Seven Checks, But Ran Out of Gas

 Story by Pete Robbins - Photos by Mark Jeffreys  

Norman, OK. – This is the first part of a two-part feature about Marty Stone. This portion will focus on what he learned in 2008. On Wednesday, we’ll focus on his plans for the offseason and 2009.

Heading into the final Elite Series event of 2008, North Carolina pro Marty Stone had pulled himself up into his best position of the season, 36th place in the Angler of the Year Race, just inside the Classic bubble. With a Classic berth well within reach, a 71st place finish at Oneida dropped him out of the field and ended his season.

But Stone is a “glass half full” type of competitor. “I wanted to be in the Classic, no bones about it,” he said. “But I didn’t miss the Classic at Oneida. I let my chances slip away at the Harris Chain, at Falcon, at Clarks Hill and at Murray,” referring to letdowns earlier in the year.

Despite those disappointments, he pieced together a solid season, his best since he finished as runner-up to Aaron Martens in the 2005 AOY race. He therefore characterized himself as “very pleased with the momentum” that carried him to four consecutive money finishes before the stumble at Oneida and he hopes that momentum will continue into the 2009 season.

Tough Memories
While Oneida sealed his fate, Stone’s failure to qualify for the Classic can be traced largely to three consecutive mid-year tournaments at Amistad, Clarks Hill and Murray, where he finished 68th, 66th and 61st, respectively. A few more fish at one or more of them, or rather a few more of the right fish, and he’d be preparing for the Red River right now. 

“Those three lakes, for whatever reason, I’ve never gotten right with them,” he said.

But while those three presented their usual problems, one fish from another tournament haunts him the most: “There’s one single fish that I can pick out, that I lost on a crankbait at the Harris Chain the second day,” he said. “I usually fish well down there but I was struggling until I finally put a decent little limit in the boat. On a hunch I ran about 15 miles, and if you’ve ever been on the Harris Chain you know that’s a long run there. I hooked one around 6 ½ or 7 pounds and at the last minute it threw the bait. My instincts were right, my gut was right. I don’t normally lose fish on a crankbait. If I catch that fish, it puts me in the Classic.”

At Amistad, he caught 70 fish the first day, thinking he could weed through them up to 19 to 22 pounds, but could only manage an 11 pound limit. “Then I got mad,” he said. “I’m not a great swimbait fisherman but I committed to it from start to finish and had 17 or 18 pounds.” He ended up 68th.

At Clarks Hill, he was on the right fish, as evidenced by the fact that his second day co-angler weighed in a 15 pound plus bag, but Stone could only catch smaller fish, and he even had trouble with them. He still doesn’t understand why.

At Lake Murray, he was even more befuddled by his fate: “I have no clue what happened,” he said. “I was on the same shad spawn fish as I lot of people who did well, but I never weighed one in. I had to go to the bank and I never got a big bite. On the second day, I fished the shad the first 2 ½ hours with no bites, then I went to the bank and couldn’t get a bite. At 1pm I was still at zero and I managed to catch nine or ten pounds. I just survived.”

Good Times
Ironically, it was only after Stone put the Carolinas in his rear view mirror that his season experienced an uptick.

“In the second half I fished as well as I have in three years,” he said. 

His hot streak started at Wheeler, but not without some initial difficulties: “In the first 2 ½ hours I caught two, maybe three, fish. I ran to some boat dock fish and I catch a little one and then I lose a 5 ½ to 6 pound fish. Close to those docks I had an outside place with potential, so I ran there and on 25 consecutive casts I caught fish. That told me what I needed to do.” 

His offshore structure ultimately produced a 27th place finish at Wheeler, his best of the year to that point, and he took that momentum on to Kentucky Lake, where he committed to “fish out” the entire tournament. He ended up 40th overall, but it could have been better but for some dead fish penalties.

“I was fishing a big old Zoom work in 22 to 24 feet of water,” Stone said. “I hooked one deep, cut my line and put it in the box, then another one. Those were two 2 ½ pound fish. They were getting weaker and weaker and weaker. I said to myself that as soon as I got five I’d throw one of them back. My fifth one was a 3 pound fish and when I went to put it in they were both hammer stinking dead. I was catching 3 to 3 ½ pound fish all day long and I ended up weighing in two 2 pound dead fish. But I knew I was fishing well. “

He went on to capture two more checks, with his lone top 12 appearance coming in the next event at Old Hickory. “That first day at Old Hickory was a special day. I caught a four, a five and a three. I just fished well and made good decisions.” That momentum carried over to Erie, where he came in 28th.

Lessons Learned
With four straight solid performances under his belt, Stone claims that he felt “no pressure” heading into Oneida. While he certainly ached for a Classic berth, he was satisfied that no matter what happened, he likely wouldn’t end up as low in the standings as he did in 2006 and 2007, when he finished 64rd and 92nd, respectively, in the AOY race. Granted, he likely wouldn’t return to the high level of his 2004 and 2005 finishes yet (14th and 2nd), but he was fishing well and excited about that.

While he executed flawlessly at Oneida, the time since then has given him a chance to reflect upon what went right and what went wrong in 2008 – with respect to the latter, he has identified poor physical conditioning as a major culprit. 

“I’m in the worst physical shape of my career,” he said. “I was physically exhausted. I noticed something that never happened before in my career and that’s that I fished worse in back-to-back tournaments. I simply ran out of gas.”