Even though he’s not competing in any of the remaining Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens, Scott Martin will be on the edge of his seat for every cast. With his Classic hopes on the line, it’s going to nerve-racking.
“I thought I was done with that Opens stress, but I’m right in the middle of it again,” said Martin, the first man out of qualifying for the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. “I just can’t seem to get away from the stress of the Opens. It’s two years in a row now.”
Last year the longtime FLW pro fished the pressure-packed Opens circuit in hopes of qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series, with the ultimate goal of winning a Classic. It came down to his last day in the last event, when he climbed 25 spots in the standings to finish second in the Eastern Opens points to earn his Elite spot.
Through seven Elite events in 2021, Martin, 45, was in position to qualify for the Classic. But he suffered a disastrous Northern Swing to drop just outside the cut in the Elite Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. As first man out, his hopes now lie on others, with four more chances to qualify.
Open winners receive a Classic berth if they fish all three events in either the Northern, Southern or Central divisions. A nonqualifier winning or an Elite who double qualifies would secure Martin’s spot. Also on the line in the Opens series are 12 Elite qualifications, the top three in points of each division and the top three in cumulative standings, so there will be drama.
With so much at stake, Bassmaster LIVE will air the action on each division’s final days — Sept. 11 for the St. Lawrence River (Northern), Sept. 25 at Lake Norman (Southern) and Oct. 24 for Grand Lake (Central). LIVE will air seven hours each day, with FOX Sports 1 shows from 8-11 a.m. ET and the remainder on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports app.
Record viewership of LIVE during the Elite season helped FOX and B.A.S.S. add Opens coverage.
“No. 1, FOX is a great partner,” Bassmaster TV executive producer Mike McKinnis said. “They see our sport has a strong following, and that we’re one of the few, if not the only, live sport rolling at that time. They recognized that and said, ‘Hey, let’s get that on the air.’
“We have great anglers on the Opens, they’ll be on great fisheries fighting for a title, with some vying for Classic berths and some for Elite berths, so there’s a lot of interest all around.”
Martin said he’ll be monitoring the proceedings with great interest. He sought the Elites as a path to win a Classic for the Martin family. His father, Roland Martin, is a nine-time AOY with 19 tournament wins but never won the championship. Scott has been vocal of his lofty desires to win one rather quickly.
“It’s now boiled down to the end of the season,” the Clewiston, Fla., pro said. “I’m on the bubble. If one guy who wins one of those tournaments isn’t qualified, I’m going to make it. There’s just as good a chance it won’t happen as it will happen.
“I’m definitely going to be praying for those guys. If they feel a special lift in the morning, it’s probably coming from me.”
With several buddies from his FLW days in the mix to qualify for the Elites, Martin said his allegiance is divided. It’s like wanting your fantasy football player to score enough to help you win, but not too well because he’s also going against you in another league. Martin was apologetic to good friends Andrew Upshaw and Bradley Hallman.
“I am going to be very glued to the TV, the internet, Bassmaster.com, following along and cheering some of these guys on,” he said. “It’s twofold. I’m cheering some of my buddies on to do well so they can make the Elites, but at the same time, I don’t want them to do too well and win the tournament.”
“I’m sorry Andrew. I’m sorry Bradley. I hope to get this over (get in the Classic) and I can start pulling for my buddies. I feel bad I can’t say, ‘Andrew, I want you to win and go to the Classic … but I really need you to come in second.’”
With fields topping 200 anglers, including local sticks and longtime pros, the Opens offer stiff competition for the prized slots. Martin said it was the hardest thing he’s ever done.
“It’s intense. It can be stressful. For me it was,” he said. “It came down to the last day of the last tournament. So many variables. I really feel the pain that these guys are going through. You really can’t have a bad day.”
Qualifying for the Classic is no cakewalk either. Martin was well on his way, sitting 18th in the points after seven Elite events. The Series moved north to Champlain, where Martin has done well in the past. He was confident he could figure out how to catch decent bags, but the wheels fell off as he lost fish after fish.
“I got myself in a jam,” he said. “I lost an amazing amount of fish. I’d hook them and say, ‘Please don’t come off,’ and then they would. It started to weigh heavy on me. It was like a spiral. It gets to a point where I’m grinding my teeth. I’m on the verge of just snapping rods over my … I’m on the verge of an Iaconelli moment.”
For the pressure to affect the likes of Martin, who was the face of FLW with a championship, an AOY title, eight wins and $2.9 million in earnings, is telling.
“Pressure and stress can really dictate how you finish out your day,” he said. “It was mixed emotions of ‘What the heck is going on?’ I was embarrassed at the same time, just really disappointed in my execution.”
Martin fell 24 spots from Day 1 to 2 on Champlain to finish 87th, which dropped him to 32nd in the AOY. Although still well above the Classic cut line of 39th, he was going to the big waters of the St. Lawrence River for the first time. Although he found fish in Lake Ontario where the top finishers fished, he opted to avoid the risk.
“I could have easily gone to the lake and knowing what I know now, probably caught them really good. Playing it safe hurt me,” said Martin, realizing his mistake. “Don’t play it safe when there’s a legitimate chance of doing something special. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’re going to finish pretty high.”
Simply aiming for a fair finish to hold serve in points, Martin was a disappointing 82nd at St. Lawrence. With the drop event, he was knocked outside the Classic cut at 44th and resting his hopes on others. More lessons learned.
“I fished different the past two years,” he said. “This is the first time in my career when I’ve literally been focused on points. That’s all that mattered. All that mattered was I made the Elites. Then this year, because of my desire to win the Classic sooner rather than later, I had a sense of urgency. I need to make the Classic. So my focus was all on points. That disrupted me a bit. When you fish for points, you don’t take the chances and push things as far as you could.”
After his dramatic fall outside the automatic berth, Martin’s hopes rest on another angler helping him reach his first Classic, which would come with a reward. He said he’d definitely reach out, take that pro to dinner and drinks and probably shoot some videos with them for his popular show. Martin said he knows it’s an iffy proposition, but there’s four more chances. If not, he’ll have to settle for the painful lessons.
“It stings a bit to learn lessons 20 years in, but you still learn them,” Martin said. “There’s power in defeat. It hurts. It stings to finish out the year the way I did. I had a decent year. It wasn’t like I totally bombed.
“We’re going to pray about it. I’m going to finish right where I’m supposed to this year. It would be a blessing if I could make the Bassmaster Classic the first year on the Elites. We’ll see what happens, but I’m excited about next year.”
Editor’s note: See Martin’s column, A stressful Elite year.