Minnesota’s Seth Feider falls just short in Lake Champlain Bassmaster tournament

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Seth Feider had the monster bass.

But the monster final-day bag belonged to Aaron Martens. And, in turn, a monster comeback.

Martens, of Leeds, Ala., amassed a 23-pound, 5-ounce bag the final day to rally past Feider, of Bloomington, Minn., on Sunday, July 30 in the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels.

“I didn’t know how much I actually had,” Martens told bassmaster.com. “The only time all day when I thought I had a shot to win was when I saw 23-5 on the scales. The BASSTrakk (unofficial leaderboard) said I had 20-11. I thought I maybe had 22. But I just didn’t know. I overestimated BASSTrakk the first day, so maybe I got a little gun-shy and underestimated today. I’m still really in shock.”

Martens, paced by a 6-2 bass the final day, totaled 58-12 over three days to edge Feider (57-14) by less than a pound and earn the first-place prize of $100,000. Second place was worth $26,500 to Feider, who had the big bass of the day at 6-4, good for another $1,500 for the big bass of the tournament.

For complete results, go to www.bassmaster.com/.