SUUUUHHHHNNNN!!!! Martin outfishes his fabled father By Steve Wright Special to GOG Scott Martin got the better of his legendary bass-fishing father, Roland. LAKE PLACID, N.Y. … After finishing second to his father in the preliminary round of ESPN's Great Outdoor Games bass tournament, the son outfished Dad during Saturday's final round. Or, as Roland Martin might say, the SUUUUHHHHNNNN! outclassed the father. Scott Martin, 25, took some consolation in his fourth-place finish because it was one place in front of his father, Roland, 61, the nine-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year who has become famous for the exclamation, "Son!" "That's the only good thing," Scott Martin said. "It makes me feel good a little bit. (Roland) is the best in my eyes and to most of these fishermen here." Scott Martin's fourth place total of 9 pounds, 2 ounces, easily topped his father's weight of 6-10. But beating dear old dad wasn't that much solace for the son. The Martins were in the same area where Peter Thliveros won the tournament, and both weighed better fish Friday than Thliveros did. "There wasn't as much wind (Saturday)," Roland Martin said. "The wind was probably 15 mph Friday and it was only about half that today. "The wind was blowing those grass beds over, creating current and a lot of good cover Friday. The fish were feeding on those points of grass. But they didn't do it today." “ That's the only good thing. It makes me feel good a little bit. ” — Scott Martin, on how outfishing his father took the sting out of a fourth-place finish Both Martins were catching bass on topwater lures early and spinnerbaits later Friday. Both those patterns faded Saturday. "I had eight keepers today," Scott Martin said. "I caught about 20 the day before. And the big difference was I didn't find many of those two-and-a-half- and three-pound smallmouth." Scott Martin did coax two better than average bass into biting, but landed neither. "On the first one, the fish was coming at me," Scott Martin said. "That one wasn't my fault. But on the second one, the fish bit on the other side of a stump. I let my line get under the stump, then it popped loose, creating a bunch of slack. That one came with about 10 minutes to go and pretty much sunk my boat. "That's tournament fishing. You have to be aware all the time. I fished real clean Friday. Today I slacked off a bit. That's the difference. I bet Peter T. didn't miss a fish today." Thliveros later confirmed just that. Scott Martin wasn't close enough to Thliveros that he noticed him landing fish. But when Thliveros stayed in the same spot most of the day, Martin knew he was catching fish. "That's the thing about smallmouth," Scott Martin said. "If they bite, they'll bite you fast. They are a lot more aggressive. If you catch a couple in a grass bed you might as well stay there." And Thliveros found the best spot on Saranac Lake for the second year in a row. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories