ON TOUR
FLW TOUR
detaILs
april 6-9, 2017
presented by t-h Marine
hosted by somerset tourist and
Convention Commission
MARTIN MAKES MORE HISTORY AT CUMBERLAND
I
FLORIDA PRO GETS RECORD EIGHTH TOUR-LEVEL WIN
t’s fair to say that when the FLW
Tour pulled into Somerset, Ky., in
early April for stop No. 4 on Lake
Cumberland, most of the competitors
knew little about the lake. Compared to
other typical Tour stops such as Lake
Okeechobee, Beaver Lake or Kentucky
Lake, Cumberland was a veritable
“clean slate” in terms of tournament
fishing history.
Prior to this year, the last time FLW vis-
ited the lake was in May 2006 for an FLW
Series event that was won by Mike Hawkes
with a total of 46 pounds, 15 ounces.
Even for the pros currently on Tour
who fished that event more than a
decade ago, Cumberland has under-
gone a considerable amount of change.
For a six-year period that ended in early
2013, the lake level was pulled down
some 40 feet to repair the dam, and
new woody growth flourished on the
lake’s fertile bottom. Once the lake was
refilled, the new growth helped regen-
erate the food chain and fish popula-
tions in the 66-year-old impoundment,
but it also greatly changed the bass-
fishing playing field, essentially making it
a new lake to most anglers.
An 18-inch minimum size limit on
smallmouths served as another X factor
going in. Catching smallmouths was not
a problem; however, catching smallies
that crossed the 18-inch mark was a dif-
ferent story. Thus, committing to small-
mouths exclusively was a dicey game,
and keeper smallmouths became the
golden ticket of the event. Such “overs”
would weigh nearly 4 pounds – a huge
bonus to any Cumberland limit.
Finally, a vicious cold front howled
through Kentucky on the first day of
the tournament, transforming what
had been a warm practice period into a
By Rob Newell
frigid event. Water temperatures tum-
bled some 10 to 15 degrees back into
the 50s. Meanwhile, the water level
rose several inches each day.
Through all the unknowns and the
ups and downs of the Lake Cumberland
event, Scott Martin emerged as the pro
who out-fished 163 other competitors
over four days to win a record eighth
tour-level tournament.
Martin took the lead on day one with
the tournament’s best limit, which
weighed 19 pounds, 7 ounces and was
comprised of four smallmouths and a
largemouth. He stayed in the top five the
next two days with mixed-bag limits in
the 12- to 15-pound range and rallied
the final day with a closing effort of 13-12
to win with a total of 60 pounds, 1 ounce.
Martin had never laid eyes on Lake
Cumberland before the tournament.
When he saw it for the first time in
e
Martin weighed a mixed-species bag, but his ability to catch 18-inch keeper smallies helped set him apart from the rest of the field.
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flWfIshIng.com I may-june 2017