The doctor is in – the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
Tom Martens, a 46-year-old family physician from Jonestown, Texas, is the 55th and final qualifier after winning Saturday’s fish-off at the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship. And it’s certain the even-keeled angler won’t cave under the pressure of bass fishing’s biggest stage.
“I used to work in the emergency room saving lives, so everything is stress-free compared to that,” Martens said.
Martens now specializes in occupational health, like treating “letter carriers for dog bites,” which is no joke as he gets at least one a month. Also no joke was the doc’s golf game, but leaving that led him to fishing. The Phoenix native was working his way onto the mini tours before an injury about six years ago.
“I’ve been playing golf my whole life and I hurt my wrist and took a few months off golf,” Martens said. “I fished a few tournaments with guys and just fell in love with it – the smell of motors, the sunrises, everything.”
He had always bass fished, but his newfound love of tournament action had him trade in his clubs for rods permanently – “I don’t know if I could break 80 now.”
His first tournament was a Bass Champs on Lake Belton, and he’s fished that tour to some success with partner Dean Alexander, who he credited on the weigh-in stage for teaching him something new every time out.
Martens, who fishes with the Big Sandy Creek Bass Club, started a guide service called “The Bass Whisperer.” He said he planned to wrap his boat before the team event, and going to the Classic has put things up in the air. He runs a Ranger and is on their pro staff, and he has friends at Shimano, Falcon and Costa, and isn’t sure what boat or wrap he’ll run at the Classic.
“I’m going to reach out to a couple different places,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect. I’m really kind of overwhelmed.”
The single dad has a live-in nanny for his boys, 9 and 7, who he most likely will take to Grand Lake for practice before the Jan. 1 Classic cutoff.
Oh, and the name. Martens said he is sometimes asked about his possible relation to Bassmaster Angler of the Year Aaron Martens. He’ll even hear comments at some events, like “what’s Martens doing here?”
“My family is from Cleveland, Ohio, and he’s from California,” Martens said. “I don’t know if we’re related, but I’d sure love to meet him at the Classic.”
Martens actually gets mistaken more for shoe maker Dr. Martens and as well as Tommy Martin, the 1974 Classic winner who’s also from Texas.
“I get a lot more confused with Tom Martin,” he said. “Fishing these Texas tournaments where they pair you, they call out Tom Martin and both he and I would walk over to meet this co-angler. That’s how I met him.”
Don’t let his dumb act with Jon Stewart on the fish-off weigh-in stage fool you. Martens knew well where the Classic would be, but he hasn’t fished Oklahoma nor Grand Lake.
“They have grass in that lake?” he asked Stewart. “Can you throw a seven-inch swimbait? … Looks like I’ll be going to Tulsa.”
Martens did have a note on his appearance at the event. “I usually don’t let my beard get that long,” he said. “A little scruffy.”
We’ll learn more about the good doctor, and angler, in the coming months, but he left the Daily Limit with this:
“I just see patients all day and fish when I can.”
On a fantasy island, loving new boat
Speaking of winners, Tyler Courtney didn’t spend an exorbitant amount of time figuring out his winning lineups for Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing presented by Toyota. For his seasonlong efforts, the Lubbock, Texas man won a 2016 Triton. See story.
“When I got to the lower buckets, I would choose an angler who lived close to the lake, hoping he would have some experience there,” he said.
His key might have been picking Martens a lot. That would be Angler of the Year Aaron, not Tom.
Gifting for Christmas
If you’re stuck for ideas on what to get your angler for Christmas, check out these 45 awesome boat accessories.
It runs the gamut from big ticket items that the bass angler in your life would surely react with a huge ho-ho-ho, to stocking stuffers that will stuff your stock higher with the recipient.
Big Bass of the Week
Keith Combs displays a 9.70-pounder he caught last week fishing Lake Conroe with friend Brian Vonderau from BLV Enterprises. It will serve nicely as our Big Bass of the Week.
Look at it. That thing is a beast.
Combs has a great history of landing big fish, as evidenced by his lone Bassmaster Elite Series victory on Falcon Lake in 2013. He totaled 111.5 pounds there to defeat Rick Clunn. His fish worked out to an average of 5.57 pounds per fish.
A four-day total with an average weight of this 9.7 fish would be an incredible 194 pounds.
Could you imagine?
Sign on to help bass
There are two actions B.A.S.S. hopes its readers take to help the future of bass fishing.
You can urge your senator to help pass the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act by clicking here. Simply fill in your info and click Take Action.
The other action can help save bass in the California Delta. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein are pushing the U.S. Congress to pass a “drought relief” bill for California that includes an eradication program for largemouth bass and stripers in the California Delta, Robert Montgomery wrote in this story.
You can help by signing this letter to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and by contacting your senators and representatives.
Culling
- Photo of the week is from the Team Championship. And this is Tom Martens again, but this time he’s helping teammate Dean Alexander by netting his fish on Day 2. Idle speed? Martens is in the fast lane now. Check out all the photos from the event.
- The 55-man field for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro is now set, and two in the field share the last name Martens. See if you can figure out how many share the first name of Brandon. Think. Now check out the entire list here to see if you were right.