Story by Pete Robbins - Photos by Mark Jeffreys  

Bixby, OK. – A single big bass, one he nicknamed “Sugar,” gave Fred Roumbanis critical breathing room in his victory this past year on South Carolina’s Lake Murray. But to attribute his success over the past two years to a single fish, or even a single factor, would be illogical. He’s worked hard to become a consistent and complete angler and that shows in his dramatic improvement. After finishing 133rd in the points in 2005 and 69th in 2006, he’s posted back to back 12th and 18th place AOY campaigns the last two years.

While his season-ending positions have reflected growing maturation, the achievements that Roumbanis is most proud of are his two tour-level wins.

After three second place finishes in 2005 and 2006 – the 2005 BASS Western Open at Shasta, the Elite Series opener in 2006 at Amistad and the 2006 Busch Shootout – Roumbanis has turned the victory circle into his personal comfort zone over the past two years, with a BASS Major victory at High Rock in 2007 and the Elite Series win on Murray in 2008. He’d won previously in lower-level events, most notably the 2005 Stren on the Mississippi River out of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, but has really become a consistent threat to take home the big checks over the past two years. Perhaps more importantly, he has learned that he can win at the highest level of the sport. 

Learning Process
“A lot of it is just experience on the water,” he said. “Coming from California, I’ve always been swinging for the fences. In California you can get away with that.” 

But that approach doesn’t necessarily work elsewhere and he cited the two Elite Series events in Florida as proof of that hard-won lesson.

“In the first two tournaments in Florida I tried to win on day two,” he said. “That was a big mistake. I was hunting for big fish but that wasn’t a practical approach. In Harris, I was going back in a place where I needed to do a mile of push-poling, when I probably should have just caught a limit.”

“At Kissimmee, I caught 17 ½ pounds the second day punching mats, but the wind blew the next day and condensed the mats and I couldn’t catch them that way again. I went swinging too early instead of catching a solid limit and then going for the big bite. You have to pay attention to your surroundings. “

But the victory at Murray, in which he bucked the conventional wisdom that the tournament would be won on down lake points, demonstrates not only his maturation over the past several years, but also within the 2008 season itself. He had his upriver area – an area that other anglers had either ignored or written off – almost entirely to himself. More importantly, he had the bite dialed in.

“As the day progressed, you would start to see insects and see bluegills rise to the surface,” he explained. “I had confidence in the afternoon bite up there, so that was keeping my confidence up throughout the day. I didn’t bother going up there until halfway through the first day when I didn’t have a fish in the boat. It was always from twelve o’clock on. Timing is everything.”

His preparation and on-the-water adjustments were made more effective by increased confidence in his abilities and his decisions. 

“You’ve got to believe you can do it,” he said. But he admitted that’s easier said than done. “Unfortunately, the competition is so good that it makes it harder to win. You make a top twelve and look around and it’s all winners around you. So you start thinking about that instead of just going fishing.”

But he’s also learned how to temper his enthusiasm for big fish, and big fish baits, when necessary. “I probably spend more time throwing (the swimbait and the frog) than I should,” he said. I was at Amistad last week and all I threw was the swimbait. I’m so focused on big fish, I sometimes live or die by the big bait and on the Elites you don’t ever want to die.”

Oddly enough, the perfect example of his newfound decision making prowess may have occurred at the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, where he finished a disappointing 40th, but did have the event’s big fish. “I ran all the way up the river to fish a swimbait and then I caught that big one on a 1/8 ounce shakey head,” he remembered.

The combination of confidence and increased awareness allowed him to add $100,000 to his wallet at Murray. He downplayed the win by saying that “when it’s your turn, it’s your turn,” but then indicated that he’s aware of the maturation he has undergone: “I used to think that you had to fish completely flawless to win. I missed Sugar several times but I had the confidence to keep coming back.”

Post-Season, Pre-Classic
Roumbanis admitted that his first Bassmaster Classic was “definitely overwhelming.”

“It was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at a fishing tournament,” he said. “With all the media days, half the time I didn’t know what the next step was supposed to be. Your boat is not in the hotel parking lot so you can’t work on your tackle whenever you want. That’s definitely a lot to grasp all at once.”

But he added that “it was cool to catch the big fish of the Classic, pretty awesome.”

So he believes that his past experience will make him more ready for the task at hand when he arrives in for the upcoming Classic in Shreveport in February. One other step he is taking to make sure he’s even more competitive in 2009 is working to become more physically fit.

“This year I’m trying to get in better shape,” he said. “No back pains, no arm pains. I had both of those (last year) for the first time ever from fishing. I realized that I’m getting older and I don’t want to be behind. The fishermen may not all look fit, but believe me they are. I don’t know how many thousands of casts we need to make.”

His regimen consists of “a little bit of everything” – but primarily dieting and working out five times a week for 45 minutes per sesssion. He’ll also endeavor to improve his nutrition on the road. “I’ve been pretty bad the past few years,” he explained. “I wasn’t eating a bunch of bad food. It’s more that I don’t eat enough during the day. It’s important to keep your body fed to keep the muscles going. Then we get off the water, binge on dinner and go to bed. That’s about the worst thing you can do. So I’m going to try to eat everything balanced.”

But while his belly will hopefully be shrinking, his skills, as well as his reputation as an angler, will likely continue to grow. 

“I definitely feel that I’m growing as an angler,” he said. “I’m improving so much. I feel like you learn more from the bad tournaments than you do from the good ones. It’s my goal to make a run at the Angler of the Year race and a Classic title. I feel like my career is going to just keep on getting better and better.”

For Roumbanis, who had two major wins before his 30th birthday, there’s cause for optimism, but he’s not willing to rest on his laurels: “Once you win, that hunger to win again increases,” he said. “It may be horrible to say this, but I’m disappointed when I finish 30th or below. My goal is to always be in the top 20. You get used to it and I don’t even care any more about just cashing a check.”