Special Report – Fishing with Roland Martin

Now for the real reason we were in Vero Beach! My best Christmas present, EVER, from Tuesday was a day fishing with the legend, the icon Roland Martin Just in case you don’t know Roland has won, 9 B.A.S.S. Angler-of-the-Year titles and was the first professional bass fisherman to be inducted into all three Halls of Fame!! Hence a true legend and icon but you couldn’t meet a more down to Earth gentleman! Roland who turns 82 next month is a bundle of energy and his enthusiasm and passion for fishing is contagious!! I only can hope at 82, I’m as chipper as he is, the dude had to throw a cast net for bait at least 20 times! What an honor and pleasure it was for us to spend a day with him on Headwaters Lake, sharing fishing stories. As Roland said Headwaters Lake now is the hottest bass lake in Florida and maybe the country. It’s a 10,000 acre man-made lake, adjacent to Stick Marsh located West of Vero Beach in Fellsmere and has only been open to powerboats since August 10, 2020! It’s a bass fishing paradise and full of unspoiled beauty! The best part of my present was being able to share it and the memories with my Lady!!

After meeting Roland on “Twosday” – 2/22/22, and our 157th Tuesday at Fellsmere Outdoor Adventures Bait and Tackle we rode with him to Headwaters in time to watch the sunrise, which Nadeene doesn’t get to see often, unless I send her pictures! Yes we did get up at 4:15 AM! We stopped to chum for shiners at some of his secret spots in order to come back for fresh bait later in the day. Let me get this out of the way now, Nadeene did catch the first several bass of the day and she also caught the largest of the day, her personal best being a 5 pound beast! There I said it!! She also had a bass come up right next to the boat and eat her shiner which was really cool to watch happen! We learned fast that Roland wants everyone that gets on his boat to catch their personal best and Headwaters is the place to accomplish it. But it’s not how you start that counts but it’s how you finish! Final tally Nadeene/Tuesday 11 bass and “Red ED” 14 bass all caught on live shiners!! We easily had to lose just as many as we caught! Nadeene also caught a bass and a gar at the same time, surly not an easy feat! And we had many times multiple hook-ups and at one point even caught 3 bass at the same time, see attached picture! We also caught some Mudfish, again with Nadeene catching the largest a true monster, I didn’t even know what they were? It easily could be 40+ years since I’ve been freshwater fishing and I couldn’t have shared the experience with two better people! It was a Bucket List Day that neither of us will ever forget!! BASS Master!!!