From the very beginning, Scott Martin sought to build his own name – his own career. He was bound and determined: Whether he failed or flourished, it would be Scott, not father Roland, who was responsible. The younger Martin triumphantly completed that quest today when he won the Forrest Wood Cup and notched the major-championship milestone that forever eluded his angling-legend father.
Martin carried a 5-pound advantage into day 4 of the Cup at Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, but the advantage was tenuous. He was working deep fish – fish that can be maddeningly schizophrenic – while Randall Tharp and Luke Clausen threatened from below with a topwater pattern capable of producing 20 pounds.
Tharp did catch the heaviest bag of the day at 15-01, but Martin's 14-05 limit was more than enough and he cruised to a near 5-pound victory with a 4-day, 61-01 total.
Clausen, who weighed just three fish, finished 4th, while Mark Rose improved a spot to finish 3rd with a 9-pound catch.
The Cup marks 35-year-old Martin's first major title in the sport. It delivered a $600,000 payday and pushed his career FLW Outdoors winnings to $1.8 million. It's also the endcap of a three-season winning streak and cements his name as one of the dominant next-generation pros.
It also solidified Martin's name within a select set of pros identified with offshore fishing – a style that has grown to dominate events from late-spring through summer. And he's further identified within that group through a career-long relationship with Garmin electronics – a rare partnership in a sport dominated by Lowrance and Humminbird.
A shallow migration of Ouachita fish during the dog days of summer lured nearly everyone to the bank. Not Martin.
He fine-tuned his presentations within a key area that was 23 to 27 feet deep, and also ran isolated, specific brushpiles on points. He never saw another boat, and his only competition was his co-anglers, who also whacked fish.
It was a cagey decision to stay deep – a decision that had all the marks of a champion.
Martin Lives Dream
> Day 4: 5, 14-05 (20, 61-01)
Martin has literally spent a lifetime within the sport. And some of that time was right here at Ouachita. His mother guided here in her youth, his late grandmother was baptized in the Ouachita river, and an emotional Martin spoke about the family connection and how much this title means to him.
"I remember as a little kid going to all the big tournaments – the Classic and FLW championships – and just dreaming one day that I'd win one of these," he said. "Dad's sort of retired now from bass fishing, but I think what drives him still is to win a major championship. This might fire him up to fish harder to outdo me.
"But I've dreamed of this moment my whole life, and to win one for my whole family, not just my dad – it's special. We've all worked so hard over these years, going back and forth to these tournaments. It's just so special for me."
Martin has risen to a become a dominating force within the next generation of pros.
Martin noted too that the mental game this week was critical. He faced a setback on day 2 when his co-angler caught 18 pounds behind him – one of the heaviest bags weighed by pro or co all 4 days. His close friend and spiritual advisor Randy was with him this week. He also told himself today was cut day, not the final day, as a mind trick to relieve pressure.
Through it all, though, he held firm to his belief the event could be won deep, and that made all the difference.
"A four-day event of this magnitude – it's very stressful to deal with leading or being close to the top most of the time. Randy was here on the road with me. He kept me focused and I just had a lot of confidence this week. I think that's the biggest thing anytime you win a tournament. I caught a couple of real good fish right off the bat the first day, and right then I told my partner that I think I can win the tournament on this spot.
"That's what happened. I just had a lot of confidence and kind of carried it through the whole tournament."
Also of interest was Martin's declaration that he avoided reading about the event as it unfolded. He said he regularly follows coverage of events he fishes, but not this week. He said he "never read an article, never looked at the standings." He "just wanted to go out each day and perform at the highest level."
A primary deep area peppered with brushpiles produced the bulk of his fish, although he did run some points and even caught a topwater fish today on a whim.
His primary weapon was a swimbait – both a hollow-belly style and a Gary Yamamoto swimbait. He rigged the Yamamoto swimbait on a Sworming Hornet Fish Head Spin and the hollow belly on a 7/16-ounce jighead.
He also Texas-rigged a 10" plum ribbontail worm, and dropshotted a Roboworm in morning dawn and a finesse worm.
The details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: Tharp Fished Strength
> Day 4: 5, 15-01 (20, 56-07)
Tharp, who worked a topwater bite, is known as a shallow fisherman. He hates fishing deep, will only do it when forced to, and said he had a blast fishing shallow all week long.
He pocketed $100,000 for 2nd.
Randall Tharp lost a 5-pounder today, but even that fish wouldn't have given him enough to surpass Martin.
"I'm not disappointed," he said. "I had a 5-pounder bite at about 10:30 and I didn't do anything wrong – it just came off. Other than that I fished clean and I wouldn't have won with it anyway.
"Shallow is how I make my living," he added. "I love fishing shallow and have excelled with it in the summertime the last few years. That's how I wanted to catch them when I got here, and that's what I did the whole time."
He conceded that the shallow bite did dwindle, probably due to pressure. But he didn't second-guess his decision to fish skinny.
"As a pro angler, you need to fish your strengths," he said. "That's how I make my living – I fish my strengths when I can."
3rd: Rose Content
> Day 4: 5, 9-10 (20, 50-15)
BassFan erroneously reported yesterday that Rose's pattern was entirely based on brushpiles. Not true, he said today. He had some green brush that he planted prior to the cutoff that helped, but overall he Carolina-rigged, cranked and spooned structure as has been his custom.
About his 3rd-place finish, he said: "I'm going to lay my head on my pillow tonight and be very content. I fished my strenghts. I felt like I had a chance if I stayed tough, but Scott – evidently, it was his tournament to win this week. He outfished everybody. He earned it under tough conditions and he caught the right kind of fish."
In terms of numbers, Rose thinks he may have caught more fish than any other competitor. Although that matters little, since "you can only weigh five."
He did offer some insight about the growing regularity with which big-time events are won on single, offshore spots, and how that might all change again in the future if offshore pressure continues to increase.
Mark Rose did what he does best – he worked structure with a crank, spoon and Carolina-rig.
"Right now, offshore electronics and knowledge of the ledge-stuff has just kind of taken over. It all depends on the fishery and a lot of that, but the way electronics are now and how good of fishermen we have now, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get back on a black-neon tube and get back up on the bank in a few years."
4th: Clausen Mixed
> Day 4: 3, 6-12 (18, 48-10)
On the one hand, Clausen's happy he had the opportunity to go out and fish today. On the other, he's disappointed that he weighed just three fish and slipped to 4th.
"I'm just disappointed I had such a bad day today," he said. "But I don't know what I would have done differently. Maybe I should have slowed down this morning. I saw more big fish come up under my topwaters today, but they just wouldn't commit to it. I hooked three or four and they came off.
"Everything was more lethargic today – even the bream. Normally I can throw a wacky worm on a bream bed and the bream tear it apart. Today I could hardly get a bream to bite."
5th: Morgan Moved up
> Day 4: 5, 10-02 (17, 47-05)
Morgan began the day in 10th with no real chance to catch Martin, but a 10-pound bag netted Morgan a five-spot gain and an extra $25,000.
"I feel fairly good about it," Morgan said. "I had a kind of lackluster day and I moved up again, surprisingly. Here again, you can't hardly ever win going down the bank. There's one deep hole in the lake, somebody finds it and down the toilet bowl you go if you're fishing down the bank.
"I don't know how everybody finds it, but it seems like these magic spots always win these summer tournaments. It's never hardly the deal anymore that you can get on a pattern. I don't know if the patterns are getting busted up from pressure, but it seems there's always a magic spot that takes the crown."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 pros, 5 limits, 1 four, 3 threes, 1 one.
> Among the Top 10, Rose received the loudest cheer as he took the stage. He hails from Marion, Ark.
> Under the new FLW logo-display rules, which are more liberal, both Cody Meyer and Andy Montgomery wore their own tournament jerseys for today's weigh-in. That's in stark contrast to last year, when Meyer had to wear an FLW-supplied Lowrance shirt. Todd Auten, however, wore an FLW-supplied Walmart jersey at today's weigh-in.
> Forrest Wood received a standing ovation when he was brought onstage.
> U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) made an onstage appearance and thanked FLW Outdoors for bringing the Cup to Hot Springs. He did not receive a standing ovation.
> Country music artist Steve Holy performed a concert immediately prior to weigh-in.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 5, 19-02 -- 5, 11-09 -- 5, 16-01 -- 5, 14-05 -- 20, 61-01 -- $500,000 + $101,000
2. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, AL -- 5, 16-00 -- 5, 13-01 -- 5, 12-05 -- 5, 15-01 -- 20, 56-07 -- $100,000
3. Mark Rose -- Marion, AR -- 5, 14-09 -- 5, 12-08 -- 5, 14-04 -- 5, 9-10 -- 20, 50-15 -- $60,000
4. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, WA -- 5, 13-15 -- 5, 11-12 -- 5, 16-03 -- 3, 6-12 -- 18, 48-10 -- $55,000
5. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, TN -- 4, 9-12 -- 5, 18-15 -- 3, 8-08 -- 5, 10-02 -- 17, 47-05 -- $50,000
6. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 5, 13-09 -- 5, 10-11 -- 5, 14-05 -- 4, 7-09 -- 19, 46-02 -- $45,000
7. Cody Meyer -- Grass Valley, CA -- 5, 14-02 -- 5, 13-01 -- 5, 10-10 -- 5, 6-10 -- 20, 44-07 -- $40,000
8. Andy Montgomery -- Grover, NC -- 5, 12-05 -- 5, 14-08 -- 4, 10-15 -- 3, 4-15 -- 17, 42-11 -- $35,000
9. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, VA -- 5, 11-00 -- 5, 13-02 -- 5, 13-11 -- 3, 4-10 -- 18, 42-07 -- $30,000
10. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 5, 18-01 -- 5, 13-06 -- 4, 9-05 -- 1, 1-07 -- 15, 42-03 -- $25,000
