I first met Tommy Martin in 2016, he gave seminars at my first ever fishing seminar series. We met again briefly in March of 2017 at the Classic, then I saw him weigh in later that year at the Bassmaster Arkansas River Open, followed by once or twice at Fun N Sun. I had heard things through the years after our initial meeting. I knew he guided, I knew he was tough as nails, he had forgot more about fishing than most will ever learn and that he had the energy level of a diesel engine.

I am here to tell you, it is not folklore. Whatever adjective you want to give the man ,it is legit. Man of Steel, Legend, Superman, you name the description and it is true.

I had always wanted a trip with him but never did it until this week as a 50th birthday present to myself. Approximately a month ago, I shot him a message on FB. He got back to me with his cell and we went from there. Last week on my birthday he called me and firmed up. I was to meet him on the 5th at 7 am at the famous Keith’s Toledo Bend Tackle. During the last week or two I have read up on him, watched videos, anything that might fire me up and help me learn about him. I got to Keith’s about 6:30, ate my breakfast and waited. A few minutes before 7 a truck and boat pulled in behind me, when I looked out my passenger side window it was the man himself walking in to grab some ice and say good morning to Keith. I walked up and introduced myself. We got me loaded up and took off for Sam Rayburn, which was about 40 or so minutes away.

As soon as we launched you could see he was all business. We immediately took off for the dam. He threw a little topwater , a clear walking bait, and a shad pattern 1.5 style squarebill. This was lesson number one for me, he does not wait, that boat has barely slowed down and he is up on the deck casting before I even get my rods unlatched and a spinner bait tied on. This would be a recurring theme. While I thought I was prepared, I was not , and Tommy was all about efficiency and on the hunt. I can honestly say he probably out cast me 3 or likely 4 plus to one the entire day. I cannot tell you how many spots we went to throughout the day but I can describe a handful of them and that is what is important. As you all know my specialty is a Texas Rig worm. I threw it plenty but not as much as I would have liked. Being on the move so much it was hard to drag and slight bounce back much. We only drop shotted a little. I was thankful for that , just not my style but another lesson. I did not have it tied up and because it takes like 10 minutes he just gave me his rod. I was embarrassed. I did get a tip about a very small barrel swivel at the top. Next time I can tie them up at my ranch before I travel. This will alleviate the poor East Texas cell signal to tie it along with getting a good crazy alberto know. I simply will tie my main line with a six turn San Diego jam and be done. Another popular spot was the black forest, We moved but not so fast as I could not fish my worm a little slower, maybe not as much as I like but better. It was like glass and not a cloud in the sky and I did something you may not think of. Occasionally we would see fish but the surface for a second. I threw my Choppo 110 and got a small spot almost the size of my bait. But hey, I will take it I was on the board. We fished some grass line edges and I could work my worm but again not as slow as I like, we were always on the hunt, there was only one speed and that was all out. We got to the north end on a little trail with matted grass on both sides. This is where we got most our fish. This is an example of going to fast for the tackle I had. Had I been better prepared I would have had two flipping sticks one with braid one with mono with a big punching weight. Tommy gave me a doctorate on covering water and pitching grass. He was intense and operated like a well oil machine. He constantly fan casted his pitches, Plunk in the water no more than three hops at the most, then out and right back in again with no pause in between. A lot of times he might not make it more than the initial presentation and two hops and out. Almost like a lawn sprinkler it was boom, boom, boom, boom, always on the move always pitching in, lifting to see if there was weight and then dropping etc. He picked up on the process he felt it was the wind blown sides of the mats and we motored through and we concentrated on those edges, always on the hunt, pitch after pitch. We caught most this way, I could them swimming and bouncing my worm, but looking back if I could not pitch the grass, I wish I had a big blade Bryan Thrift endorsed chatterbait. I was learning, i did not probably ask as many questions as I should have but I was learning by observation and am better for it. We back tracked and I caught another and lost one that I had no idea was even on. Sadly it looked good. This was a recurring theme for both of us. On both worm catches and the one that let go, you never felt the tick tick of the bite that you normally do. It was much more of all the sudden you feel a little resistance but not enough to really even feel it. He told me when he was punching that he would feel a little extra weight and would set the hook but never really the normal , traditional feel of the fish biting. We went to a couple more areas where I could fish my worm like I wanted but no luck for either of us.

Looking back it was a good learning experience even with the catches not being what I had hoped. When we got a little breeze we got some fish in the grass as I mentioned above. I do not have a lot of guide trip experience but in a lot of ways I felt like , what a co angler might be like in a lot of ways, which I also do not have experience. We got along fine and I do not have a bad word to say, but I am not sure the total connection was there. I wish I had packed a little more for multiple scenarios, and if I am not fishing with Harold Allen I will if I go on another guide trip. Looking back I would have had a few more versatile things. I would have had a Frittside 5 and or a squarebill along with two walking baits. I would have had a couple punching set ups, and a big blade Bryan Thrift Chatterbait, I would have had a spoon or two and a big like 3/4 ounce football jig, and I would have had two worms, one being a Mighty Worm and the other any number of smaller ones maybe a General, Stick-O, or Super Pork pin. I can’t say I would have done better, but I can say I would have been better ready to attack the lake constantly covering water on the hunt.

This was a bucket list item for me and I am glad I got to do it. I have nothing but fond memories and maybe will do it again with him someday. I do know my guide trips are not going to be regular aside from him or Harold Allen or maybe Matt Reed. And when those guys hang it up I do not see me taking a lot of guided trips. I think in part while I can and will learn from anyone, I want the history and stories and everything else that goes along with spending the day with a hall of famer.