Practice with Scott Martin

We set out to find an angler who would let us tag along for the final day of practice for the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the Santee Cooper Lakes.

The Clarendon Club looks like a good place to start the search.

Yep, this looks like the place. As we make our way around back …

… we find a rig parked underneath the pavilion.

Scott Martin is having himself the breakfast of champions.

At any given time, there’s somewhere in the range of a half dozen cameras rolling around Martin.

Cameraman Macoy shoots as Martin readies the boat for the day.

One last look around at the property where Martin, Matt Arey and Scott Canterbury are staying this week reveals a nice fire pit area …

… as well as a skeet shooting spot in the backyard. That’s pretty cool.

But now, it’s time to get to work as Martin makes his way to the lake.

Back on camera, Martin films his practice as well as his Elite Series events and posts them all on his YouTube channel.

Now with rod in hand, it’s time for Martin to figure something out on this last day of practice.

He’s had some bites so far this week, but they have been few and far between.

The Santee Cooper Lakes are full of cover.

Cypress tree forests abound, which creates a very target rich environment. This means, there’s plenty to explore.

But these trees are mighty sticky, and inevitably you’re going to get hung up some.

Martin focuses back in …

… as his chest mounted GoPro does as well.

Another camera mounted off to the side of the boat …

… is resting on quite the above average GoPro mount.

The sun is out, for now, warming Martin’s hand as well as the water. A brutal cold front came through the area a few days ago and had air temps in the low 20s to start practice.

A fair mix of spinning gear and baitcasters will be seen here this week. Skipping around these trees is a big way anglers catch them here, and many prefer spinning rods to do it.

Although the cold has tried to slow the advance of spring …

… spring has no doubt sprung here in South Carolina. And the bass will be, and already are, bedding here this week.

Martin knows that …

… and spends the majority of his morning looking for cypress trees where fish will be spawning.

The key is what’s under the water. These little cypress knees that you see sticking up here in a cluster of three, are all under the water around these trees as well.

Pitching his bait to the base of the trees …

… Martin is able to fish for fish that are spawning on or around these cypress knees.

But it’s a slow process. You have to fish the bait like you believe it is in a bed, every cast. Even though you can’t see anything.

But every now and then it pays off, as Martin points to a fish that’s “running with it,” meaning the fish has his bait and is moving away from the tree.

In the top left corner of this picture, you can see the line as the fish makes his way towards the front of the boat.

Believing the fish may be spawning here, Martin doesn’t want to set the hook and is instead trying to “shake it off,” in hopes that he can mark the fish, return in the tournament and catch it.

The fish makes its way all the way to the right side of the boat before it finally spits Martin’s bait out.

A quick look around the boat to showcase a few of Martin’s sponsors …

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The front deck of Martin’s Skeeter is loaded down with Garmin equipment, including their Force trolling motor and two graphs.

On one of the graphs, Martin runs Garmin’s forward facing sonar technology called LiveScope. He’s using it to look for fish around the base of these trees. In this shot, you can actually see what Martin believes to be two bass spawning, a larger one up and to the right along with a smaller one just down and to the left.

A nice tribute to Aaron Martens on the console of Scott Martin’s boat.
Martin’s decides to ditch the tree bite for a while …

… and try swimming a jig around some vegetation.

…

Clarendon County is the host for this week’s event. A photographer from the area stops by to snap a few shots of Martin and other anglers.

Martin hooks up …

… and he says its big.

A closer look, and she’s about to break the surface.

As Martin catches a glimpse of the fish, his face says it all.

One last hard turn and the fish pulls off.

Martin gives his best guess on the size, “It was 8- or 9- pounds dude.”

A solid chunk enters the boat …

… as Martin starts to put something together.

Another bite.

And this one is an acrobat.

This 4-pound plus bass comes completely out of the water.

Martin scans the area to see if any other competitors saw what he just saw.

This bass is still hot, fighting to break free.

One last surge at the boat.

Martins wants to keep this one quiet.

One last look as Martin turns this one loose. That’s a wrap on practice for now. We leave Scott Martin looking for a few more bites before the start of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the Santee Cooper Lakes on Thursday.