GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. - Despite nearly relinquishing a 6-pound plus margin, Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., held on Sunday to score his fifth BASS victory - his first outside of the state of the California - at the Southern Challenge bass fishing tournament on Lake Guntersville. The 36-year-old West Coast product, who totaled 107 pounds, 8 ounces, nearly let victory slip away to hard-charging Skeet Reese, but in the end, his versatility brought home the $100,000 top prize.
The day started inauspiciously enough for Martens as his first spot - roughly a 10-foot area - was filled by a local boat. The 2005 Angler of the Year ran to his next spot, only to encounter the same boat, which Martens said intentionally stirred up his area to make it virtually unfishable.
To boot, Martens struggled through the morning and wasn't connecting with the same class of fish he had the first three days of competition. But Martens had developed two distinctly different patterns. His best, a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 deep-diving crankbait, was paired with a worm and provided Martens the one-two punch necessary to win a Elite Series event.
"I was tense all day. It was horrible," said Martens, who has accumulated nearly $1.5 million in BASS career earnings. "I had to work really hard today. But this feels really good."
With the victory, Martens climbed to fourth in the 2009 Angler of the Year standings and is within striking distance of points leader Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. VanDam, in a relative struggle, finished 20th at Guntersville and left the door open for Reese, Alton Jones and Martens. The full standings can be found below and with just three regular-season events remaining, the race is shaping up to be epic.
Plagued all week by local traffic, Martens was forced to dig deep and thankfully he located 30 productive spots during his three-day practice period. He said he was only able to hit half of those and of those half, he only visited eight or so each day.
The best spots, he said, were ones that contained grass and shellbeds. In those spots, he would retrieve the crankbait in a unique fashion, very erratically and similar to the way you would retrieve a jerkbait. He felt his retrieve was key to enticing the bigger bass.
Each of the first three days, Martens had been able to fill his limit, upgrade relatively quickly and then spend some of the day trying to locate new water. This, he said, helped him to remain consistent while other anglers hammered on singular spots and saw their weights fall off dramatically.
"You just had to keep moving and keep looking," said Martens. "I have never seen anything like this lake this week. I have seen other lakes that have bigger fish but nowhere else can you find this many spots that hold that many quality fish. It was just amazing."
A relative afterthought after the first day, Reese moved up the leaderboard each day, eventually causing Martens to sweat. Like Martens, Reese worked a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 crankbait and capped off his week with an impressive 27-pound, 11 ounce, limit Sunday.
While Reese felt he cost himself with a few missed fish early in the tournament, he wasn't sure if those fish would have made the difference. Saturday was the turning point for Reese when he identified an ultra-productive stretch that he relied upon for the final two days.
Sunday was frustrating for Reese in a different sense than most. He was landing 5-pounders galore but couldn't find the bigger bite that would have put him over the top.
"Aaron and the rest of them left the door open a little bit," said Reese, the 2007 Angler of the Year. "But it was pretty hard to overcome that deficit in the end. Overall, I'm very pleased."
Moving up nine spots to third was Kevin Wirth of Crestwood, Ky., with 102 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was Mike Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., with 101 pounds, 1 ounce. Slipping to fifth from second was Marty Stone of Fayetteville, N.C., with 99 pounds, 5 ounces.
Stone is one of many anglers battling to qualify for the 2010 Classic via the Angler of the Year standings. The top 36 will earn berths in the Feb. 19-21 Classic on Lay Lake and Birmingham, Ala. Also determined at the end of the regular season will be the top 12 competitors, who will qualify for the inaugural Elite Series Postseason. This past week, BASS announced the details with the Postseason being played out on Lake Jordan (Sept. 12-13) and the Alabama River (Sept. 17-18).
The real star of the tournament was by most accounts Guntersville. Anglers, in droves, praised the famed fishery and the final numbers were impressive. Elite anglers caught nearly 1,300 fish and more than 5,300 pounds over the course of four days.
A BASS favorite, Guntersville has been the site of more than 20 previous BASS events, including the 1976 Classic, won by Elite Series pro Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo.
Up next in the Elite Series is the June 3-6 SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn.
FINAL STANDINGS - SOUTHERN CHALLENGE
2009 Southern Challenge 5/7-5/10
Lake Guntersville, Guntersville AL.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 20 107-08 315 $100,000.00
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 $25,000.00
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 $20,000.00
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 $15,000.00
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 $14,000.00
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 $13,500.00
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 $13,000.00
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 $12,500.00
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 $12,000.00
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 $11,500.00
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 $11,000.00
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 $10,500.00
Day 1: 5 28-12 Day 2: 5 22-15 Day 3: 5 24-13 Day 4: 5 12-11
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BIG BASS
Day
1 Ken D Cook Lawton, OK 08-05 $0.00
2 Clark Reehm Russellville, AR 09-02 $0.00
3 Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 08-02 $0.00
4 Kevin Wirth Crestwood, KY 06-06 $0.00
BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT
Clark Reehm Russellville, AR 09-02 $1,000.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 96 488 2064-09
2 95 485 1999-04
3 50 250 1016-07
4 12 60 238-01
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253 1283 5318-05
2009 Bassmaster ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Pro Points After Lake Guntersville, Ending 05-10-2009, Day 4
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Place Name St Pts
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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