Shocking reveal from a living legend

The state of tournament fishing from one of the best in the business.

By Luigi De Rose

In a recent video, Roland Martin made two shocking reveals as he recapped his 2021 season. The first, was his acceptance to the 2021 BASS Elites. Scott Martin, his son, qualified for the 21 Elite season and the rumor was that Roland would join him. Roland applied under the legend status and was granted an invitation but he declined.

Why would the Roland decline a chance to rejoin BASS? Lack of sponsorship money and support. Simply, the fishing industry, one that has profited greatly from the industry that Roland helped developed didn’t deem him worthy enough. Even though Roland is one of the most recognized anglers in bass fishing, he couldn’t secure enough sponsorship to complete. Let that sink in.

As the story continues to permeate, scores of fans are furious. How can the fishing industry deny Martin this opportunity?  How could BASS as a business miss this golden opportunity to reward one of the true pioneers of bass fishing a come back? Imagine the publicity if Roland won the 2022 Classic at 80 years of age?

On a business level, the amount of potential viewer clicks and impression generated from this media savvy father and son team through the Elites is unfathomable. The possibility of year long media bites of Roland and Scott trying to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic would be commonplace. How many historic recaps of Roland throughout hit career would save a full day of inactivity on BASS Live coverage?

Team Canada Wins Gold at 2019 Pan AM on St. Lawrence River

MDJ and B. Lat Top Team

By Jody White

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Stand on Guard for Thee.
(Photo: FLW)

Though Team USA locked up the top three places, Team Canada placed six teams in the top 10 and averaged 38.98 pounds to win the Pan American Bass Championship on Lake St. Francis. Results were tallied based on the average weight brought in by each team in the two sessions of fishing, which almost guaranteed an extremely close finish. Earning a silver medal, Team USA finished just a hundredth of a pound back with a 38.97 average.

Earning bronze, Team Mexico had a tough afternoon overall and finished with a 28.62 average. Team Akwesasne First Nations brought up the rear with a 23.97 average.

Nicolas Gendron and Jason Gramada were the highest-finishing Canadian team at fourth, and they also weighed the big fish of the day, a behemoth 6.26-pound smallmouth.

Gramada and Gendron took a power approach to the day, and as one of the truly local teams in the event, they were able to fully apply their history on St. Francis. 

“We’re from here, we’ve got a lot of history here, we’ve won some Canadian Opens on this body of water,” says Gramada. “This time of year, the fish migrate up towards the dam. It’s kinda unique, there are three major spawning tributaries, and I think they do their wintering there to get ready for the spring spawn. So, it’s not a secret, that’s why the weights are so close – it would have been way different fishing had it been a July or august tournament.”

Roland and Scott Martin Win 2018 Black Bass PanAmerican Championship on Lake Okeechobee Day!

Super slow speed anchors USA win.
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Biggest limit and 7 pounder rockets Martins into lead.
(Photos: FLW)

Roland Martin wasn’t happy about fishing with the flu, but his fatigue literally enlightened him and his son Scott Martin to a key detail that sparked an impressive come-from-behind victory with a two-day weight of 15.51 kg (34 pounds, 3 ounces) at the inaugural PanAm Black Bass Championship at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort on Lake Okeechobee.

After placing 10th on day one with a disappointing limit of 4.99 kg (11 pounds), the father/son duo roared back with a day-two limit of 10.52 kg (23-3) – the tournament’s biggest catch, which included a 7-pound, 3-ounce kicker that won the Big Bass trophy. The key, Roland says, was speed.

“You have to learn to be humble; we don’t always catch fish, and yesterday [Wednesday] was a good example,” says the nine-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year. “But we figured something out, and one of the main reasons we caught fish today was that I was extremely sick with the flu and I sat on the ice chest. I’d occasionally cast and reel it very slowly and hardly do anything. But the big fish liked that.”

After fishing the Monkey Box on the lake’s west side on day one, the Martins ran south to Kreamer Island on day two, but found the area uncooperative. With only two pound-and-a-half fish by 10 a.m., they returned to the Monkey Box area, fished the reeds and experienced a furious rally that transformed a dismal day into pure fireworks.

“We got into this one spot and, in one hour, we caught all those big fish,” Roland says.

Team Canada

Scott says their day-two productivity came from an area he had never fished until the FLW Tour event two weeks ago. With the spawn in full swing, the week’s warming trend triggered a shallow move, but these moody and sensitive fish require stealthy and strategic approach. Scott says he enjoyed promising practice results, but the Big O is known for its day-to-day changes.

RESULTS BELOW

2018 Black Bass PanAmerican Championship on Lake Okeechobee Day 1: Dudley & Schlarb Lead with 16-12lbs!

Results
1. USA – David Dudley and Mark Schlarb – 7.59 kg (16-12)
2. Canada – Rob Lee and Dave Chong – 7.48 kg (16-8)
3. Canada – Spiro Agouros and Fern Campeau – 6.81 kg (15-00)
4. USA – John Cox and Keith Carson – 6.8 kg (15-00)
5. Canada – Cole Bailey and Bruce Leeson – 6.5 kg (14-5)
6. Canada – Hughes Brian and Anais Chaves – 6.13 kg (13-8)
7. Canada – Bob Izumi and Darren Izumi – 5.87 kg (12-15)
8. Mexico – Jorge Bruster and Luis Flores – 5.44 kg (12-00)
9. USA – Alan Boyd and Kyle Alsop – 5.26 kg (11-10)
10. USA – Scott Martin and Roland Martin – 4.99 kg (11-00)
11. Costa Rica – Ronny Villalobos and Maricio Monge – 4.97 kg (11-00)
12. Costa Rica – Carlos Cabero and Henry Marin – 4.87 kg (10-12)
13. Mexico – Victor Concha Jr. and Gerardo Ibarra – 4.75 kg (10-8)
14. Mexico – Richie Gonzalez and Arturo Saldana – 4.72 kg (10-7)
15. Canada – Joey Ford and Shawn McCaul – 4.65 kg (10-4)
16. Canada – Dave Bairstow and Matt Hubble – 4.34 kg (9-9)
17. Canada – Phil Hegarty and Stephen Hegarty – 4.22 kg (9-5)
18. Mexico – Gabriel Torres and Eduardo Yoshii – 3.9 kg (8-10)
19. Mexico – Alex Salinas and Fernando Salinas – 3.67 kg (8-1)
20. Mexico – Tomas Santos and Cruz Alejando Salinas – 2.95 kg (6-8)
21. USA – Shirley Crain and Michelle Jalaba – 2.84 kg (6-4)
22. Costa Rica – Jonnathan Arroyo and Vincente Naranjo – 0.94 kg (2-1)

Senko Fishing with Roland Martin

Nobody knows more about worm fishing then legendary angler Roland Martin. With 9 BASS Angler of the Year awards and 40 years of being a TV host, Roland knows his worming. Listen here as Roland teaches all of us how to be a better worm fisherman.

ICAST 2016: Roland Martin the Legend!

Learn from one of the greatest anglers of all time. Roland explains why Yamamoto is just that great!