Roland Reacts To Son Scott's Cup Triumph

The irony was palpable.

Roland Martin, owner of nearly every record in pro bass fishing, stood in embrace with his 35-year-old son Scott. In Scott's hands was the Forrest Wood Cup – a major championship trophy. Despite all Roland's records, including nine B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year titles, 19 B.A.S.S. wins

and 93 Top 10s, he'd never won a major championship.

Roland tried 25 times to win the Bassmaster Classic, and even emerged from retirement to take one more stab, but such a title always eluded him. A major championship finally came to a Martin, but it was the son, not the father, who held the Cup.

Which is why the scene was so stunning, and after the explosions, confetti and lasers finally settled, it became all too clear that the generational torch, once and for all, had passed.

Even more stunning was the fact that Roland nearly missed it. He'd been working in Nashville for sponsors and had started to make travel arrangements after Scott made the cut. He was out of options, but at the last moment, Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris offered Roland use of his personal jet, and Roland made the weigh-in with little time to spare.

Immediately prior to the champion's press conference, BassFan took the opportunity to interview Roland – to ask him about his son, the championship and the Martin family's first major championship title.

A summary of that conversation appears below.

BassFan: Scott's told us all how he feels. How do you feel? Is there a sense of accomplishment for you too?

Roland Martin: As a father, you're always telling things to your kids, and I remember telling Scott years ago, 'You need to learn how to communicate.' Now he's gotten to where he can talk to anybody, and he has good enough diction and English that he's got a very good TV show. He's got that ability.

And then when the fishing started, I said, 'You need to learn how to read a depthfinder.' He not only learned, but you got to see this week what he can do. I've fished with hundreds and hundreds of people working their GPS and electronics, and I've never seen anybody do what he can do with boat position. He was talking about working those brushpiles – how the casts had to be just that perfect – he's got it worked out. He can pick apart a brushpile better than anybody, I think, in the whole wide world.

So everything I told him to do, he did it, and now he can do it better than I can do it. I feel proud of him. He needed to learn to worm-fish and flip and everything, and he did it all and can do it better than me. So as a teacher or mentor, I feel like I had some part in the process and I'm proud of him.

While he's credited your influence, at the same time, he's always sought to build his name independently of yours. It's a very different approach than the one taken by some other father-and-son pros.

Right. If you look at his career and my career, he doesn't want to be known as Roland's son who happened along. He has his own identity. We don't have sponsors and TV shows together. So much of what we do is separate. He has his business and I have my business. He doesn't want to be known as just my son.

I'm really proud that he's his own man. He made his own decisions, created his own destiny and made his own mistakes and successes in the process.

You fished an entire career, and were arguably the best ever, yet a major championship win always eluded you. Do you think Scott fully grasps how difficult such an achievement is?

He's had a lot of disappointments. I have too. Like when you watch my TV show, the scene that 99% of the anglers remember is the scene where I'm wading out and a big bass gets out of my hands. People are captivated by the ones that get away.

I'm captivated by the tournaments I should have won. I don't even think about the tournaments I won. I think about those I should have won – the ones where all the bad luck happened. When you think of successes, you think of 100% efficiency. But you never get 100% efficiency, and Scott learned humility the hard way. He had a lot of disappointments with equipment. He's broken down more than his share – lots more than his share – and he's just had a lot of disappointments.

But through all those disappointments, you have to come back with a better gameplan and say you're not going to let that happen again. But those are the things that make you stronger, like all the trials and tribulations that Christ had. There's a parable there. You get back up stronger in the process.

And he's really learned with Randy Clark, who I'd call Scott's minister. He travels with Scott and gives him encouragement and motivation. Everybody needs that motivation and Scott's a great Christian. I'm proud.

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> Want to catch up with or get in touch with Scott or Roland? Visit ScottMartin.com and FishingWithRolandMartin.com.