By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Scott Martin has eight tour-level victories on his lengthy competitive ledger, so it might surprise some to hear him say that his recent Bassmaster Open triumph is the second-most significant win of his career, trailing only his Forrest Wood Cup title from 2011.

It may have occurred on B.A.S.S.' second-tier circuit, but there were a lot of circumstances surrounding it that made it a Class A milestone for the 48-year-old angler.

For one, it happened on his home waters – legendary Lake Okeechobee. He was awarded the trophy in the same parking lot where he watched his dad, nine-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year Roland Martin, collect one at the 1991 Florida Invitational. He said that scene from 30-plus years ago was the primary impetus for launching his own pro career.

Both his father and mother, Mary Ann, were on hand for the final weigh-in on Saturday, which was really just a formality after the way he dominated the field through three days of competition. His final tally of 90-6 was more than 21 pounds clear of the number posted by runner-up Tucker Smith.

Lastly, the win earned him an early slot in the 2025 Classic. He'll have to sit out this year's version of that event, which will take place at Oklahoma's Grand Lake next month, after a 44th-place finish in the 2023 Elite Series points standings left him just below the cutoff.

"Honestly, I was fishing more to win the tournament than I was to make the Classic," he said a couple of days after the tournament's conclusion. "I really wanted a win on this lake. I was like 15 when I saw my dad win in '91 and that's when I thought that I really wanted to do this. I'd practiced with him and felt like I'd helped him and he gave me credit for that on stage.

"My mom won a Bass'n Gal even in that same parking lot. It's really awesome after all these years to get my first B.A.S.S. win in the same place. Getting it in Alabama or at Santee Cooper or anywhere else would've been great, but here it feels like it was almost scripted."

He expected to fare well in the derby, but his daily weights (33-2, 25-13 and 31-7) far exceeded his expectations.

"When I went into this, I didn't imagine that I'd catch them as good as I did," he said. "I was really fortunate that I had a few spots within the spot that paid off."

He spent most of the tournament on two 100-yard stretches in the Harney Pond vicinity on the west side of the Big O, fishing in four to five feet of water. The fish were set up primarily in and around small reed clumps, some of which didn't reach the surface.

A ChatterBait produced some fish on each of the first two days. On the final day, he relied on Texas rigs featuring either a Googan Baits Bandito Bug or a stright-tail worm, along with a wacky-rigged Googan Baits Lunker Log stickworm.

"It was a slow bite – I only caught eight or nine fish a day," he said. "There were a lot of guys in there with spinning rods, but they were catching mostly males. I stayed with the bigger baits.

"I thought I did a pretty good job of staying patient and managing my opportunities. I left those little fish alone and focused on the better bites. I let the big females come to me and settle in. I didn't want to know what anybody else was catching; I put my mask on and kept my head down and fished for one bite at a time. It wasn't fast and furious, but when it happened, it was big."

He said his Power-Poles were the biggest key to his program.

"I could sit completely still and let those fish settle down. I'd pole down and sit in one spot and fan-cast around, and when I'd find a slick spot or a bed, I'd keep making repeated casts to it with my boat locked in a solid position. If the boat had been moving around, it would've been a mess."

He said that having his '25 Classic bid already in the bag will make things a little easier on him during the upcoming Elite Series season, which kicks off at Toledo Bend Reservoir in two weeks.

"There will be a little less stress," he said. "When we're halfway through the season I won't have to be looking and the points and trying to figure out where I need to finish in the rest of them. Aiming for 30th- or 40th-place finishes isn't something I like to do and the extra bit of relief of not counting points every tournament will play big in my decisions and the way I fish.

"I'm not going to change my basic approach – I still want to win an Elite Series tournament and the Angler of the Year (which he won on the FLW Tour in 2015) is always a goal. I have to take it one tournament at a time and one fish at a time."

Notable

> Martin is attempting to raise awareness for a group he's involved with called Anglers for Lake Okeechobee. "I'd encourage everyone reading this to join our fight to protect the lake," he said. "We're fighting for habitat, funding and proper water levels."