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Norman,
OK. – This is the second and final portion of a two-part feature about Elite Series pro Marty Stone, who finished the 2008 season in 45thplace overall after a career-worst 92nd place finish in 2007. This segment focuses on how he intends to continue that improvement in 2009 and how he has prepared himself for the difficult economic climate.
Marty Stone’s realization that he was often “physically exhausted” in 2008, particularly when forced to fish back-to-back tournaments, gave him a simple starting point in preparing for his 2009 campaign: The gym.
“I’ve been home for a month and a week and since then I’ve been a regular in the weight room and working out,” he said. “I want to be as sharp at the end of the day as I am at the beginning. Believe me, I don’t want to get up at 4:30 or 5:00 o’clock in the morning every day, but if there’s one thing I can improve upon it’s physical conditioning.”
He recognizes that when he got tired he was more prone to making mental mistakes. This year, one better decision could have resulted in a Classic berth. In 2005, when he finished second to Aaron Martens in the Angler of the Year race, if he had made “one more top ten in the Angler of the Year run, (he) would’ve won it.” A little extra endurance can mean the difference between big checks and empty wallets.
Business First
Stone has completed his pre-season scouting of several of the 2009 tournament venues and intends to lay his rods down for the next three or four weeks, but he certainly won’t be idle. It has already been one of the busiest “off-seasons” of his career and the constant activity shows no signs of letting up. In fact, he expects it to intensify.
“I’ll be busier this fall than ever before,” he said. “More boat shows, more trade shows, more appearances. I love to deer hunt, but so far I’ve only been twice for about an hour and a half each time and one of those times I spent almost the whole time texting on my phone.” He will spend additional time in the deer stand at some point, since he recognizes that “it’s important to have balance,” but those opportunities will only come when all of the other work is under control.
He recognizes that economic times are tight and has seen several of his competitors lose sponsorships for a variety of reasons. One such reason is that it has gotten harder and harder to get television exposure. Even a reasonably successful Elite Series pro has to scratch and claw for whatever TV time he can.
“Four and a half years ago, BASS had over four hours of air time a week, so we didn’t have to do much and some of us got complacent,” he opined. “But now we only have one hour, and they can only really focus on two or three anglers each week, so it requires more effort.” That places an even greater premium on top twelve finishes, and with only one under his belt in 2008, even the previously omnipresent Stone had to give up a piece of the limelight – promotional skills and on-the-water performance go hand in hand and the latter, while better than the two previous years, is not yet where he wants it to be.
Always a tireless promoter and one of the most recognizable faces in the sport, Stone’s busy calendar directly reflects his realization that even top promoters have to up their game in order to stay competitive. When he was fishing well, he managed to inject his face and persona into the limelight and throughout his downturn in 2006 and 2007 he managed to keep them there. Now that his fishing has improved but economics have gotten worse, he has redoubled his efforts to stay at the top of the promotions game.
“During economic times when all companies are thinking about making cuts, you need to be out there for your sponsors (to make sure that) you won’t be the first one affected,” he said. Accordingly, he has actively sought and attained new ways to ensure his value to several of his primary sponsors without neglecting any of the others.
Cat Man
While he continues to look for opportunities from non-endemic companies, Stone’s belt-tightening focused on strengthening his bond with existing sponsors Bass Cat Boats and Mercury Outboards. He is now Bass Cat’s regional representative for a four state territory encompassing Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
“I’ve been after this position for two years,” he said. “Rick (Pierce) and I debated whether it was something I could handle along with fishing full-time. He was concerned about my performance as a professional angler. But I think I’ve reached a maturity level where I can handle both of them.”
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He would not have taken the position were he not 100 percent comfortable with the product and the factory support for it: “We’ve been the highest-rated boat company in customer satisfaction for the past four years and we’re the only one with that product. (Also), the people at the factory are totally committed.”
Always a “silver lining” type of thinker, Stone says that comparatively slow boat sales have actually allowed him to ease his way into the position. |
“It’s no secret that there are not a lot of boat orders right now,” he said. “That has allowed me in a controlled fashion to create the infrastructure so me, my wife and the people working with us can handle them when they do start pouring in.
“ I can’t be at the dealerships each month,” he added,” but with cell phones, the internet and email I can take care of just about everything that can’t be handled by my wife.”
Ultimately, it’s a pragmatic approach to sponsorship – “When companies are thinking about making cuts, if they see Marty out here working for Bass Cat and Mercury, think about who is likely to be the last one affected. It just makes good business sense in all regards.”
But questions remain as to where Marty Stone stands as an angler: Which were the aberrations, the highs of 2004 and 2005 or the lows of 2006 and 2007? Or does his ultimate place in the sport lie somewhere in between those two extremes? Stone himself believes that he’s destined to return to the highs, and is going at warp speed, both on and off the water, in order to return to what he considers his proper place on the standings
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