Anyone who's ever lost a relative knows how Scott Martin felt Wednesday when he heard the news he'd suddenly lost his maternal grandmother – someone who helped raise him on the road in dusty, forgotten campgrounds while his father Roland and mother Mary Ann spent their days fishing the Bassmaster and Bass-N-Gal tours.
But few people,
if any, would have been able to do what Martin did. Rather than fly home to be with family, he made the decision to continue fishing the Champlain FLW Tour, which began the very next morning.
He fished all 4 days, he said, with a peace he'd never had before. He knew his grandmother was with him, he said, and he knew he'd see her again in heaven. And "she was there" to help him catch a kicker bass every single day that not only propelled him into the cut in the 9th position, but launched him to the top of the leaderboard on day 3 and into the winner's circle tonight.
The tournament was in large part decided on day 3, when heavy south winds whipped up a furious mix of rolling waves and stomach-turning troughs.
Those who'd been strong the first 2 days largely faltered, but Martin hunkered down and worked his hot largemouth flat in the Missisquoi Bay for an 18 1/2-pound limit and 2-04 lead.
He followed up with a similar bag today to finish a little less than 2 1/2 pounds ahead of Anthony Gagliardi (who weighed four fish the day before).
It was Martin's second consecutive FLW Tour win at Champlain, and the third Tour win of his career (his first was at the Pascagoula River in 2000).
The win paid him $100,000, plus a $25,000 Ranger bonus, and pushed him over the $1 million mark in career FLW Outdoors winnings.
"All that's overshadowed by the decision to dedicate this tournament to the honor of my grandmother," he said. "The grace of God is unbelievable."
Gagliardi, as noted, finished closest to Martin, but his 19-12 limit today wasn't enough to overcome the disappointing day 3.
Clark Wendlandt tonight clinched his third FLW Angler of the Year (AOY) title with his 7th-place finish. He and Luke Clausen entered the Top 10 just a few points apart in the AOY race. Clausen limped in yesterday with four smallmouths for 7-10, while Wendlandt weighed 12-12, which he caught in the north end.
Clark Wendlandt clinched his third Angler of the Year title tonight.
Wendlandt decided to return to Ticonderoga today and weighed 15-11. Clausen, meanwhile, weighed 13-01 and finished 10th.
For the final AOY standings, click here.
The biggest bag today was caught by Mark Hardin, who led days 1 and 2. Hardin was blown off his hot smallmouth spot yesterday, but he got on it today and answered with 20-02. It was just too little, too late.
Martin 'At Peace'
A lot of emotions surface whenever a loved one is lost. Sometimes it's anger. Sometimes regret. Other times just a profound sadness.
Martin said his emotions this week ranged, but as the tournament progressed, he achieved peace with the situation.
"I was all over the place with this thing, but I had a great peace and confidence all week and I really felt like I could win the tournament," he said. "And it happened. I'm excited about it. Today was as unbelievable a fishing day as I've ever had. A lot of great things happened – a lot of miraculous things.
"My biggest fish was a 4 1/2-pounder that came unhooked, but was still hung on the side with a hook. And I had another 3 1/2-pounder tangled up in old fishing line and junk, and I finally got the fish up – tangled up in everything – and it fell on the net.
"A lot of crazy things happened – obviously some good things. It was meant to be, really."
He fished a milfoil-laden flat in the north end of the lake in Missisquoi Bay. His primary weapons were crankbaits – a Strike King Series 4 in areas that were more open, and a Lucky Craft Big Daddy Strike 3 in heavier grass. He'd then mop up with a Texas-rigged Berkley Chigger Craw.
Anthony Gagliardi couldn't overcome a four-fish day 3.
The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: Gagliardi Happy
Gagliardi knows that a four-fish day 3 was his undoing.
"It definitely was," he said. "I knew yesterday when it happened that it was going to be almost impossible to come back from that and win. You just can't do that here. You can't not come in with a limit – on the final 2 days especially.
"I'm happy with it though," he added. "My goal coming up here was to secure a spot in the (Forrest Wood) Cup in Pittsburgh, and I definitely improved on that, so I'm happy. And today was probably one of the funnest days I've ever had out on the water as far as catching fish and being relaxed and having fun. I caught some nice fish first thing in the morning, had my limit by 10:00 or so, then was just able to relax and have a good time out there."
3rd: Hardin Mixed
Hardin's feelings are somewhat mixed. He led days 1 and 2 and seemed clearly on the right smallmouths to win, so that's a disappointment. Also, he made a culling error yesterday, but it didn't lose him the tournament, so he's grateful for that.
"Deep down, I think if I could have fished that spot yesterday, I would have probably ended up winning," he said. "But everybody had to deal with it (the wind). I just fell a little short with what I could scrounge up yesterday. It was a great place. Every fish I weighed came off that spot except one.
"But I'm thrilled with the 3rd-place finish," he added. "Definitely though, when you know that what you were on could have won, it's disappointing. But I came up here just wanting to make sure I made the championship. I would have liked to have won, but it just wasn't in the cards for me to win."
4th: Yelas Did What He Could
Jay Yelas fished often within sight of Martin, and actually fished a little bit of Martin's spot, but said Martin "had the best spot," was able to figure out how to catch them there, and Yelas just had to "mop up" everything else.
Mark Hardin's happy with 3rd, but also a little disappointed because he feels he was on the fish to win.
And overall, Yelas feels "pretty good" about his finish.
"I thought I really did the best job I could with the fish I found," he said. "I fished a good tournament. I just didn't have quite as good an area as Scott did. He had the best area, and he figured them out and deserved to win.
"I just feel good that I'm kind of peaking at the right time – right before the Cup. This was my best finish of the year, and I feel I'm fishing pretty well right now. It's a good vibe to have that feeling heading into a world championship."
5th: Mabrey Had Bad Day
Kyle Mabrey, who fished Ticonderoga all 4 days, trailed Martin by a little more than 2 pounds this morning, but things fell apart today.
"You have to be happy with 5th place, but it's disappointing," he said. "It feels like I lost. It's kind of hard to describe, but I'm just sad because it was one of those tournaments where execution was critical.
"Ticonderoga was definitely a bit tougher today. It was so crowded down there with boats running all over the place. There was a lot of pressure on the water. And we had a little cold front pass."
He said he had two big fish right away this morning that came off next to the boat, and he never truly recovered. Then, he made one stop on the way back and broke off a bruiser smallmouth.
"It would have been very close and interesting if I'd caught them all, but that's fishing," he said. "Anytime you get yourself in a position to do well, you have to appreciate that sometimes it doesn't work out."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 10 limits (2 more than yesterday).
> The U.S. bobsled team that won the four-man world championship this past winter in nearby Lake Placid, N.Y. made an appearance on stage.
> As noted, the final AOY standings can be found here. Twelve pros are double-qualified, which means that Cup qualification stretches down to 52nd place.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 5, 18-08 -- 5, 17-12 -- 10, 36-04 -- $100,000 + $25,000
2. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, Sc -- 4, 13-13 -- 5, 19-12 -- 9, 33-09 -- $50,000
3. Mark Hardin -- Jasper, Ga -- 5, 13-01 -- 5, 20-02 -- 10, 33-03 -- $40,000
4. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 5, 14-05 -- 5, 17-08 -- 10, 31-13 -- $30,000
5. Kyle Mabrey -- Mccalla, Al -- 5, 16-04 -- 5, 13-02 -- 10, 29-06 -- $20,000
6. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 12-05 -- 5, 16-15 -- 10, 29-04 -- $19,000
7. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 5, 12-12 -- 5, 15-11 -- 10, 28-07 -- $18,000
8. Greg Pugh -- Cullman, Al -- 5, 14-12 -- 5, 13-02 -- 10, 27-14 -- $17,000
9. Mike Hawkes -- Sabinal, Tx -- 5, 11-01 -- 5, 16-08 -- 10, 27-09 -- $16,000
10. Luke Clausen -- Gainesville, Ga -- 4, 7-01 -- 5, 13-01 -- 9, 20-02 -- $15,000
