2013: The year of Aaron Martens

Aaron Martens will never forget 2013, and a big part of that is this moment. He captured his second Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year on Day Three of the Plano Championship Chase in Detroit. But it wasn’t an easy ride to the title. Let’s look back at his year.

The year on the water began for Martens at the Southern Open #1 on Lake Toho where he finished in 43rd place.

Then, it was on to the Classic. Aaron rests before beginning his day on Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees.

Aaron taking off on Day One of the Bassmaster Classic.

Aaron finished in 28th place at the Classic. Not the finish he wanted, but it was time to move on to the Elite season.

First was the Sabine River Challenge presented by STARK Cultural Venues. Aaron finished in 85th place, with only 3.11 lbs for the two days he fished. A disastrous finish, unless you know how this story ends.

Despite dust storms and harsh conditions, Aaron finished in 24th place at the Rigid Industries Falcon Slam.

Martens makes his way through fallen trees at Falcon Lake. His AOY rank after this event was 60.

While at Falcon another Martens had a monster catch. Aaron’s daughter Jordan hooked this 10 lb. beast- bigger than any fish her dad caught during the tournament that week.

Next for Aaron was the Southern Open #2 on Douglas Lake. Another mid-20’s finish at 25th place here, but these Opens don’t help you in Angler of the Year points.

The Ramada Quest at Bull Shoals Lake meant it was back to business for Martens. Here he is hard at work.

Don’t let these pictures of Martens loafing fool you- he had a very solid 15th place finish at Bull Shoals. This picture was taken during the weather delay. HIs AOY rank after this event was 39.

The West Point Lake Battle proved to be where Martens really caught fire, finishing in 2nd place behind Skeet Reese by 2 pounds. Suddenly he wasn’t under the radar anymore- he was in the race for AOY, ranked 15.

Next at the Alabama River Charge presented by Star brite, Aaron continued his hot streak, finishing in 8th place.

Aaron reminds photographer James Overstreet of the importance of getting some fuel for the body during the day in Montgomery.

Aaron was one of the few anglers that did not try to shoot the rapids by the Jordan Dam. He chose to spend most of his time west of the launch site. His rank after this event in AOY points was 6.

Next up for Aaron was the final Southern Open of the year, on Lake Logan Martin. He had another strong finish of 17th place on a lake very close to his home of Leeds, Alabama.

Before the next Elite event, Aaron took part in the 2nd Annual KVD Charity Classic.

Back to the Elites and the Diet Mountain Dew Mississippi River Rumble presented by Power-Pole. It was another fantastic event for Martens…

…netting him another 2nd place finish. He wasn’t winning, but he was being consistent. He was now ranked 4th in AOY points.

Elite anglers including Aaron spent some time with local high schoolers during the weigh-in in La Crosse.

<p>Martens kept it rolling at the Evan Williams Showdown at St. Lawrence River with a strong 5th place finish. He was now ranked 2nd in AOY points behind Edwin Evers.</p>

Martens kept it rolling at the Evan Williams Showdown at St. Lawrence River with a strong 5th place finish. He was now ranked 2nd in AOY points behind Edwin Evers.

The final Elite event of the season, the Plano Championship Chase, saw Aaron Martens trailing Edwin Evers in the Angler of the Year race.

It looked impossible for Aaron to catch Edwin at first…

…but that was because we didn’t know…

…how far Aaron Martens would go…

…to bring home his 2nd AOY trophy.

Aaron once again did not win (or even finish!) the event, but his 12th place was enough to declare him the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.

Aaron’s family drove all night to be with him. He was shocked.

A reward for his amazing year, Aaron earned a trip to Muskegon for the Toyota All-Star Week and Evan Williams Bourbon Championship.

Aaron finished in 6th place, ending his excellent 2013 Elite season.

Winning Toyota Angler of the Year brought Aaron into B.A.S.S. headquarters to see the staff and participate in a Twitter chat.

Aaron also visited a NASCAR event and tried to steal the trophy.

<p>If you spend any time with Aaron, you learn he's a fitness freak. Here he is celebrating finishing RAGNAR, a multiple day relay race through the Las Vegas desert.</p>

If you spend any time with Aaron, you learn he’s a fitness freak. Here he is celebrating finishing RAGNAR, a multiple day relay race through the Las Vegas desert.

Recently, Aaron visited Japan including visiting his sponsor Megabass. Yuki Ito, CEO and President of Megabass presents Aaron with a special keepsake on the occasion of his AOY year.

2013 was truly The Year of Martens. What will 2014 hold for our Toyota Angler of the Year?