Just watched his youtube video of the announcement of him entering the opens in hopes to enter the elites. He said he wants to chase his dreams to win the classic. A goal his father never achieved. He said that was one of the reasons why. That really surprised me. Why would he enter now? Yeah I get it that now it's the perfect time with such a weak field to capture a few wins but I've always wanted to see him fish along the ex elites in the bass pro tour.
Cool deal, I like watching his channel. I don’t think BPT invited him
On 11/20/2019 at 5:32 AM, TnRiver46 said:Cool deal, I like watching his channel. I don’t think BPT invited him
I was thinking they didn't invite him was to not butcher flw which they probably had plans to acquire all along.
good news for BASS!!
A big hill to climb. Good luck to him, seems like a good dude.
He'll be in the Elites after next season. He's got enough experience across the country and solid contacts to get him on fish no matter where he goes. Bryan Thrift is probably thrilled. His only competition left haha.
There must be some seriously bad blood between him and the MLF crew. He wasn't invited initially and now is leaving when they take over his income stream. Good luck to him.
I've always seen Scott as a loyal FLW guy.
I heard that FLW helped him get his TV show going in the early days.
Almost every year FLW puts on an event out of Roland's Marina, so they kinda paid back the loyalty.
MLF is about business and none of their dealings so far have given any sort of perception of loyalty
Easy to see why he didn't want any part in the company that destroyed what he worked to build at FLW
I wish him luck and can see him doing well in the Opens but it will be tough as a lot of good sticks fish them
If you think that the BASS Elite field is weak because a few guys left, you're dead wrong. These guys are still catching big bags and they're doing it every day at every tournament.
And even with a "weakened" FLW field in 2019, Scott only had two top 10 finishes. Just because there's guys out there who aren't household names yet doesn't mean that they aren't good sticks.
Just because a angler isn't an Elite pro doesn't mean they are unskilled bass anglers.
Name recognition comes with success, you earn it and that takes time.
Scott Martins has a well known name and he has earned his own reputation as a top tournament angler by winning, not every pro can do that.
Tom
I speculate that there are hundreds if not thousands of Bass anglers skilled enough to compete at the highest level. Its just not easy committing to an endeavor that expensive when one doesnt have the funds , a family that comes first...
I'm glad Scott chose BASS . Ott Defoe won the classic last time I dont even know who won the MLF year end championship or if they even have one . The Classic is the biggest deal in bass angling .
On 11/20/2019 at 3:30 PM, Tim Kelly said:There must be some seriously bad blood between him and the MLF crew. He wasn't invited initially and now is leaving when they take over his income stream. Good luck to him.
Hes not the only one.......
Sounds awesome to me. I know the FLW high school tournaments aren't really that organized as much as BASS. I missed fishing for BASS when my trail changed. Props to Scott!
On 11/21/2019 at 12:27 AM, TnRiver46 said:Hes not the only one.......
Never figured out if it was a specific incident or two, or just big egos that didn’t care for each other..
From his announcement (not verbatim) - "...Half of my friends are on the Elite tour, half of my friends are on the FLW tour, I have a couple of friends on the BPT..."
Setting aside the mathematical difficulties with that statement, I believe that it says volumes about his relationships within the industry.
The problem with MLF acquiring FLW is that it instantly relegated FLW down to a qualifying tour (like the BASS Opens). That may be a tough pill to swallow for many of the FLW anglers who didn't jump ship to BPT, through no fault of their own, their tour has been minimized. I can see a few more FLW anglers following suit, figuring if they have to fish a qualifying tour, it may as well be the Opens.
No matter Scotts success, i wonder if his decision has made Roland think about taking one of the Elites legend exemptions for a couple of years...
When he says its not about the money i remember hearing someone says that if someone says its not about the money then its always about the money. i wonder if there was a under the table deal that we dont know about.
On 11/21/2019 at 9:48 AM, YoTone said:When he says its not about the money i remember hearing someone says that if someone says its not about the money then its always about the money. i wonder if there was a under the table deal that we dont know about.
Agreed ~
And perhaps there was an under the table deal - and Mr Martin wasn't in on it either ?
A-Jay
Regardless he has the name recognition and a big personality that BASS needs. Personally I think it's a great fit.
On 11/21/2019 at 9:48 AM, YoTone said:When he says its not about the money i remember hearing someone says that if someone says its not about the money then its always about the money. i wonder if there was a under the table deal that we dont know about.
Obviously. You must have missed my favorite line about the whole video -
QuoteIt's not about the money... I have a free lifetime membership to BASS.
On 11/21/2019 at 11:58 AM, GReb said:Regardless he has the name recognition and a big personality that BASS needs. Personally I think it's a great fit.
The problem is that he will have to fish the BASS opens to qualify for the Elite Series.
My guess is that BASS will have him write an article every now and then.
His real exposure on the BASS side will be when he qualifies for the elites
On 11/21/2019 at 11:09 PM, BassNJake said:The problem is that he will have to fish the BASS opens to qualify for the Elite Series.
My guess is that BASS will have him write an article every now and then.
His real exposure on the BASS side will be when he qualifies for the elites
Scott Martin (and potentially other big FLW names) fishing the BASS Opens is going to draw more attention to the Open tournaments than they've ever received before.
I follow his channel. I don't know if he would have jumped, but I got the impression that he was disappointed that he was not invited to join MLF last year. As one of the top anglers in FLW it seemed to me like a strange omission, but it looks like MLF was more interested in gutting BASS than FLW. In retrospect we see why.
Martin , Thrift and others really got the shaft . BASS invited top FLW pros last year , so they can change how they do things .For select Pros who have earned their way to fish in the Big Leagues , there could be some exemption,s made .
watching ike live with scott and learned he was asked by duckett to join MLF after he got wind of Scott martin being upset on not getting the invite initially.
I'm hoping he succeeds without the bpt. Kinda hoping thrift does the same thing. I have nothing against the bpt and what they've accomplished but I think monopoly is never a good thing. I'm hoping BASS stays true to what they've always been and continues to grow. It's fun to watch all of it and diversity is great. Good luck to Scott I'm sure he will be in the elites in no time