Roland Still Rolling
COLUMN
FOR THE RECORD
As Roland Martin tells it , his first fishing trip with the Splendid Splinter “ wasn ’ t so hot .”
It was in the late ’ 60s at Islamorada , Fla ., and Martin was substituting for another guide . The latter had asked Martin to take the famous , and famously cantankerous , Ted Williams fishing in his stead because of another commitment .
Martin obliged , and did his best to see that the former Boston Red Sox great was kept entertained . In an attempt to pass the time while waiting on the clear flats for the tide to change and the fish to bite , Martin decided to while away the empty minutes by making small talk with His Worshipfulness .
“ So , Mr . Williams , who do you like for the World Series this fall ?” asked the towheaded Martin , a bright-eyed 20- something at the time .
“ Look , you blond-headed %$#@!, you don ’ t know a $#@% thing about
Roland Still Rolling
COLIN
MOORE
baseball , and I ’ m not *%$& going to talk to you about baseball . If you want to talk about fishing , that ’ s fine , but don ’ t %$@* talk to me about something you don ’ t know anything about .”
Which suited Martin , because he didn ’ t want to talk about baseball anyway . There came a time , not too much later , when Williams would frequently call Martin to talk about fishing , and to plead with him to go fishing . Though it puts thoughts into Williams ’ mind that we can only conjecture , perhaps he recognized and respected the kindred , unfiltered talent that Martin possessed . The sports for which they became famous were different , but Martin had what Williams had in equal measure – a natural ability and a drive to be the very best at something , or certainly among the best .
Most people interested in fishing know Roland Martin the bass fisherman ,
but few know that before he became a famous tournament angler , Martin was a saltwater fisherman . His apprenticeship began in 1958 , during summer break from the University of Maryland , when Martin and a buddy decided to go fishing in the Florida Keys . Within a few years after that first visit he was guiding there , though his tastes in fishing were always ecumenical . In the ’ 60s , when he was becoming a well-respected guide on the flats around Islamorada , he was also splitting his time and guiding bass fishermen on Santee Cooper in South Carolina .
One of Martin ’ s Santee Cooper customers was Homer Circle , the eminence grise of fishing writers who recognized Martin ’ s bass-fishing skill and potential when he met him . Uncle Homer wasn ’ t the only one to encourage Martin to compete in bass tournaments , though he took some warming up to the notion . In 1969 , when Martin attended his first tournament at Lake Eufaula on the Alabama-Georgia border and saw Bill Dance come in with a 15-fish stringer that weighed 83 pounds , Martin remarked to nobody in particular that , “ I ’ ve got no business fishing against these guys .” Even so , several months later he was taking part in his first tournament , an event on Toledo Bend . Martin placed second there and then won the Seminole Lunker tournament on Lake Seminole . Motivated by the championship purse of a whopping $ 2,219 , Martin decided he was , indeed , cut from competitive cloth .
During the next 35 years , he fished in 279 events and placed in the top 50 in 191 of them . He won 19 tournaments and was runner-up in 19 , and was Angler of the Year nine times . This , in an era when one was as likely as not to draw a Bill Dance , Hank Parker or Rick Clunn as a boat partner , and then have to fish against him . Even so , Martin won more than $ 1 million , much of it during the years when tournament purses were notoriously meager . About the only thing that he didn ’ t accomplish , despite 25 chances , is winning a Bassmaster Classic .
Martin has been reasonably successful in FLW Tour competition , too . He scored six top-10 finishes beginning in 1996 and was AOY runner-up in 1999 . He ’ s still fighting the good fight ; in the challenging Costa FLW Series Championship on Kentucky
12
FLWFISHING . COM I JANUARY 2018