For nearly three decades, legendary angler Roland Martin has given anglers the scoop on how to outsmart a variety of gamefish. But after so many years of sharing his boat with millions of armchair anglers, you’d think his bag of tricks is about empty. No Way!! Roland has turned his knowledge into his own line of fishing rods, Roland Martin Tournament Grade. Bass fishing is the common thread that has woven through Roland Martin’s fishing career, and the first series of rods is geared directly toward it. His lofty status as a legendary angler was gained through his dominance of the sport of bass tournament competition. In the infant stages of the 30-year-old sport, Martin commandeered the winner’s circle the way the New York Yankees reigned over the American League, and the Green Bay Packers once owned the National Football League. Martin’s enthusiasm is legendary as are his 21 wins on the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail and nine B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year titles – both records. He still competes in competition tournaments (The Redfish Tour and he was on the winning team of B.A.S.S. founder and president Ray Scott’s “Eagles of Angling Tournament” for two consecutive years. His teammates were Orlando Wilson and former President George Bush. Though tournaments take a lot of his time, Martin plans to continue entertainment and education as part of the mainstays of his programs, however he hopes to have a chance to focus on other issues confronting sportsmen. Conservation and the environment are becoming just as important to fishing as are the lures in our tackle boxes. Martin placed second in his first B.A.S.S. tournament at the 1970 Toledo Bend Invitational on Toledo Bend Reservoir, TX/LA. He won the next tournament at Lake Seminole, GA/FL. And then placed second on his next tournament at Eufala, AL He had his 19th Classic appearance in 1991, and returned to full time tournament competition the following season. In 1976 he was inducted into the FRESH WATER FISHING HALL OF FAME in Hayward, WI. In 2001 he was inducted into the PROFESSIONAL BASS FISHING HALL OF FAME in Hot Springs, AR In 2003 he was inducted into the INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION in Ft Lauderdale, FL In September 2003 Roland Martin traveled to Germany to entertain American troops stationed there and recovering in the hospitals from the war in Iraq.   Martin is credited with defining “pattern fishing” as a technique in 1969. His definition, “A pattern is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, current, etc. which attracts fish to that specific spot and to other similar spots all over the same body of water.” He discovered the technique during seven years of guiding on Lake Santee-Cooper, S.C. in the 1960s. Roland made this technique available to millions of readers in his book, “101 Bass Catching Secrets” with Tim Tucker.