Lake Havasu City, Az— Aaron Martens took “matching the hatch” to a whole new level this weekend.
The Elite Series made a stop at Lake Havasu, but it was a unique approach that took Martens to the podium.
“I’ve caught them in California, and had them spit up full-grown blackbirds,” Martens said.
Indeed, many people were skeptical at the approach, but you can’t argue with the result. Martens brought home his first B.A.S.S. trophy since 2012, along with the $100,000 dollar pay day and the ticket to the Classic.
Whether you’re buying or selling the bird technique, it certainly worked.
The Winning Bait
Martens wielded a 7-1/2 foot, extra heavy flipping stick to pitch his winning bait into cover. He targeted areas with high concentrations of birds.
The bait itself was a 1/2 or 3/4 ounce weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu heavy cover hook, green pumpkin patch skirt, and one of two trailers. When throwing the 1/2 ounce weight, he trailed a Rage Craw. When tossing the larger 3/4 ounce weight, he used a Speed Craw.
Martens had second thoughts about revealing the juice in his special sauce. “I probably shouldn’t even be talking about it,” he would say, “because I’ve known about it for 25 years.”
He would also speculate later that the technique and pattern were so successful because so many people didn’t believe it would work.
The Top 10
Here are the top 10 results:
- Aaron Martens, 68.9 pounds
- Cliff Pirch, 66.9 pounds
- Edwin Evers, 65 pounds
- Takahiro Omori, 64.9 pounds
- David Williams, 62.14 pounds
- Dean Rojas, 61.7 pounds
- Casey Ashley, 61.4 pounds
- Justin Lucas, 60.14
- Jonathon VanDam, 60.14
- Brandon Palaniuk, 60.8
The Elite Series pros will make their next stop at Kentuky Lake, in Paris Tennessee on June 3rd.