin Wirth -- Crestwood, KY -- 6-06
Day 3: Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 8-02
Day 2: Clark Reehm -- Russellville, AR -- 9-02
Day 1: Ken D. Cook -- Lawton, OK -- 8-05

Angler of the Year Standings

1 Kevin VanDam -- Mich. -- 1298
2 Skeet Reese -- Calif. -- 1293
3 Alton Jones -- Texas -- 1240
4 Aaron Martens -- Ala. -- 1224
5 Gary Klein -- Texas -- 1207
6 Todd Faircloth -- Texas -- 1178
7 Greg Hackney -- La. -- 1155
8 Mark Menendez -- Ky. -- 1152
9 Michael Iaconelli -- N.J. -- 1116
10 James Niggemeyer -- Texas -- 1108
10 Kevin Short -- Ark. -- 1108
12 Mark Tucker -- Mo. -- 1104
13 Randy Howell -- Ala. -- 1095
14 Brent Chapman -- Kan. -- 1094
15 Bradley Hallman -- Okla. -- 1065
16 Denny Brauer -- Mo. -- 1060
17 Cliff Pace -- Miss. -- 1058
18 Tommy Biffle -- Okla. -- 1048
19 Dean Rojas -- Ariz. -- 1047
20 John Murray -- Ariz. -- 1037
21 Casey Ashley -- S.C. -- 1031
22 Matt Herren -- Ala. -- 1030
23 Shaw Grigsby -- Fla. -- 1027
24 Kevin Wirth -- Ky. -- 1022
25 Kelly Jordon -- Texas -- 1013
26 Mike McClelland -- Ark. -- 1003
27 Boyd Duckett -- Ala. -- 998
27 Byron Velvick -- Texas -- 998
29 Jami Fralick -- S.D. -- 996
30 Fred Roumbanis -- Okla. -- 990
31 Bobby Lane -- Fla. -- 985
32 Terry Butcher -- Okla. -- 981
33 Stephen Browning -- Ark. -- 978
34 Matthew Sphar -- N.Y. -- 966
35 Bill Lowen -- Ohio -- 959
36 Russ Lane -- Ala. -- 955
36 Gerald Swindle -- Ala. -- 955
38 Timmy Horton -- Ala. -- 951
39 Davy Hite -- S.C. -- 942
40 Jeff Kriet -- Okla. -- 939
41 Matt Reed -- Texas -- 938
42 Greg Vinson -- Ala. -- 935
43 Edwin Evers -- Okla. -- 931
44 Takahiro Omori -- Texas -- 926
45 Jason Williamson -- S.C. -- 903
46 Steve Kennedy -- Ala. -- 893
47 Billy Mccaghren -- Ark. -- 892
48 Marty Stone -- N.C. -- 888
49 Dave Wolak -- N.C. -- 887
50 Jason Quinn -- S.C. -- 885
50 Dustin Wilks -- N.C. -- 885
52 Kenyon Hill -- Okla. -- 883
53 Bernie Schultz -- Fla. -- 879
54 Jared Lintner -- Calif. -- 874
55 Pat Golden -- N.C. -- 865
56 Terry Scroggins -- Fla. -- 863
56 Todd Auten -- S.C. -- 863
58 Kotaro Kiriyama -- Ala. -- 857
59 Brian Clark -- Texas -- 856
60 Mark Tyler -- Okla. -- 855
61 J Todd Tucker -- Ga. -- 847
62 Chris Lane -- Fla. -- 842
63 Mark Davis -- Ark. -- 839
63 Brian Snowden -- Mo. -- 839
65 Rick Morris -- Va. -- 828
66 Marty Robinson -- S.C. -- 823
67 Jeff Connella -- La. -- 798
68 Jim Murray -- Ga. -- 779
68 Derek Remitz -- Ala. -- 779
70 Chad Griffin -- Texas -- 777
70 Vince Fulks -- Okla. -- 777
72 Charlie Hartley -- Ohio -- 775
73 Rick Clunn -- Mo. -- 773
74 Morizo Shimizu -- Japan -- 757
75 Ish Monroe -- Calif. -- 753
76 Wade Grooms -- S.C. -- 751
77 Britt Myers -- S.C. -- 743
78 Jeff Reynolds -- Okla. -- 715
79 Guy Eaker -- N.C. -- 705
80 Paul Elias -- Miss. -- 695
81 Scott Campbell -- Mo. -- 687
82 Scott Rook -- Ark. -- 681
83 Ken Cook -- Okla. -- 677
84 Clark Reehm -- Ark. -- 661
85 Jeremy Starks -- W.Va. -- 651
86 Mark Burgess -- Mass. -- 645
86 Pete Ponds -- Miss. -- 645
88 Mike Wurm -- Ark. -- 635
89 Yusuke Miyazaki -- Texas -- 633
90 John Crews -- Va. -- 623
91 Jimmy Mize -- Ark. -- 615
92 Luke Gritter -- Mich. -- 611
93 Peter Thliveros -- Fla. -- 595
94 David Smith -- Okla. -- 567
95 Zell Rowland -- Texas -- 547
96 Grant Goldbeck -- Md. -- 544
97 Elton Luce -- Texas -- 531
98 Jon Bondy -- Canada -- 495
99 Kevin Langill -- N.C. -- 484
100 Brent Broderick -- Ohio -- 461