Roland Martin (born March 14, 1940) is a professional sport fisherman. Martin is host of Fishing with Roland Martin on the NBCSN television channel.
Fishing in 291 tournaments, Martin's BASSMASTER career includes the following achievements – 19 tournaments won, 9 B.A.S.S. Angler-of-the-Year titles, [1] nearly 100 Top Ten finishes, and 25 appearances in bass fishing's world championship event, the Bassmaster Classic. Also a record, he has 19 second place BASS finishes. His career tournament winnings exceeded one million dollars in 2004.
Roland Martin was the first professional bass fisherman to be inducted into all three Halls of Fame (IGFA Hall of Fame, Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame).
In a July 2005 survey for the "Greatest Angler", Roland Martin was voted second (to Rick Clunn), hurt by his lack of a Classic championship.
He is also good friends with fellow fishermen Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston, with the two appearing on his show multiple times. With them, he formed the company Th3 Legends to sell signature products. [2]
He popularized the concept of "pattern" fishing – determining a particular way to catch fish for a given time and lake, and then applying it to similar locations around that lake. He has been an able and enthusiastic spokesman for bass fishing, conservation, and the pursuit of the American dream for decades, generating a large following of fans.
Bass fishing is the recreational fishing activity, typically via rod-based angling, for various game fishes of North America known collectively as black bass. There are numerous black bass species targeted in North America, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass or Kentucky bass, and Guadalupe bass. All black bass species are members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae.
Michael Iaconelli, also known as Mike and by his nickname "Ike", is a professional bass fisherman, television personality, and podcast show host from Pittsgrove Township, New Jersey. Iaconelli competes on Major League Fishing. As of February 11, 2019, Mike's career tournament winnings with B.A.S.S. were $2,500,205, which includes 7 wins. Iaconelli's major accomplishments include the longest active streak of Bassmaster Classic qualifications with 17 consecutive appearances, the 2017 Major League Fishing Summit Cup Champion, 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion, as well as the 2006 Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year. Iaconelli is the only angler to have won the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Angler of the Year and B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.
Hank Parker Sr. is a professional bass fisherman. He is a native of Maiden, North Carolina.
Kevin VanDam, often called simply "KVD," is a professional bass fisherman from Otsego, Michigan. He is the all-time money winner in professional bass fishing, having earned $7,089,388 through August 2022 according to Major League Fishing. He has captured four Bassmaster Classic titles, seven Toyota Tundra Angler of Year titles and was also the FLW Angler of the Year in 2001. VanDam has predominantly fished the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) Bassmasters tournament series during his career but was also a founding member of Major League Fishing.
Rick Clunn is a professional bass fisherman.
Skeet Reese is an American professional sport fisherman of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) and Major League Fishing. He was born in Walnut Creek, California on June 30, 1969. He has a wife, Kim, and a two daughters, Leamarie and Courtney. Reese is one of the primary spokesmen for General Tire.
The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is a catch and release smallmouth bass fishing tournament held on Rainy Lake and hosted in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The annual tournament was first held in 1995, and the tournament continues to takes place each July.
The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) is a fishing membership organization with more than a half a million members. It is geared toward bass fishermen, mainly in the United States but with members located worldwide. The society publishes Bassmaster magazine and other related publications, and also produces The Bassmasters weekly television program. B.A.S.S. is best known for the sport fishing tournament trails it conducts, and for its world championship event, the Bassmaster Classic. The society's logo is a blue shield with a leaping largemouth bass and the society's acronym.
Larry Nixon is a professional fisherman from Bee Branch, Arkansas.
Bill Dance is an angler and host of Bill Dance Outdoors, a fishing television series on the Outdoor Channel, and Bill Dance Saltwater on the Sportsman Channel.
The Bassmaster Classic is a tournament in the sport of professional bass fishing, organized by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. It was first held in 1971 on Lake Mead, Nevada. Originally it was a fall event, (1971-1983) but it switched to a summer event in 1984 and then to a late winter event in 2006.
Al Lindner is a sportsman, television and radio personality, and fishing industry innovator who has invented, along with his older brother Ron Lindner, many fishing lures and rigs including the Lindy Rig which has been used by tens of millions of anglers to catch walleye since it first hit the market in 1968. The Lindners estimate that more than 70 million Lindy Rigs - and, as he put it, "its many imitators" - have been sold. Lindner also co-owns the Baxter, MN based Lindner Media Productions, along with Ron and sons James, Daniel and Bill, which specializes in producing educational fishing programs, DVDs, videos, national TV commercials, product sales videos, point of purchase videos as well as providing underwater photography to the sport fishing industry. Lindner Media Productions customers include such well known companies as Rapala, Berkley, Lund Boats, Shimano, Blue Fox, Storm, MinnKota, Mustad, Nature Vision, Lindy Tackle, Humminbird, Frabill, VMC, HT Enterprises, Mercury Marine, and Gander Mountain. Lindner has been inducted into three fishing hall of fames and the Lindy Rig was featured in the Minnesota State Historical Society's 2008 list of "Minnesota’s 150 — The people, places, and things that shape our state".
Mark Davis is a professional sport fisherman of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) and is one of only two anglers to have won the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and the Bassmasters Classic tournament in the same year.
Cliff Pace often called “Game Face Pace”, is a professional bass fisherman from Petal, Mississippi. Pace is the 43rd world champion of bass fishing and the 39th member of the B.A.S.S. Millionaires Club. Pace has predominantly fished the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) Bassmasters tournament series during his career but now competes in the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.
Jimmy Houston is a pro angler and TV host. He was on ESPN for 21 years before he switched to the Outdoor Life Network. He is currently on NBC Sports. In 1990, he was inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. He is known for his distinctive laugh. With fellow fishermen Roland Martin and Bill Dance, he formed the company Th3 Legends to sell signature products.
Cliff Crochet, also known as "The Cajun Baby", is an American professional bass fisherman from Pierre Part, Louisiana. Crochet is a competitor on Bass Angler Sportsman Society's (B.A.S.S.) Bassmaster Elite Series and has $478,078 in B.A.S.S. tournament winnings as of February 13, 2018. Crochet's sponsors include: K2 Coolers, Huk, Skeeter, Yamaha Motor Company, Lowrance Electronics, DUCE Rods, Luck E Strike, Seaguar, Rat-L-Trap, Santone Lures, Plenum, Power-Pole, and Classic Fiberglass. Since 2010, Crochet has competed in four Bassmaster Classic tournaments. Crochet's boat for the 2018 season is a 2018 Skeeter FX 21 with a 250 hp Yamaha SHO outboard engine.
Jordan Lee is a professional bass fisherman from Cullman, Alabama.
Casey Ashley, is a professional bass fisherman from Donalds, South Carolina. Ashley attended Piedmont Technical College, a two-year community college, where he earned a degree in Industrial Electronics.
Alton Jones Jr., known as "Little Alton" is a professional bass fisherman who competes in Major League Fishing.
Arthur F. DeFoe better known as Ott Defoe, is a professional bass fisherman from Knoxville, Tennessee.