When asked what he was thinking just now, Aaron Martens looked up at the sky and said, "It's dark."
He was talking about the cloud cover that's now blocking what started as a bright, bright, bright, sunshiny day. But he could have been referring to his mood. Martens hasn't had a bite since boating a 3 1/2-pounder an hour ago.
Martens knows he's got to hit it out of the ballpark today to have a chance at repeating as the AOY champion.
"Twenty-eight pounds," Martens said, when asked if he had a goal for the day. He laughed, but added, "It is doable here."
None of the Lake Michigan giant smallmouth that were caught in practice last week appeared at the Day 1 weigh-in. Martens needs a couple of those to make it interesting today.