Big Bag O' Bass: Angler's 5 Fish Weighed 40-11

Most bass anglers never catch in a lifetime what pro fisherman Casey Martin caught in one day last weekend on Lake Guntersville, Ala.

The New Hope, Ala., angler, fishing on his home lake, caught five bass weighing an amazing 40 pounds, 11 ounces on March 4 to win the one-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament.

It was the second-largest 5-bass catch in BFL history, according to FLW Outdoors. It also was the third-largest all-time in FLW-sponsored events.

His total, which included a 9-9 brute that won the big fish award, was nearly double the second-place total — Tennessee pro Marshall Deakins caught 5 fish weighing 21-5. Martin took home $6,859 for the win.

"It was pretty insane to weigh in those bass. I'm still in disbelief. It happened so fast that it hasn't really sunk in yet." — Pro angler Casey Martin on his 5-fish, 40-11 limit at a BFL event on Lake Guntersville

After catching a quick limit, Martin said he decided to "swing for there fence" and target deeper water near causeways in the large northeast Alabama reservoir.

"I came across a school of fish at one point, looked at my graph and it was lighting up," Martin said, according to a FLW news release. "I caught one bass that was close to 7 pounds, and within 10 minutes I had three more in the boat — a 9-pounder, and two in the 8-pound range.

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"Later on I made a run to an area near Goose Pond and caught another 7-pounder out of some grass on a Rat-L-Trap. I didn't think I had 40 pounds, I thought I only had 33 or 34. I've seen those kinds of limits come in at BFL tournaments before."

Martin said  he used a Picasso Double Barrel ½-ounce underspin with a 4-inch Smoky Shad-colored Z-Man DieZel Minnowz to catch all but the 9-pounder. For that, he said he used a swimbait on a 3/4-ounce Freedom Tackle Hydra Hybrid Jig.

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