Beam Him Up

Posted by Pete Robbins on Jan 18th 2021

Maybe it’s because it’s been the shortest pro bassing offseason in recent memory, or perhaps because we’ve all breathed too many mask fumes, but what should be the biggest story of the year isn’t getting much oxygen. That, my friends, is the move of Scott Martin to B.A.S.S.

Even if his father Roland had not won nine AOYs, qualified for 25 Classics, and won 19 B.A.S.S. events, Scott’s move to the Senior Circuit would be a big deal because he built his career in two other venues: FLW and the internet. He won the FLW AOY in 2015 and finished in the top 10 on five other occasions. He won the Cup in 2011 and finished in the top 10 on six other occasions (plus one as a co-angler). Finally, as Tony Soprano would say, not for nothin’ but he’s got an enormous fricking YouTube presence.

Despite the fact that his last name is a cornerstone of the B.A.S.S. brand, prior to 2020 he’d fished a grand total of 19 B.A.S.S. events. And it’s not like he fished a lot of them in any given season. He hadn’t fished more than two in a calendar year since 2002.

Although I used to write frequently for FLW, in recent years my work has been B.A.S.S.-centric. Still, that doesn’t explain why I’ve worked with Scott so little. I’ve done more with Bryan Thrift (4 career B.A.S.S. events) and Andy Morgan (8) than I have with Martin. In fact, as far as I can recall the last time I spoke to him (which may have been the first time I spoke to him) was when I was writing for Wired2Fish, over a decade ago.

I always look forward to working with the B.A.S.S. rookies. It is my obligation to them to give them an opportunity to succeed, and my obligation to myself to be along for the ride when they do. Martin is far from being a rookie, but I suspect that unlike returning Elites Jason Christie and Greg Hackney he will be looked on with a bit of suspicion – not hazed, but welcomed into the fraternity cautiously. For someone on the inside, it promises to be a dynamic worth watching.