Martin wins Snickers Big Bass award on FLW Tour

8-12 Lake Travis monster claims Snickers Big Bass of Year

BENTON, Ky. – When National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., caught an 8-pound, 12-ounce bass on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, at the first stop of the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour, he knew he had a shot at winning the tournament’s Snickers Big Bass Award of $1,000 in addition to winning the day’s big bass award of $750. Little did he know, however, that the heavyweight fish would ultimately rank as the biggest bass caught on the FLW Tour in 2007. As such, the bass earned Martin an extra $5,000 as the Snickers Big Bass of the year.

“I didn’t think that my 8-pound, 12-ounce bass would win the Snickers Big Bass Award, but I knew that if I was going to catch a big bass, it would be on Lake Travis,” Martin said. “The funny thing is that I looked at this ledge during practice but never fished it until day two of the tournament, and that’s when I caught the big bass.”

Martin said he caught the Lake Travis beauty on a 7-foot Kistler rod spooled with 12-pound-test Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon. He was working a 3/4-ounce All-Terrain Tackle Jim Moynagh jig in 25 to 30 feet of water near a steep ledge.

“I didn’t realize how big it was until I reeled it closer to the boat,” Martin said. “At first, I thought it was a 5-pound bass, and when I finally pulled it in, I knew it had to be at least 8-pounds.”

Rounding out the top five contenders for the award were co-angler Clint Bridges of Round Rock, Texas, with a 7-pound, 11-ounce Lake Travis bass; co-angler Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va., who also caught a 7-pound, 11-ounce bass on Lake Travis; Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., who caught a 7-pound, 6-ounce bass on the Potomac River; and BP pro Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, who caught a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass on the Potomac.

Snickers awards $750 ($1,000 at opens) to the pro and $375 ($500 at opens) to the co-angler who catches the heaviest bass on each of the first two days of competition in Wal-Mart FLW Tour regular-season events. Snickers awards an additional $1,000 to the pro or co-angler who catches the heaviest overall bass during the first two days of competition, and at the end of the season, Snickers awards another $5,000 to the pro or co-angler who caught the heaviest bass of the year.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.