Fishing the ASA Tournament Trail
by Alex Martins, Team FISH-i-TIS

Low and behold in the Winter of '2000, in an issue of the Saltwater Sportsman Magazine, our dream was answered, "Enter the American Striper Association's (ASA) Tournament Trail". I knew that this was what I had been waiting for. I began to research the organization starting with their web site (www.fishasa.com) and following up with phone calls to the owners of the trail, Jack and Deona Holmes. Jack and Deona started and developed the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA); the largest and richest saltwater tournament trail in the world. After talking with Jack by phone and subsequent e-mails, I decided that the ASA Tournament Trail was for me.

It was the middle of the winter, but I knew that I had to start getting things prepared if I was going to fish the trail, and fish it competitively. I began with my boat, a 1987 17' Seaway Center Console, built right here in Waldoboro, Maine. With the help of a friend (and fishing team mate) we started stripping the hull, cleaning and waxing it. I then replaced the fuel tank and made a new deck cover. We cleaned and polished all of the rails. I stripped out all the wiring and ran all new wiring harnesses. We added rod holders, an Aquaworld live well, a Lowrance Fish Finder, a compass and all of the necessary safety equipment. And last, but not least, a Garmin 176C portable color Chartplotter. I then had to decide on the motor. The boat was equipped with a 1987 Tohatsu 70hp outboard. It ran good, but had no power trim or tilt, and it was old. I knew I needed a motor that I could depend on to fish the four tournaments. I wanted to fish to compete for the angler of the year honor.

I drove to Thomaston to visit Jeff Armstrong of Jeff's Marine. I asked Jeff if he had a used 70hp or 90hp Yamaha for sale. He told me that I had just lucked out. A local old timer had just traded a 90hp in for a smaller motor. The motor's compression was good, and it had power trim and tilt. It was also 3 years newer than my Tohatsu. I talked to my wife and we decided to buy it. Jeff helped me rig it to keep my cost down. I was in business, now.

The next step was to name the boat and assemble a fishing team. I had decided to name the boat FISH-i-TIS. To me, fishing for striped bass is an incurable addiction that can only be satisfied by the relentless pursuit of this fish, no matter where they are or what time of day or night it is. The hardest part of the addiction is its strain on your relationship with your wife and family. But with the ASA Tournament format, there is a category for Female Angler and Junior Angler as well. The ASA truly wants their organization to be a family affair. My team of the '2001 inaugural ASA season would be my coworker and friend Ted Ezell, myself, and my son Alex "Striper" Martins. Striper Martins would be competing in the Junior Angler division.

With the boat and team ready, we began fishing local waters in the St. George, Sheepscott and Kennebec Rivers, to work out any bugs or problems with the boat and tackle. Everything went fine and we were ready for our first tournament. The commitment to fish the tournament schedule is physical, mental and financial. My team and I were committed to do it. We sent in our $250 entry fee for the first tournament on Boston Harbor at Hewitt's Cove Marina. To avoid the Boston rush hour traffic, we left Warren, Maine at 2:00am on Friday. We arrived at the boat launch at 6:00am and were ready to do some pre-tournament fishing. Neither Ted, nor myself, had ever fished Boston Harbor. We were there to learn.

The method I have taught myself to successfully catch striped bass, is drifting live bait over structure and current rips. I especially like to use live eels because of their ease to get and keep. We boarded the boat, turned on the GPS and headed out. In new fishing grounds, I like to ride and read the water, stopping at likely looking areas to search and destroy for fish. We spent most of the day riding and catching some small fish and formulating a game plan for day one of the tournament, on Saturday. At 3:00pm Friday, we decided to head in and call it a day. Our day had been long, starting earlier at 2:00am. And it wasn't over yet.

We had to make a mandatory Captain's meeting at Hewitt's Cove Marina at 6:00pm. On the way to the launch, we stopped by the marina and asked if we could leave the boat and trailer in the parking lot until morning. They did one better, and said that we could leave the boat tied to a slip so we wouldn't have to launch in the morning. We tied up and then headed to the hotel in Braintree, about 20 minutes away, for a power nap. At 5:30pm we headed back to the marina for the Captain's meeting and were met with a great buffet, ice cold beer and drinks. We talked to, and met, some real great fishermen at the meeting from the local area; the Cape, Vermont and Rhode Island. Everyone was friendly and more than helpful in giving us information on where we could find some fish and bait.

The meeting started with owners, Jack & Deona Holmes, introducing themselves and weigh master Bob Flocken. They went over the rules of the tournament and the weigh in times, emergency number and radio channel, and wished everyone good luck. I became uneasy about my boat in the water towards the end of the meeting, because there was a torrential downpour and my boat wasn't equipped with an automatic bulge pump. Before we left to return to the hotel, I went down and checked on the boat and decided that it would be OK.

The evening went by quickly and we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. Ted and I got coffee and muffins, loaded our gear in the truck and headed for the marina. When we arrived, we were met by Bob Flocken and Jack Holmes. They told us that our boat had sunk, that they were already pumping it out and that it appeared to be OK. My stomach instantly turned upside down and I turned white. Then I realized that these two rebels were from the South and were playing tricks on us Yankees. They assured me that they were not. We ran down to the dock and saw that the boat was still low. I could see the dirt line on the gunnels and center console on the inside of the boat. It looked like the lower cylinder of the motor might have gone under, also. I was embarrassed and mad and was debating whether or not to just load every thing up and head back home to Maine. Ted told me to take a minute and calm down. We opened the bilge compartment, got the hand pump out and I started pumping the bilge out. Ted began cleaning out the rest of the boat. I then tried to turn the engine over, but nothing happened. The battery terminal ends had corroded out and the battery was no longer any good. Ted said to pull the battery and he'd go in search of a new one. It was now 7:00am and we were waiting for a parts store to open. Finally at 8:15am, Ted returned with a new battery and new wire and terminal ends. I put it back together, then drained the three carburetors on the motor, refueled them and said, "Here goes nothing." I touched the key and the 90hp Yamaha Submersible Series fired right up. I told Ted, "Let's go. We're either gonna break down or win this thing."

It was 8:45am before we left the marina and headed to our fishing spot. When we arrived at the fishing grounds, I set the boat up so we would drift over a ledge that we had found during practice on Friday. I then grabbed our two rods, both Falcon 7' Med. 8-17# spinning rods with Shimano 3500 Baitrunner reels loaded with 20# Ande Tournament Green Line, and proceeded to bait Ted's with one of our fine Kennebec River eels that we had brought with us from Maine. I told Ted where to cast, since he was a green horn at Striped Bass fishing. He was more than willing and eager to learn and help with the whole Fish-i-tis team tournament program. I then baited my own rod and cast out.

We were drifting in about 12' of water when I told Ted to reel up and cast back by the submerged ledge off our starboard bow. He did and just as his eel hit the water, he yelled "I'm on!" The fish immediately took drag and Ted began to panic. I told him, "Calm down, don't reel against the drag and keep the line tight." He told me that he was stuck. I immediately started the motor and went up currant because the fish had gone on the opposite side of the ledge we were on. Ted slacked up on the line, so the fish wouldn't chafe it. As I rounded the ledge, Ted began to reel and I saw the line pop. I yelled, "Oh sh_t! He broke it off!" Ted yelled back, "No I've still got him. The line just popped off of the ledge." I yelled at him to back off on the drag and to go easy. Ted told me to take the rod because he didn't want to lose this one. But, I told him, "No you fight it. He's yours. Just go easy." After a few minutes, the fish fought to the top about thirty yards away. I could see that it was a good one. I told Ted to go easy and not to horse the fish. Ted, again, told me to take the rod. But, again, I declined. I just calmly talked Ted through it until we got the fish close to the boat. When it got alongside the boat, I could see the hook was in the roof of its mouth and I immediately yelled to Ted not to give it any slack at all, or the hook would fall out. I grabbed the leader and was able to lip the fish with my left hand. Just as I did, the hook popped out. I hoisted the fish into the boat and both of us hoot and hollered. Ted asked me how big I thought the fish was. I knew it was big enough to place us in the top five in the tournament.

It was now 10:00am and the weigh in did not start until 1:00pm. I was emotionally exhausted after all of the morning's ups and downs. I wanted to just relax, but Ted wanted to keep going. We compromised, I set up another drift and Ted fished while I relaxed. We were counting the minutes until weigh in time to see where we would place on day one of the tournament. We went to the weigh in site early and sat and waited in the boat until 1:00pm. ASA rules state that you must go to the weigh in site in your own boat, under its own power and may not get out of the boat until weigh in starts. We weighed up at 1:00pm and our fish was thirty-two pounds even. We were in first place, but it was early and I knew it wouldn't stand.

We loaded the boat on the trailer and left for the motel. We still had to clean the boat and fill it with fuel and bait for Sunday morning fishing. After showers and a much needed power nap, we went back to the marina to find out where we ended up. We placed second on day one of the tournament. We went to a nearby restaurant to eat and to celebrate. Finally, it was time to call it a day. We were out before our heads hit the pillow, that night.

Sunday morning we awoke to fog and zero visibility. We launched the boat, turned on the Garmin 176C color chartplotter and headed out to our fishing grounds. The going was slow with visibility nil. I navigated through the channels and around the islands by GPS, while Ted kept bow watch for boat traffic. You must remember, we were a no budget team, fishing in hostile waters, against boats from 20'-46', with all the bells and whistles. We moved a few times and finally found fish. But, nothing better than we were able to catch on Saturday. At 3:00pm, we headed into Tournament headquarters to see if anything had changed with the Leader Board and to get ready for the award's ceremony.

What a turn of events from a sunken boat to receiving a second place check, in the first of four tournaments. We were on our way and in the middle of the hunt in the points chase for the ASA Top Angler Award. Who would think it; two steel workers and an 8 year old from Warren, Maine against all the big money in Massachusetts and southern New England.

We loaded the boat on the trailer at 5:00pm and headed back to Maine. We got home at 10:00pm that night. Ted went home and I unloaded the boat. Then I went inside the house to tell my wife about our adventure. At 5:00am on Monday, the vicious cycle of work started again. Our work day ended at 4:30pm. We rushed home and began prepping the boat and gear for the following weekend's tournament in Cape Cod. Another $250 entry fee, fuel, bait, motels and it started all over again.

Team Fish-i-tis managed an eighteen pounder in tournament #2 and took the overall points lead in division 1, with two tournaments left. We ended up placing fourth in division 1. And fifth in overall, the first year of the ASA Tournament. Little Alex placed 5th in the Junior Angler Division. Not bad, considering we were fishing in unfamiliar waters with the smallest boat on the trail.

This should prove to everyone that you don't need a big boat with all the bells and whistles and tackle that one could imagine. All you need are teammates that are committed to the cause, no matter what the circumstances. I would like to thank Jack & Deona Holmes and Bobby Flocken for all of their help and support in giving us, the normal "Joe" a chance to become something that at one time we only dreamed about being able to do. That is, fish in an organized saltwater tournament series for Striped bass, a fish we love.

I sit here on my couch watching the 2002 Bud shoot-out at Daytona, writing this and planning team Fish-i-tis' strategy for the '2002 ASA tournament schedule. Starting with the world's richest striped bass tournament being held May 10-12 on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland with over $150,000 in prizes and cash. Top prize for this tournament is a 23' Fountain Center Console with a 250hp Mercury and a Loadmaster Trailer fully rigged with electronics. A value of over $70,000, not a bad pay day for two days of hard fishing, if you have the guts enough to travel out of your own back yard to competitively fish.

We'll see you in Maryland.

Team Fish-i-tis