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Roland Martin
Hometown: Naples, Fla.
Born: Maryland
Birthday: 3/14/1940
Family: (Wife) Judy; (Children) Scott, Laura Ann
Hobbies: Wild turkey hunting, fly fishing for tarpon
Favorite Food: Delmonico steak and snook grilled over an open fire and basted with Italian dressing
Favorite Music: Bluegrass
Favorite Book/Movie: Catcher In The Rye (book); The Yearling (movie)
Why He Fishes: "I really like man against nature, like Jack London's 'Call of the Wild.' Fishing has a little bit of the same element. Even though it's not life threatening, you're calling on the same instincts."
Hometown: Naples, Fla.
Born: Maryland
Birthday: 3/14/1940
Family: (Wife) Judy; (Children) Scott, Laura Ann
Hobbies: Wild turkey hunting, fly fishing for tarpon
Favorite Food: Delmonico steak and snook grilled over an open fire and basted with Italian dressing
Favorite Music: Bluegrass
Favorite Book/Movie: Catcher In The Rye (book); The Yearling (movie)
Why He Fishes: "I really like man against nature, like Jack London's 'Call of the Wild.' Fishing has a little bit of the same element. Even though it's not life threatening, you're calling on the same instincts."
Career Stats
Scorecard:
19 BASS titles (BASS record)
92 Top 10 BASS finishes
19 Top 10 FLW finishes
19 Second Place finishes
132 Top 20 finishes
25 BMCs
BASS Times in money: 184
BASS Total Entries: 278
BASS Total Weight: 7,065-6
BASS Career Winnings: $1,052,367.10
Former Job: U.S. Army officer, school teacher, fishing guide, Lowrance R&D
College: The University of Maryland
Turned Pro: 1970
Career Earnings: Over $1.5 million
Titles/Honors: 9 BASS AOY titles (BASS record)
25 BMCs fished
Notables:
Denny Brauer is second in BASS winnings with 15 and Larry Nixon third with 14, meaning it's logical that based on age and performance that Martin's record will not be broken anytime soon.
Likewise for the AOY record. Kevin VanDam and Bill Dance each have three AOY titles compared to Martins record 9 titles.
He's second to Rick Clunn in BMC appearances at 25.
Notable quote made in the 1983 BASS Classic Report:
"I'm 43 years old and I'm in my prime but in another 10 years, I'm going to be too old to fish competitively. At least I'll be too old to fish as well as 30-year-old guys when I'm 50. All of a sudden, we'll have $100,000 and $200,000 tournaments with huge first place prizes, and I don't know if I'll be able to take advantage of them." (Ten years later, and to date, he's won two BASS tournaments along with 18 top 10 finishes, including a runner-up at the 2004 Missouri Tour.)
Won three consecutive events in 1980-81 season (first angler to do so) ...
Timeline:
1963: Becomes guide on Santee Cooper
1969: Joins BASS (life member)
1970: Quits guide business, goes to work for Ray Scott on "seminar trail"
1970: finished 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 16th, 5th and 2nd in his first BASS season tournaments
1970: Won first BASS tournament on Lake Seminole
1971: Qualified for first BMC
1971: BASS AOY
1972: BASS AOY
1970-73: Never finished worse than 16th in first four years on the tour.
1973: Won three tournaments in a four-tournament span
1973: BASS AOY/third consecutive BMC
1975: BASS AOY
1976: Failed to qualify for BMC after five straight appearances
1977: Back in the BMC
1978: BASS AOY
1979: BASS AOY
1980: BASS AOY
1980-81: Unprecedented three consecutive BASS titles
1981: BASS AOY
1984: BASS AOY
1985: BASS AOY
1992: "Retired" from tournaments
1993: "Returned" to tournaments
1997: Wins 19th title
2003: Qualifies for 25th BMC and finishes 4th
2004: Honored as BASS Outstanding Member at BMC
Defining Moment:
Perhaps yet to be determined: His burning desire to win the BMC. Note of irony: He placed fourth in his first BMC (1971, the first event) and fourth place in his most recent BMC (2003) … his best finish is 2nd (1980). AND/OR
The three consecutive AOY titles in 1971, 1972, 1973, which laid the groundwork for his dominating performance as tournament angling's most consistent angler. Claim To Fame:
His two dominate records: the most BASS AOY titles and BASS titles. Mentor: Bill Dance Strengths:
Ability to "pattern" fish. Quote from his book, "Roland Martin's 101 Bass-Catching Secrets:" "I've been given the credit for coining and defining the concept of pattern fishing. I wrote the definition first in 1969 while preparing a bass fishing map of Santee-Cooper. What I wrote back then was: 'A pattern is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, currents, etc., which attracts fish to that specific spot and to other similar spots all over the same body of water.'" Nuggets:
By the mid-1970s Rick Clunn had become the dominator of the BMC while Martin held a grasp on the AOY. Bassmaster editor Bob Cobb stirred a debate and this sparked a feeding frenzy with the outdoor media. The debate: Which has more merit-the BMC or AOY titles? Clunn and Martin openly debated the issue on more than one occasion.
Scott Martin, Roland's son, is named after Ray Scott … Martin was among the first bass fishermen to visit Cuba … his show came on the air in the early 1970s and first appeared on a Tulsa TV station … Martin is regarded as a world class angler and highly skilled fly fisherman, especially with tarpon … started bass fishing at the age of 12 …
Guided for seven years on Santee-Cooper lakes before being hired in 1970 by Ray Scott to join his "seminar" tour
Purchased Clewiston Marina in the early 1980s
Early goal in life was to become a professional wildlife photographer …
He "retired" from tournaments in 1992 only to make a comeback a year and a half later, qualifying for the BMC in the process …
Parents were killed in a car crash in Europe … his father was a hydraulic engineer for the USGS as a designer of hydroelectric dams … hired by Darrell Lowrance in 1970 to work in research and development … claims to have coined the term "pattern fishing."
Only professional bass fishermen to be inducted into all three applicable halls of fame: IGFA, Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the Professional Bass Fishing HOF.
More Historical Trivia:
Martin joined BASS as soon as he'd heard about it in 1969 and traveled from South Carolina, where he was guiding at the time, to Ray Scott's Eufaula National that July. He was a spectator. The first boat in was Gerald Blanchard and Rip Nunnery, who draped their two stringers of bass across a boat paddle with each man taking an end of the wood on his shoulder. Nunnery's 15 bass weighed 90-15, Blanchard's 88-0. A wide-eyed Martin ran up to Ray Scott and told him "I have no business here!" Scott talked Martin into fishing and he placed second in his first tournament and then won the next event … In his book "Bass Boss," Ray Scott credits Martin with becoming the first bass pro to master the "triangulation" technique. Martin was having dinner with Forrest Wood and family on May 4, 1971, when the Ranger plant caught fire. Martin and Wood reached the blazing building with the two of them dragging an Army surplus desk and file cabinet out of a window just before the roof collapsed. The file cabinet contained unfilled orders for Ranger Boats … Influential People:
Bill Dance: "He was such a wonderful worm fisherman and I had so much respect for him. He was a real inspiration to me, and still is." Forrest Wood Ray Scott Darrell Lowrance Complete BASS statistics
BASS Times in money: 184
BASS Total Entries: 278
BASS Total Weight: 7,065-6
BASS Career Winnings: $1,052,367.10
Former Job: U.S. Army officer, school teacher, fishing guide, Lowrance R&D
College: The University of Maryland
Turned Pro: 1970
Career Earnings: Over $1.5 million
Titles/Honors:
1969: Joins BASS (life member)
1970: Quits guide business, goes to work for Ray Scott on "seminar trail"
1970: finished 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 16th, 5th and 2nd in his first BASS season tournaments
1970: Won first BASS tournament on Lake Seminole
1971: Qualified for first BMC
1971: BASS AOY
1972: BASS AOY
1970-73: Never finished worse than 16th in first four years on the tour.
1973: Won three tournaments in a four-tournament span
1973: BASS AOY/third consecutive BMC
1975: BASS AOY
1976: Failed to qualify for BMC after five straight appearances
1977: Back in the BMC
1978: BASS AOY
1979: BASS AOY
1980: BASS AOY
1980-81: Unprecedented three consecutive BASS titles
1981: BASS AOY
1984: BASS AOY
1985: BASS AOY
1992: "Retired" from tournaments
1993: "Returned" to tournaments
1997: Wins 19th title
2003: Qualifies for 25th BMC and finishes 4th
2004: Honored as BASS Outstanding Member at BMC
Defining Moment:
Perhaps yet to be determined: His burning desire to win the BMC. Note of irony: He placed fourth in his first BMC (1971, the first event) and fourth place in his most recent BMC (2003) … his best finish is 2nd (1980). AND/OR
The three consecutive AOY titles in 1971, 1972, 1973, which laid the groundwork for his dominating performance as tournament angling's most consistent angler. Claim To Fame:
His two dominate records: the most BASS AOY titles and BASS titles. Mentor: Bill Dance Strengths:
Ability to "pattern" fish. Quote from his book, "Roland Martin's 101 Bass-Catching Secrets:" "I've been given the credit for coining and defining the concept of pattern fishing. I wrote the definition first in 1969 while preparing a bass fishing map of Santee-Cooper. What I wrote back then was: 'A pattern is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, currents, etc., which attracts fish to that specific spot and to other similar spots all over the same body of water.'" Nuggets:
Martin joined BASS as soon as he'd heard about it in 1969 and traveled from South Carolina, where he was guiding at the time, to Ray Scott's Eufaula National that July. He was a spectator. The first boat in was Gerald Blanchard and Rip Nunnery, who draped their two stringers of bass across a boat paddle with each man taking an end of the wood on his shoulder. Nunnery's 15 bass weighed 90-15, Blanchard's 88-0. A wide-eyed Martin ran up to Ray Scott and told him "I have no business here!" Scott talked Martin into fishing and he placed second in his first tournament and then won the next event … In his book "Bass Boss," Ray Scott credits Martin with becoming the first bass pro to master the "triangulation" technique. Martin was having dinner with Forrest Wood and family on May 4, 1971, when the Ranger plant caught fire. Martin and Wood reached the blazing building with the two of them dragging an Army surplus desk and file cabinet out of a window just before the roof collapsed. The file cabinet contained unfilled orders for Ranger Boats … Influential People:
Bill Dance: "He was such a wonderful worm fisherman and I had so much respect for him. He was a real inspiration to me, and still is." Forrest Wood Ray Scott Darrell Lowrance Complete BASS statistics
