Aaron Martens won the Bassmaster Elite series event on Lake Havasu with a total weight of 68lbs 9oz over four days of competition. While many anglers figured the largemouth bite would fade from angler pressure, Martens actually weighed in better limits of the green fish as the event wore on finishing the tournament on a high note with his best bag of the derby: 19lbs 5oz.
Martens made a short run up the Colorado River each day and fished thick patches of shoreline vegetation where big largemouth bass were feeding on blackbirds. Flipping a bait designed to mimic their prey. After the event, all the talk was about his bird pattern, mostly because a majority of fans and competitors didn’t believe him to be truthful.
“I do that all the time,” Martens said. “I don’t know why people don’t believe me when I say it. The birds fall out of the nest, and the bass eat them. Birds are definitely part of their diet.”
Martens used a 1/2- or 3/4-ounce tungsten weight and a 4/0 Heavy Cover Gamakatsu hook rigged with a green pumpkin punch skirt and one of two plastic trailers. His choice of trailer was determined by which weight he was using — a large Strike King Rage Craw for the 1/2-ounce rig and a Zoom Speed Craw for the 3/4-ounce setup. He paid special attention to areas where lots of blackbirds were nesting.
“I probably shouldn’t even be talking about it, because I’ve known about it for 25 years,” said Martens, who said several fish spit up black feathers in his livewell during the tournament. “I’ve caught them in California and had them spit up full-grown blackbirds. Maybe it’s such a good pattern because so many people don’t believe it.”
Martens Gear:
Flipping: Enigma Fishing Aaron’s Edge Flipping Stick, Shimano Metanium casting reel, 30-pound Sunline SX1 braid, 1/2oz & 3/4oz Tungsten Flipping Weights, 4/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover hook, Strike King Rage Craw or Zoom Speed Craw – both in green pumpkin.
Martens also used a drop shot rig during the event to bag some keeper fish. His setup included:
Drop Shot: Enigma Fishing Aaron’s Edge Drop Shot Rod, Shimano Stella 2500 spinning reel, 10-pound Sunline SX1 braid tied to a 8-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon leader, 1/4oz River2Sea cylinder dropshot weight, #1 or 1/0 Roboworm Rebarb Hook, 6" Roboworm Straight Tail worm in Aaron’s Magic or MMIII.
The final 8 anglers due to battle on Kentucky Lake - Elite 9 Starts Thursday June 4 - Meet the Elite 8 here.
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