You can ask anyone about Aaron Martens' run for victory this year, and they would tell you he did it his way. So, it was fitting that while at Sturgeon Bay for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, Jim Sexton saw this road sign and took a photo.
Photo: Rick Reed
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He brought it in to the B.A.S.S. headquarters office in Birmingham, Ala., for Martens to see ...
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... and to sign.
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Martens and his wife, Lesley, joined staff members from B.A.S.S. ...
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... and from Nationwide Insurance for a celebration of his AOY win.
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Aaron and Lesley are in high spirits ...
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... now that the pressure of the season is over.
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Martens addressed the staff on hand ...
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... and mentioned some of his best moments.
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Winning at Arizona's Lake Havasu was his favorite moment, he said.
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Martens greeted B.A.S.S. co-owner Don Logan.
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He also talked about one of the nicknames he's earned this year, Fish Whisperer.
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"They don't really whisper to me, but I know what they're saying," he said. "I've always had a connection with animals -- fish, dogs, cats, birds." The 'birds' was a reference to his blackbird pattern at Havasu.
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Bryan Brasher, center, shows Martens the new cover of B.A.S.S. Times Magazine ...
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... and Lee Ann Ponstein gets Martens' autograph.
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James Hall, editor of Bassmaster Magazine, cracks Lesley up when he shows her this issue's cover.
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It's a fake cover, with a photo of Martens imbibing at his AOY party.
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More autographs ...
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... and some goodbyes before ...
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... it's time for the Twitter chat and live Periscope.
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Martens is amused by some of the questions from fans ...
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... such as what his fishing superstitions are. (He doesn't have any, and he takes bananas on the boat to prove it.)
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Aaron and Lesley hold up the fake cover ...
Photo: Laurie Tisdale
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... and Aaron takes a closer look at the real cover of B.A.S.S. Times.
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And you can be sure when he does something, he does it Aaron's way.
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