April 23, 2012
By Ned Kehde
For about a decade, various practitioners of Midwest finesse tactics have been intrigued by Aaron Martens of Leeds, Alabama, and his ideas about finesse fishing.
Ultimately, that interest provoked us to pen a story about one of Martens' practice days at the CITGO Bassmaster Pro Tour event at Table Rock Lake, Missouri, on Mar. 28, 2005. It was published in In-Fisherman magazine, and it can be seen on In-Fisherman's Web site at: http://archives.in-fisherman.com/content/aaron-martens-story At this event, Martens garnered the angler-of-the-year award by wielding a shaky-head jig worm on spinning tackle.
Subsequently, Travis Perret of Overland Park, Kansas, and I posted a blog on Mar. 2 that detailed Aaron Martens' handiwork with a drop-shot rig on the Red River at the 2012 Bassmaster Classic at Shreveport and Bossier City, Louisiana. This blog can been seen at: Finesse tactics at the Bassmaster Classic, according to Aaron Martens .
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On Mar. 12, Russ Bassdozer of Page, Arizona, posted a stellar and almost encyclopedic story on his Web site about Martens' wizardry with a drop shot, featuring how and when Martens discovered the many virtues of the drop shot and how he utilized it at the 2012 Classic and elsewhere. Bassdozer's 's piece also contains detailed insights on how Martens rigs a drop shot and deals with line twists and other woes that can plague drop-shot angling. For finesse anglers who are as interested as we are in Martens' finesse methods, Comeau's brilliant blog is a must read. It can be seen at: http://www.finsntales.com/all/dropshot-hotshot-aaron-martens/
Many Midwest finesse anglers suspected that Martens' finesse tactics would shine at the Bull Shoals Bassmaster Elite Series in Arkansas. But his 10 bass weighed only 28 pounds, 11 ounces, putting him in 58 place and devoid of a paycheck. Martens recounted his efforts on BassFan.com, and they can be seen at: http://www.bassfan.com/army_article.asp?ID=185
