Looking back, 2015 was the year of Martens, Evers and Bassmaster LIVE.
The best of Daily Limit revisits its favorite posts of the year, and Aaron Martens’ incredible run to Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year tops them all. Perhaps the most incredible occurrence – even more than the blackbird pattern he utilized to win at Havasu – was the 7-pound Chesapeake Bay winner Martens caught in the 11th hour. That catch secured his victory and set him up further for his third AOY.
Martens was demonstrative after the catch, hollering and celebrating the “big fish of the tournament.” That created great content on Bassmaster LIVE, a new feature in 2015 that put cameramen in five anglers’ boat to transmit on-the-water footage as it happens.
“That was the best thing that I have ever witnessed on LIVE,” Mark Zona said.
Asked to describe the significance of the catch, Tommy Sanders said, “That one’s going to carry extra weight because it absolutely won the tournament. And in the last two hours of the final day? We will never top that. How would you ever top that? We’ll be watching that for years to come.”
Martens catch was the lead item in the Aug. 17 post titled “Best LIVE ever.”
The band’s all here
It was a late night. After a full Saturday assisting on Bassmaster LIVE and an evening of publishing content from Day 3 of the St. Lawrence Elite, the task as hand was finding some new trivia questions for Day 4 or LIVE.
That led to a search of Edwin Evers, who after winning BASSfest was leading and on his way to unprecedented back-to-back Elite wins. Among the results was a hit from Europe. It was written in Dutch. The words “Edwin Evers Band” was easy to translate. Dig some more, play some of their music. Hmmm.
So, the question submitted for LIVE was “Which Top 12 angler has a namesake band?” A link to a song the band covers was included.
That long day and late night was met with oversleeping, and walking into the set moments after LIVE began. The call to warn the producers of impending lateness was met with a mysterious, “It’s OK. We’re going to have some fun with you later.”
Hmmm … ??
Mark Zona razzed the “Sooch” for a late night at “darts league,” or maybe watching “the Rhonda Rousey fight” over and over. But the real fun was the song from the band and the aftermath provided by Zona, Sanders, the producers and fans in the LIVE chatroom. Check that out in “Strike up the band.”
Ike liked KVD scolding
Standing around chewing the fat at the Molix lure booth during ICAST, Mike Iaconelli opened up. He told of how he gets all fanboy awkward around the legends in bass fishing.
That talked reminded Iaconelli of a 20-year old story. It involved him fishing on Kevin VanDam’s boat in a tournament, ticking him off and living to not only tell about it but credit it as inspiration. It might have helped Ike become Ike.
Check out “Inspiration from a scolding.”
Spotting a world record
Just one month ago, Paul Bailey caught a huge spotted bass that could end up as an IGFA all tackle world record.
Documentation of the catch is extensive as the pro Californian angler was fishing for a TV show. The 11-pound, 4-ounce potential record fish was pulled from an out-of-the way lake, so so far in the sticks that a state game warden wouldn’t come and help verify the catch. Moving fish in California is illegal, so Bailey and crew recorded weights on video from three different scales, which they sent to the IGFA in hopes one would be post-catch certified and give them the record.
Bailey finished by saying if this fish doesn’t set the mark, he believes another even bigger will be caught soon – probably from the same lake. See the Nov. 30 post, “World record spot?”
Elam enjoys home cooking
James Elam debated even competing in the Bass Pro Shops Central Open on Fort Gibson – he had worked his way into a chance to qualify for the Classic at the season-ending AOY Championship and wanted to be rested up.
Since it was on his home lake, he decided to fish. Good thing, as he held off the field for his first B.A.S.S. title. Even better, he secured a spot in the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake, with the host city Tulsa being his hometown.
See his coming of age in “Elam’s home cooking.”
Culling
- Lesley Martens didn’t like that she and the kids couldn’t be there when husband Aaron clinched the AOY title early. Her perspective is presented in “Not being there.”
- How about a fun piece advancing the legend of Aaron Martens, who after winning at Chesapeake Bay saved a boy and had us wondering what his next act might be. Look no further than “Martens, the legend.”
- Seeing the Weekend Champion’s email address begged the question: What kind of doctor? Thomas Martens, a former emergency room doctor who now works as a family physician, will be in the Classic. See “Paging Dr. Martens.”
- Our Big Bass of the Year wasn’t gratuitous at all. On the first day of the B.A.S.S. Youth Nation Junior Championship, Jacob Bruener pulled in an 11-pound, 14-ounce largemouth from Carroll County Thousand Acre Lake. Bruener, of east Texas, where he fishes trophy bass lakes like Rayburn and Toledo Bend, probably wasn’t thinking he’d catch his personal best nor the lake’s record fish.
