Looking for Bass in All the Right Places

Local Fishing Guide Gives Out the Good Stuff on Catching the Big One

Ivan Martin has been fishing on Grand Lake since he was 13 years old, or put another way, about 40 years. So what does he have to say about those Top 100 Bass fishermen coming onto his lake June 1-4 to catch what has been called "our best and brightest?"

"They will be looking for brush piles, drop offs, areas around boat docks, points, willow trees in high water or lay downs in the river; they'll probably be using Carolina Rigging, a sinker with a three inch leader and a lizard lure, or maybe a brush hog, and they'll be as far away as the Dam or even up past Twin Bridges," Martin predicts.

He says the Top 100 will catch lots of fish "because they are really good. There is a lot of skill involved and they have it, just like the top professional golfers or Nascar racers."
Martin takes fishermen out on 400 trips a year just on Grand Lake. He sold Martin's Landing a couple of months ago to Nicholls Marine.

The pro's will be using their "wrapped" boats, a plastic covering which costs about $3,000 and displays all of the sponsor logos, pushed by up to 250 horsepower outboards. The professional is the boat driver at all time, including trolling; the amateur sits in the back of the boat during the fishing and is not allowed to drive or use the trolling motor. Boats range from $40,000 up, usually pulled by a nice pickup at $40-50,000, and the family may come along in a fine Motor Home towing another automobile.

Martin says one professional made $1,000,000 in just three weeks; others make "zero."
"They've just got to get out on the lake and find the good spots, and they will." They will keep their five best fish each day for the weigh-in, all over 14 inches, and then the fish will be released back into the lake from a special release boat with a large tank. Martin says they won't worry about shoals in the northern part of the lake because "at 70-80 miles an hour only about six inches of boat is in the water."

Who is Martin's pick to win the Sooner Run event? "Mark Tucker from Missouri has fished Grand a lot; Kevin VanDam is the Tiger Woods of fishing; Darrell Robertson of Jay has a good chance, or maybe Greg Hackney who is currently number one. Or even Edwin Evers, also from Oklahoma, or Mike Iaconelli, the bad boy of fishing."

Thirty or forty of these guys make a really good living fishing for Bass, but some don't make a dime," Martin says. "This will be an interesting three days of fishing and exciting for the community and Grand Lake." The winner here will walk away with $100,000.
TV taping will be shown on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 17 at noon; Thursday June 22 at 4 a.m.; and Monday July 10 at 3 p.m.

BassMasters at a Glance:

Thursday June 1: 100 Boats Out at 5:50 a.m, weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Friday June 2: 100 Boats Out at 5:50 a.m., weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Saturday June 3: 50 Boats Out at 5:50 a.m., weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Expo Tent Open Noon-6 p.m.
Sunday June 4: 12 Boats Out at 5:50 a.m., weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Expo Tent Open 1-6 p.m. Top prize $100,000.