Why is Roland Martin grinning? Because he’s just seen a flock of seagulls, that’s why. Chuck passes him the binoculars again.
"Let’s just ease over there now," says Roland. He is in his baseball cap and waterproof jacket. A heavy concentration of seabirds means only one thing on a morning like this, as the sun rises over the Virginia side of the Chesapeake Bay and the steel-gray water glints with patches of champagne yellow. That thing is striped bass.
"What’s the limit right now?" asks Roland.
Chuck says they can catch either one big fish or two little ones apiece. "Big ones" means at least 28 inches.
Fishing with Roland Martin (NBC Sports, TV-G) airs every weekday at 2:00 p.m. Each episode finds the veteran angler—who has qualified for the Bass Masters Classic, the bass fishing equivalent of the World Series, no fewer than 25 times—in different locations, from Spirit of the Lake, Ontario, to Okeechobee, Florida, seeking different species with different bait. Amid all this variety, it’s important to have fun. But it’s also important to follow the law.
When they finally reach the seagull cluster, the fish finder goes wild.
"We’re hittin’ all over the place," says Chuck, as the two men lean over the port side of the Sea Fox, a 46-foot fiberglass deadrise.
Roland has two fish on almost immediately; he reels them in and tosses them back before you can blink.
Roland and Chuck are old friends. They’ve fished and hunted together for decades. "We go all over the place," Roland says. "We go to Mexico." They are happy to be reunited today, in Chuck’s home waters, where he is captain of a charter boat. "Chuck called me and said the fish were wide open. I just had to fly up here. There’s somethin’ about this top-water fishin’ that’s so much fun. It’s good for the kids. On a good day, you can catch 150 fish."
There are no children on the boat at the moment, but joining the duo is Chuck’s son-in-law, Chris, who also serves sometimes as Chuck’s first mate.
"You lovin’ this?" Roland asks.
"Yes, sir," says Chris.
Suddenly the birds begin diving and squawking wildly.
"Five, six fish on!" Roland says.
Roland and Chuck are reeling faster than Chris can reach with the net. Most of what they bring in is small fry that goes back over the edge as soon as it is unhooked.
Roland hooks the first big one. The men all begin shouting at once:
"Now we’re talkin’!"
"That’s a big one there, son!"
"He’s a keeper!"
It takes Chuck only a few minutes to catch up. The old friends engage in a bit of good-natured banter:
"That ain’t a little fish," says Roland.
"How long was yours?" says Chuck.
"Twenty-eight."
"I think that one was 29 inches."
There is much discussion of tackle. For hooking Chesapeake bass, Roland favors Gamakatsu hooks and customized bait from Gary Yamamoto.
The bay, once choppy, has stilled, and out of nowhere Roland is overtaken by nostalgia.
"I dunno if these ones are as big as those ones we caught four or five years ago. Man, we got some 40 pounders," he says wistfully. Beneath the elation and delight there is throughout Fishing with Roland Martin an undertone of glorious aching melancholy, as if at any moment something ineffable and mystic and sad were on the verge of expression.
Chuck says nothing.
The sun is all the way up now. The skies are blue, precisely the color of cotton candy, and there is a thin, low-hanging layer of cloud above. The water, almost black at sunrise, is a dark olive. Whatever transcendent pangs of regret might have seized him earlier, Roland is at peace once more. He is happy to be with his friend.
"You come to the Chesapeake Bay and fish with Captain Chuck, here you’re gonna’ fill the boat. Whatever the limit is, you’re gonna’ get it."
He pauses and smiles widely again.
"Just come down."