Scott Martin's April 2026 RMMC tournament on Lake Okeechobee resolved into a 22.85-pound bag for the team of Martin and Donnie Bass — short of the 30-pound goal, short of the 35 the winner needed, but cashing a check on a day that proved Florida's fabled big-bass lake is, in Martin's words, 'on fire.'
Martin filmed the build-up the day before, working spinnerbaits, glide baits and topwaters in low, dropping water across a lake getting visibly skinnier. "It's going to be one of these deals that we're going to have to find something a little away from everybody, because the lake's getting lower and lower," he said. "And when the lake gets low, people get pretty confined in some areas. So the trick today is going to be find some areas where I don't think there's going to be a lot of boats sniffing around."
In practice he found two patterns running side by side. The first was a shad-spawn bite under the gulls. "Today's a practice day. Practice isn't about winning a tournament. Practice is about finding opportunities and trying to find a few areas that I think will produce the biggest bites," he said. "You got to let it all hang out. The dirty 30 is always the goal."
The second was a clear-water sight-fishing bite around isolated reeds and submerged grass, where Martin watched 4 lb-plus largemouth cruising shallow with tilapia, gar and even a small wad of crappie sitting on beds. "I just think they're laying in here getting ready for the bluegill to spawn," he said. "I think they're just waiting on the bluegill." He shook off two five-pounders during practice, including one Martin estimated at "an eight or nine-pounder, like for real," before saving the big bites for the tournament.
Tournament day landed with the wind doing exactly what he wanted it to. "All that east wind is perfect. It's blowing right in on there. I think it's going to activate them," he said. The frog and a small Zoom Fluke on a light, weighted hook did most of the damage in the morning, with a string of three-and-a-half to four-pound culls inside the first hour. The crew weighed every fish on the boat as they came in. "Three and a half. Four. What is that one? They're all like this. I guess I need to weigh him," Martin said as the bag built.
The schoolers Martin had relied on in practice never quite fired in the tournament, and the $50,000 first-place finish drifted out of reach. "The schooling fish didn't happen. We should have had 20 pounds on schooling fish," Martin said in the post-mortem. "That being said, I like what we did. I wish we could have caught just two more big ones. Two more big ones is all we needed."
A mid-day improvisation kept the day alive. After the legend-status "godfather of bass fishing" gave the team a borrowed landing net at the lock — Martin's own had been left on the dock during a morning clean-out — they pivoted to a swimjig and a wacky-rigged stick bait through the gap in the reeds. "Bro, I ain't had a swim jig bite in a minute," Donnie called as another four-pounder thumped the bait. The biggest of the day, a 4 lb 1 oz fish with the tail "thing" busted off, cracked Martin's anchor on the cull list at twenty-something pounds.
The weigh-in put the team at 22.85 lb. "This thing's going in the right direction," Martin said as he put the bag on the scale. "We might squeeze a check out, but they're catching them. I mean that — it's awesome for the lake." Other boats were bringing in 20 lb bags routinely, with the day's heaviest believed to be in the mid-30s.
The broader read on Lake Okeechobee from Martin is the part anglers planning a spring trip will care about. The clear-water frog bite is on, the shad spawn is firing in the mornings, and the bluegill are just starting to bed up. "Lake's on fire. Lake is on fire. Topwater, swim jigs, schooling fish in the mornings — crazy, right?" he said. "Hook up your boat, get down here, jump on a plane, fly down here. Whatever you want to do, just get down to Lake Okeechobee and experience this."