By BassFan Staff
Scott Martin's father, nine-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Roland Martin, made a habit of winning more than once on the same venue. The elder Martin prevailed twice on five different bodies of water en route to compiling 19 Bassmaster victories.
He never pulled off a trifecta anywhere, though. Scott accomplished that feat Sunday when he won the Lake Champlain FLW Tour for the third time, becoming the first competitor in the circuit's 21-year history to take home a third trophy from the same fishery.
His final-day sack, which weighed 16 pounds even, was his lightest of the event, but it gave him a 4-day total of 74-10. That was 1 pound more than runner-up Jason Meninger compiled. Meninger boxed 17-11 on day 4 to achieve a career-best finish with a 73-10 aggregate.
Shinichi Fukae moved up four places with a day-best 19-10 stringer to finish 3rd with 72-00. It was his best showing since he logged the same placement at Lake Chickamauga in 2011.
David Dudley, the winner the last time the Tour visited Champlain in 2012, ended up 4th with 71-00 after a 15-07 day-4 bag. Canadian Chris Johnston completed his superb rookie season with a 5th-place finish as he caught 16-02 Sunday for a 68-10 total.
Here are the final numbers for the remainder of the Top 10:
6. Austin Felix: 68-10
7. Bryan Schmitt: 68-06
8. Cody Meyer: 68-00
9. Wesley Strader: 65-03
10. Stetson Blaylock: 63-09
The Top 36 in the final Angler of the Year standings gained berths in the Forrest Wood Cup, which will be contested at Alabama's Wheeler Lake in early August. The Top 35 were guaranteed slots and Martin, the 2015 Angler of the Year, was the lone double-qualifier.
Martin's bag was his lightest of the week, but it ended up being a pound more than he needed.
Troy Morrow was the last angler inside the cut. Bradley Hallman, who won the season opener at Lake Okeechobee, was first out.
Martin Might Move
> Day 4: 5, 16-00 (20, 74-10)
Champlain has been so good to Martin that the lifelong Floridian is entertaining the idea buying a home there.
"This lake is really special to me," he said in the immediate wake of his sixth tour-level victory. "If anybody's got a really nice place on the water, I might be in the market."
He had the majority of his day-4 weight by noon, and then made several culls for ounces at a time.
"It feels good. I started to feel the pressure for the first time this morning because I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I eliminated sight-fishing (for spawning smallmouths) today and relied pretty heavily on the largemouths, I fished a lot of the same water, but I actually fished quite a bit of new stuff, too.
"I thought I was going to need 17 or 18 pounds to win. Sixteen was a little too risky."
As he did throughout the event, he employed a variety of baits and attempted to take advantage of the wind, which was stronger than on any other tournament day. His bag was topped by a pair of 3 1/2-pounders.
Jason Meninger's runner-up finish was his best ever at the Tour level.
Nearly half of his weigh-in fish for the tournament came from a rocky ridge in Missisquoi Bay that played a major role in his 2009 win.
Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published this week.
2nd: No Kicker for Meninger
> Day 4: 5, 17-11 (20, 73-10)
Meninger, who holds down a full-time gig as a partner in an advertising agency, made a strong run at his first victory. He spent the tournament in the largemouth-rich Ticonderoga area at the southern end of the lake.
"It wasn't meant to be," he said. "The second day, when I lost two good bites and broke one off, is what hurt me. Today I had one 4-pounder, but I couldn't get past the 3 1/4- to 3 1/2-pounders. Every other day I'd had at least one big bite, but today I didn't.
"I don't feel bad about the day – I made good decisions and tried to make it happen at the end. I caught my last upgrade at 11:45 or (noon) and I made a move in the last 20 minutes to try to get a frog fish, but I just didn't get the quality bite I needed."
His previous-best Tour finish was a 4th at Sam Rayburn 2 years ago.
3rd: Good Day for Fukae
> Day 4: 5, 19-10 (20, 72-00)
Fukae far exceeded his expectations for the event.
"I'm happy," he said. "After practicing for 3 days, I didn't think I'd end up like this. I felt like I could catch 15 or 16 pounds a day, but it (ended up being) more than that."
He went through more than 30 keepers Sunday. His bag, which consisted entirely of largemouths, contained a 5-pounder and a 4 1/2.
Shinichi Fukae's 19-10 bag was the best of the final day.
"I mixed in smallmouths the first 3 days, but when I was 7th after day 3, I wanted to move up so I just (targeted) largemouths today. I actually fished my backup area today – and first I didn't realize the kind of quality that was there."
Remarkably, he caught two fish on day 4 that had previously broken off on dropshot rigs – both still had his hook and bait in their mouths."
4th: Dudley Feels Good
> Day 4: 5, 15-07 (20, 71-00)
Dudley, who spent a lengthy stint at the top of the BassFan World Rankings during and after his two-win 2012 campaign, turned in what was easily his best finish of 2016. A 23rd at Beaver Lake was his previous high-water mark.
"Anytime you bust a Top 10 you have to feel good about it," he said. "Maybe I should've stuck with the largemouth a little bit more, but it took a mixture this year to win it."
He caught about 20 keepers on day 4, the best of which was a 4-pounder. He caught an early limit of bed-dwelling smallmouths and then sought largemouths for the rest of the day, continually culling up a little bit at a time.
"I pretty much nickled and dimed it all the way until I came in. I was using the balance beam from early in the morning until 2 o'clock."
5th: Johnston Got what He Wanted
> Day 4: 5, 16-02 (20, 69-15)
Johnston ended the day in the same position he started. His primary goal was to remain 7 places ahead of Jacob Wheeler, who'd finished 14th, in order to claim the new boat and motor for winning the season-long Ranger Cup championship.
He spent the first 3 in the northern part of the lake, but his fish were dwindling and his weights were dropping. That caused him to relocate to Ticonderoga for the final day.
He made three upgrades worth about 9 pounds in the final 20 minutes to achieve his objective.
"Without those I wouldn't have gotten it, so it was a nail-biter for me," he said. "I went from having 10 pounds to 16. I wish I'd had another half-hour because with two more quality bites, I could've really had a good bag."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 10 limits.
Final Standings
1. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 22-5 (5) -- 20-0 (5) -- 16-5 (5) -- 16-0 (5) -- 74-10 (20) -- $125,000
2. Jason Meninger -- Gainesville, Ga -- 19-2 (5) -- 17-7 (5) -- 19-6 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 73-10 (20) -- $30,000
3. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 16-6 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 17-5 (5) -- 19-10 (5) -- 72-0 (20) -- $25,000
4. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 19-13 (5) -- 18-9 (5) -- 17-3 (5) -- 15-7 (5) -- 71-0 (20) -- $20,000
5. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 21-2 (5) -- 17-7 (5) -- 15-4 (5) -- 16-2 (5) -- 69-15 (20) -- $19,500
6. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 18-2 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 17-5 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 68-10 (20) -- $18,000
7. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 17-7 (5) -- 21-5 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 68-6 (20) -- $17,500
8. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 18-14 (5) -- 18-3 (5) -- 15-0 (5) -- 15-15 (5) -- 68-0 (20) -- $16,000
9. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 18-0 (5) -- 16-8 (5) -- 16-9 (5) -- 14-2 (5) -- 65-3 (20) -- $15,000
10. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 18-3 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 15-5 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 63-9 (20) -- $14,000
