In less than 3 weeks, Tommy Martin will be 71 years old. He still enjoys tournament fishing as much as he ever did, but these days, he does it on his own terms.

That's why he's turned down his invitation to compete on the Bassmaster Elite Series next year.



"If I was 50 years old, I'd jump right in," said the 19-time Classic qualifier, who won the sport's premier event in 1974. "But it's just too much driving to one tournament after another and that's not something I want to do right now.

"I don't want to be stressed out every week and I don't want to push it too hard physically – I've got grandkids and some other things going on. I'll just keep picking out the tournaments I want to fish, that I can drive to within 8 or 9 hours."

A Close Call

Martin hasn't fished a full tour-level season since 2005 (the year prior to the inception of the Elite Series). He returned to the Central Opens in 2009 and put together a strong campaign this year, finishing 4th in the points.

He had his 20th Classic berth within his sights in the finale at Table Rock last month as he topped the leaderboard after day 2. The brutally tough conditions got him on the final day, however, as he brought just two fish to the scale. Meanwhile, Elite pro Kevin Short caught a 15 1/2-pound sack – a giant haul considering the circumstances – and snatched the victory.

He might've been a guy to reckon with in the 2012 Classic had he made it – it'll be held at Louisiana's Red River, which is one of the venues he guides on.

"I wanted to go over there and I was shooting for that – the Red's only 40 minutes away (from his home in Hemphill, Texas)," he said. "It wasn't a goal when I started the season – I do this because I like it, but I started thinking real hard about it when I was leading after the second day.

"That would've give me 20 times to the Classic, but it didn't happen. Short made a hard charge and really caught a stringer."

Schedule Full Enough

All told, Martin participated in about 15 tournaments this year and will likely end up in a similar number in 2012, including some high-profile local events. He may do both the Central and Southern Open circuits, which would give him six chances to make that 20th Classic, and the Texas EverStarts are also a possibility.

He also spends a lot of time on the water while operating his guide service. In addition to the Red, he also offers trips to Toledo Bend and Rayburn, but his favorite destination is Lake Falcon along the Texas/Mexico border, which might be the top big-bass fishery on the North American continent.

"I go down there every other month for 15 days and I really enjoy catching those bigger fish," he said. "I was down there in September and we got two over 10 pounds on that trip, and we were catching 35 to 40 fish a day.

"When I was down there in July, we got 22 that were over 8 pounds."

Notable

> Anglers wishing to partake of Martin's guide services can contact him through his website, www.MeetTheMartins.net. It's a site he shares with his wife Sheila, who's a real estate agent.

> Martin's most recent B.A.S.S. win was at the 1995 Oklahoma Invitational at Grand Lake.

> He partnered with Rick Clunn to place 2nd in the Bassmaster Legends event in Alabama in July. They finished just 2 ounces behind winners Ken Cook and Guy Eaker.