As fate would have it, that November evening talking with Aaron Martens at the Lakeside Boat Ramp on Logan Martin Lake spring-boarded Walker Smith into a bass fishing career...not as a professional angler but as a communicator and teacher. Nearly a decade later, he found himself at a media event with no other than Aaron Martens.
"To my utter surprise," said Walker, "that man remembered me...not because I caught a huge bag in the earlier college tournament or made some sort of impression on him...he just remembered me. He probably remembered every single one of us who were gathered around his truck that evening. He asked how I had been, if I had graduated, and if I was married yet.
At this point, Walker was well aware who Aaron Martens was, describing him as "the Hank Aaron of baseball, the Joe Namath of pro football, and the Peyton Manning of college football. And to think he remembered li'l ol' me...a redneck kid from Georgia just trying to chase a dream."
After working together all week developing some content for Wired2Fish, Aaron and Walker decided to partner up and fish a little fun-fishing tournament Friday morning before they all headed home.
Said Walker, "We were all staying at some motel that week, and to be honest, I couldn't sleep that night. I don't care if I sound like a nerd, but I was absolutely jacked up to be fishing with Aaron the next day. I couldn't imagine the fishing lessons I was going to learn.
"Because I was having trouble sleeping," Walker continued, "I got out of bed, turned on the TV, and started pacing around to pass the time. I eventually walked out to my truck at 1 a.m. to grab my phone charger, and Aaron was in his boat with a headlamp strapped to his forehead, rigging tackle for the next day."
Knowing Aaron was a tackle aficionado, Walker figured that might just be his normal behavior, so he shrugged it off and went back to his room.
"I finally fell asleep," Walker said, "but around 3 a.m., something woke me up. I heard something outside my motel room, so I cracked open the door to scope things out. It was Aaron. He was sitting on the front deck of his boat, headlamp still on, rigging rods. I threw on a shirt and walked outside to make sure everything was OK. His response will always stick with me."
"Yeah, bro," said Aaron. "I'm just rigging your rods. I want to make sure you have a good time tomorrow, so I've been making sure all of your stuff is perfect. We're gonna catch a bunch of fish. I can't wait."
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