Photo: Cox Marketing Group

Week 6 - Marty Stone
Fresh Stops 2/6/2006

There can be no doubt that the past 12 months have been a tumultuous time in professional bass fishing. Anglers have been forced to make a number of career-altering decisions and there has been great dissent about virtually every issue that comes down the pike. But there's one issue that virtually everyone seems to agree upon, and that's the fantastic list of events that BASS has scheduled.

Lucky Craft pro Marty Stone rides with the rest of the herd on this one. He's ecstatic about the destinations on tap. "Janet Bell of BASS headed up the effort to find the sites for this year's events," he said. "She has since moved to a new role. I told her I'll take over her job and just do everything the same next year. This is the best schedule in the history of BASS.

"We have fresh stops like Amistad, which is going to be a great tournament," he noted. "Then we go to Rayburn. I've only been there one time and that was way back. The past few years they've only been going there for the Opens, so we've missed out on it. There hasn't been a major event at the Potomac in forever. And Grand Lake, what a stop that's going to be. Someone told me it's small, but a day and a half of practice later, I haven't even seen half of it."

Great Expectations

Of course, before Stone hits the regular season he'll go to Orlando for the Classic. Both a Classic victory and an Angler of the Year (AOY) title are high on his list of desired accomplishments. "I've had two tour wins, in 1999 and 2004," he said. "But look at the recent Greatest Angler Debate. You only get included if you're a multiple winner on tour, win the Classic and win the AOY. You can have a nice career without those. If I don't win either of them, I'll have had a nice career, but if I want to be mentioned in that breath I want all three.

"People ask me if I'm going to win AOY. My wish is that I get to compete for it again. That was a lot of fun."

While he wants a Classic victory just as much, that would be a different sort of achievement. "Of all the tournaments I fish, it's the easiest to win. It's the hardest to make, but it's the easiest to win."

Classic Concerns

His Classic preparation is underway. "I hadn't done much until Christmas," he said. "I was wrapping up loose ends, getting my boat. But I'm getting my tackle. Physically, I'm working out real hard, trying to get my mind right and my body right. I'm also eating right. It's a shock to your system going on the road, and if you don't eat right your body can shut down after a few weeks.

"In the next few weeks I'll start to fish two to four times a week around home. This year's Classic is unique. We have a 3-day pre-practice. That'll be my heavy fishing, my 14- and 15-hour days."

He has no illusions that Dean Rojas' record catch of 2001 will be topped. "Dean did an awesome thing with a lot of people around him. It was a weather-related deal. There were several large groups of fish ready to trickle in (to spawn). But then there was a series of fronts, so all of those fish were grouped up ready to come in. There were 3 weeks of fish ready to go, including a lot of real big fish. It was a freak of nature running into a really good group of fishermen. I don't think we'll see it again."

Family Affair

Stone's career benefits greatly from the role of one key sponsor who doesn't get a lot of press ・his wife Robin. "I'm probably going to tell you too much when I say this," he said. "I recently incorporated with me and Robin as the employees of the corporation. We had to set a salary for each of us, and we ended up setting hers too low. She's way underpaid.

"When I'm out on tour, I just fish. Robin takes care of 80% of my messages and emails. She coordinates my sponsor days and books a lot of my lodging. I just do the contract negotiations and the long-term financial planning. She does everything else and it makes my life so much easier."

Extra Lucky

He's excited about virtually the whole Lucky Craft line of baits, but a few in particular have caught his eye. "A spinnerbait or a lipless crankbait could play a role or win several tournaments this year, especially if we have some (cold) fronts," he said. Accordingly, he has stocked up on the Lucky Craft LVR-D7 and the LVR-Mini, which he intends to use "when (he) can't get a bite on anything else."

At some point he's also likely to fling the Slender Pointer 97. "That's a lure that will catch limits, both numbers and big fish." He called himself the "world's worst jerkbait fisherman," but added that due to its ease of use "the Slender Pointer continues to amaze."

On the crankbait scene, he's anxious to fish all three versions of the Flat Mini series. "We've been asking for it for a while. Those lures will dive from a half-foot to 6 feet and have a very small profile." Like just about every bass fisherman with any sense of awareness, he can't wait to fish the BDS cranks. "The BDS2 won't be a cure-all, but it will have its place to shine and the BDS1 will pick up the slack," he said.