Family matters

Marty Stone is spending a great deal of time watching a young phenom wet his line these days. The angler from Fayetteville, N.C., marvels at the ease with which the protege casts and the enthusiasm and tireless zeal he shows. However, if Stone had his way, his two-year-old son – who wiles away his afternoons casting with the rods and reels given to him by his grandparents – would follow the footsteps of Tiger Woods rather than his old man.

“I wanted to buy him golf clubs,” jokes Stone. “I would like to see him play a sport where he could earn some real money,” “But his grandparents had other ideas. He’s the only 23-month-old I know who owns three snoopy rods and reels. And he’d stay out there casting all day. The only time he cries or gets upset in the least is when I tell him it’s time to go.”

Stone should be excused for steering his son towards a more traditional living than the uncertainty of professional bass fishing. For while Stone has enjoyed a steady path toward the top of the sport, he has seen others risk all and fail. One advantage his son, John Turner Stone, has is the support system that his dad credits with making his dreams of fishing professionally a reality. He calls her mom.

“I have a very supportive wife, to say the least,” Stone says. “In the beginning, she was my one and only sponsor. She had a good job (with Sara Lee) and she supported me. She believed in the dream then and she still does.”

As a teenager, Stone dreamed of fishing his life away. But his parents, not willing to allow their son to be a permanent house guest, advised him to decide between college and work. Figuring that college would be the more enjoyable option, Stone headed to school. When he finished his degree in 1991, he still had not found anything that interested him as much as fishing, so he took a job in construction and fished the Red Man Tournament Trail on weekends.

“At 16, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to fish for a living, but I had no idea how,” he says.

Following moderate success in the 1991 season, Stone had the best year of his life in 1992. There was one hang-up though; he only fished two events. Still, it was in ’92 that Stone married Robin. In her, he not only found a life partner but also a pretty fair business partner as well.

Most newlyweds sink an enormous amount of faith in their spouse’s dreams, no matter how unrealistic they may seem to the outside world. But few are capable of kick-starting a dream the way Robin is. She not only allows her husband to make fishing his primary focus – she encourages him to do so.

It wasn’t easy in the beginning. Fishing the Piedmont and Carolina Divisions of the Red Man Tournament Trail in 1993, Stone earned only one check in 17 tournaments. He was somewhat boosted, however, by finishing out of the money by 1.5 pounds or less in eight tournaments.

In 1994, Stone got over the hump and turned near misses into impressive weigh-ins. He finished third in the Carolina Division and fifth in the Piedmont, making a check in 10 of 12 tournaments and overcoming some of the nation’s finest crankbait specialists by learning his own style.

“The biggest thing I learned was that after five days of practice and finding fish deep all week, they wouldn’t always be there for the tournament,” he says. “Even if I found fish deep (during competition), I couldn’t always make it hold up. And, let’s be honest, I have some of the best structure fishermen in the world in my own back yard.

“Struggling that first year taught me to become a better shallow water fisherman. Still, everywhere we go in B.A.S.S. or FLW, there’s always a shallow bait and pattern I can make work.”

While Stone was gaining credibility on the water, Robin was making contacts with sponsors, selling her husband to the fishing world. And, gradually, sponsorships came. Tournament checks also came more steadily.

In 1995, Stone finished fifth in the Carolina Division and eighth in the Piedmont. The Stones decided another step was needed, and in the fall of ’96, Marty quit construction to fish full-time.

“That was my going back to school,” he says. “The money didn’t warrant it at the time, but it was what we wanted to do in the long run.”

“At that point, I still had stars in my eyes,” Robin reflects. “As things passed, I had my doubts. But I saw that some people were out there who made it, and I knew all along we had to stay with it. I talked to other wives and watched how they handled things. I noticed that among the successful fishermen, it took them all a few years to make it, so we were prepared to stay with it.”

In 1997, Stone began fishing FLW events. He made a late season charge at the overall points championship only to fall short and finish second behind Angler-of-the-Year Clark Wendlandt.

“That little bit of success gave me a lot of confidence,” Stone says. “I knew after that year that I could do this. I didn’t even realize I was in (the race for the top spot) until there were two tournaments to go, and in those tournaments, I weighed in more fish than anyone. So I didn’t choke by losing it in the last two or three tournaments. I did all I could to win it and that made me feel really good.”

That early success and the birth of John prompted Robin to resign from her job and concentrate on caring for her son and her husband’s career.

“There were times when we would be outside waiting in the parking lot, looking for twigs or rocks or whatever to keep John Turner occupied while Marty was inside negotiating a sponsorship,” she recalls. “When I realized that it was turning around was when the first person called us to discuss a sponsorship instead of us calling them.”

Overall, Stone has fished in 19 FLW events and earned checks 14 times, including a fifth place showing in ’97, two thirds in ’98, and two other top 10’s. In 1999, Stone made three checks in six events.

“It was a strange year. We had finally gotten to where we could live like we wanted and decided to sell our house,” he says. “We put it on the market thinking it would take a while to sell, and I could still concentrate on fishing.”

But the couple’s home sold almost immediately, and they, along with their baby, moved in with Robin’s parents while they worked on building a house.

“I got so caught up in finally getting a major win and with all of the other things going on, I kind of lost sight of the fishing end of it,” he says.

Still, Stone has enjoyed recent success on the water. In March, he won a B.A.S.S. Top 150 qualifier on Lake Wheeler, and he is still one of the most respected anglers on the FLW Tour. He claims that while he has made more money this year than any previous season, he is searching for consistency.

Sponsorships have been pouring in. Although Team Stone says they will limit the number of sponsors they take on in order to be able to work hard for their supporters and not spread themselves too thin, they recently added Land O’Lakes to their sponsorship list. That list includes T&H Marine Supplies, Triple Fish Line, Bass Pro Shops, Marshall Marine, as well as big time traditional angler supporters Ranger Boats and Evinrude Outboards. He also recently signed an endorsement deal with Yozuri lures and reunited with former sponsor Island Optics Sunglasses. Stone is also working with Gambler Bait Company on designing his own lure.

After a recent long day of practice, Stone reflected on the attention he is attracting as of late, “I’m seven years into becoming an overnight success.” Then, following yet another lengthy casting session with John, Stone reconsidered the dream of his son charging down fairways on the PGA Tour and, instead, envisioned him becoming half of a dominant father-son angling tandem.

“I guess all in all worse things could happen than his following my footsteps,” Stone says. “In fact, you know, a guy can do pretty well with this fishing thing.”