LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – Aaron Martens heard the chuckles from the crowd when he explained the primary pattern he used during the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Havasu presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels.
But as crazy as it sounded, he was serious.
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, he caught enough bass the first three days to enter Sunday’s championship round in fourth place.
Then during the championship round, he caught five bass that weighed 19-5 and took home the $100,000 first-place prize with a four-day total of 68-9.
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| Winning on Mother's Day overcame series of second places. (Photo: James Overstreet BASS) |
He used a drop-shot rig some during the week, too. But after the final weigh-in, the buzz was about the birds.
“I do that all the time,” said Martens, who earned the victory on Mother’s Day with his own mother, Carol, in the crowd. “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 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 – it was a large Rage Craw for the 1/2-ounce rig and a 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.
